Movie Stars In Video Games: A Success
Stars such as Keanu Reeves, Kevin Spacey, and Liam Neeson are increasingly incorporated into video games (e.g., Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed 2, and Fallout 3). But, does adding a star to a video game actually increase its success? This research study takes a closer look at it.
• The gaming industry has topped the film industry by revenue for many years.
• Movie stars such as Keanu Reeves and Kevin Spacey are increasingly incorporated in video games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed, and Fallout.
• 300 video games and their success were analyzed.
• "According to [the data], stars have a positive effect on expert judgment... while the effect on amateur judgment is also positive but not significant..." [1]
• Game features such as genre, multiplayer option, game sequel, and age restriction had a positive effect on the success of the games.
For years, the video game industry has outperformed the film industry in terms of revenue. A trend within the gaming space in recent years has been integrating stars (well-known professional actors such as Keanu Reeves, Kevin Spacey, and Liam Neeson) into video games. Most notably Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed 2, Sleeping Dogs, and Fallout 3.
However, incorporating stars is expensive and begs the question of whether it actually increases a game's success. 72 games that featured a start as a voice actor or full performer were analyzed, using data from Steam. To forge a representative sample of games, all games on Steam released within a week before or after the focal star game were included, leading to a total sample of 300 video games.
In addition, the games' success was measured using "the worldwide maximum number of people that simultaneously play each game on Steam since its release" [1]. The ranking of the stars was taken from the IMDb STARmeter ranking. Lastly, the game quality was measured using professional game reviews from Metacritic and amateur reviews on Steam (Steam store).
⭐ Success Breeds Success
"According to [the data], stars have a positive effect on expert judgment... while the effect on amateur judgment is also positive but not significant..." [1]
This effect indirectly increased the games' success, while stars also had a positive direct effect together with the judgements of experts and amateurs. What that means is that stars increased the perceived quality of the games (which is mainly recognized by the experts), leading to both a direct and indirect success of the game.
"In addition, game features such as genres (RPG, strategy), a multiplayer option, brand strength in the form of a game sequel, a major distributor and an age restriction for adults have positive effects on gaming success..." [1]
Interestingly, based on their data, the researchers created a tool to help forecast the success of a game. For instance, incorporating a star into an action game with an average amateur and expert rating could increase the game's success by approximately 8.3%. A first-person horror game, for example, may even be more successful (15.6%). If you want to play around with the tool, it's freely available online (bit.ly/gamestarforecast).
Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great week. Cheers,
Christian 🙂
