Comments on: Why Demo Downloads Matter

By: GigaGamez » Archive Top 7 PR Disasters: Case Studies on How Not to Promote Games «

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:05:19 +0000

[...] too much money on PR stunts, maybe publishers are better off spending it on more mirror servers, so gamers can download their demos easier. While it’s easier said than done, the best thing a publisher can do is have a compelling [...]

By: Amanuel

Amanuel — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:35:37 +0000

I attribute my lack of playing games directly to the issues you described. I don't have the time to follow the gaming world as I used to. As it got harder and harder to download, I gave up.

Forget the fact that most demos are now a massive download making it a serious commitment in terms of time to download, and HD real estate.

I hope they take notice to your statements and clean up their act.

By: Satish

Satish — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:51:36 +0000

I agree with you. I had the same experience related to Company of Heroes, Rome etc.

I appreciate Microsoft for making available game downloads easily available on their site ( I downloaded Age of Empire series demos without any registration). Recently MS servers seems to be quite fast in terms of downloading.. way ahead than that of CNET and IGN.

By: Christian Watson

Christian Watson — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 01:09:54 +0000

Sorry, I don’t agree with you.

Once you’ve created an account with one of the file hosting services - say, Fileshack - that’s all you have to do to download as many files as you want.

Or you can use another site such as (link) where you don’t have to login and the download is pretty fast.

By: Omar Ismail

Omar Ismail — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:10:27 +0000

This is precisely why Xbox Live is such a fantastic system. Kudos to Microsoft for spearheading the console demo marketplace which looks to be imitated by Sony and (maybe) Nintendo.

By: max

max — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:52:58 +0000

Yup, after reading about Guild Wars here on this site, at least I think it was here, I was interested enough to take a look this weekend and see what it is about. After searching in vain for a demo I found that there is no demo of Guild. I did subscribe to a Guild newsletter that “may” release a trial code now and then so it is not completely lost but c’mon how many rings of fire do legitimate, read paying, customers have to jump through?

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 12:06:43 +0000

What about embracing BitTorrent, like World of Warcraft has? Obviously, that’s working for them. Why are the other game houses so indentured to the GameSpot’s of the world? Do positive GameSpot reviews drive more purchases than a kick ass demo?

By: alanp

alanp — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:53:03 +0000

Not just demo games…I have blogged about my experience with Habbo Hotel in Habbo Hostile here.

Fortunately there is choice…

By: Hans Blaauw

Hans Blaauw — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:27:52 +0000

I totally agree! I had the same problem with Company of Heroes. I never play games but this time i wanted to check out the demo and it struck me how much time is involved in finding and downloading the download. All this registrations etc.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 07:58:03 +0000

I couldn't agree more - it's almost enough to sign up for a Gamespot premium account (which of course CNet wants you to do).

One thought - for a single player demo, I can't see why they wouldn't make it freely available without pushing marketing material at you first. One possibility is that the majority of consumers aren't savvy gamers, and can be sold by marketing (which is why TV ads for games almost never show gameplay, but try to demonstrate a compelling story).

However, for multiplayer demos I can see why they would want to push marketing before giving you access to the game. Sometimes the multiplayer demo is enough, if you don't have a lot of time to play a game. I would probably care less about upgrading unless I was constantly made aware of all the reasons to do so. Although, they usually force you to see this stuff in the demo anyway, so perhaps my point is moot.

Most likely, executives decided they can get the average consumer to skip the 500mb+ download and just go buy the game if they push enough marketing at them.