Compare the similarities and differences of production, distribution, marketing and consumption of Read Dead Redemption and Farmville

In this essay I will compare the similarities and differences of production, distribution, marketing and consumption of Red Dead Redemption and my own case study Farmville.

Red Dead Redemption’s production company is Rockstar. Rockstar is a high ended publishing division who are owned Take Two, Rockstar mainly make their own money, whilst its Take Two’s stock price that is effected by the success of Rockstars games. Rockstar own the developers, Rockstar San Diego, so won’t have issues over who owns the Read Dead Redemptions IP and who can make money from it. Rockstar also have their own game engine RAGE, which means they don’t have to pay to license this software off another company, however it would have cost them a lot in the first place to buy their own game engine. In comparison in my research of my own case… Farmville’s production company is Zynga. Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco and develops browser based games that work both individual and applications on social networking. Zynga is a small independent company and during production stage had to converge with social network site, Facebook, to produce a fresh new game, this game being Farmville.

During the distribution period Rockstar do not own the hardware consoles (Xbox and PS3) in which Red Dead Redemption is played on. Rockstar had to pay Sony and Microsoft to use their systems to run their games which is an example on media ownership. In contrast Zynga, creator of Farmville, filed an agreement to its form explaining its relationship with Facebook, including the 2010 five year agreement to exclusively use Facebook credits. All Zynga games that use Facebook integration must remain exclusive to Facebook for the duration of the agreement, and Zynga is not allowed to release new games on an unrevealed list of other social networks.  Not only does this explains examples of media ownership but also adds synergy, the interaction of two or more agents to ensure a larger effect than if they acted independently.

In the marketing stage of Red Dead Redemption, synergy was completed by releasing information over a number of different media types at the same time. The first look at Red dead was when Rockstar released a trailer, a week’s coverage with website IGN and did a feature in the magazine Game Informer. Showing examples of media convergence and synergy. Rockstar also used synergy with their marketing retailers, HMV, Amazon and US retailer GameStop. In likeness, Zynga joined partnership with electronics retail store best buy. The two teamed up to sell Farmville merchandise on the best buy website, has exclusive Farmville collectables. Zynga also decided to foil wrap the toys and pack them in a barn blind box style. This implies that customer would not know what ‘collectible toy’ lies inside. American websites such as Zazzle, sells Farmville products which is an example of synergy, as they are coming together with Zynga to benefit them both.
In the consumption period, once Red Dead Redemption was on sale then the consumers could play it, use and celebrate the game however they wanted. On the 26^th of October 2010, a film on the game was created (machima) which emphasised the play of the game. This affects the way producers and consumers interacted, which shows signs of media convergence. A Rockstar social club was created, so consumers can play against the developer. In contrast, Farmville was consumed through social networks only, first released to Facebook in 2009 then iOS in 2010. Due to the popularity of the game, an app was made on Apple products so they became technologically converged. The game could be played on iPhones, iPads and even iPods. The fact that you can play games on the phone and internet mean smaller companies can make different types of games and not compete with the big consoles games like Red Dead, an example of proliferation. Farmville is also a free game, and a game you can play whenever you want, on the go, at home, on Facebook. Whereas, Red Dead is limited to game play and must be consumed through Xbox and PS3.

In conclusion, both games have similarities and differences, in each stage of development. Each game has both positives and negatives for its consumers, creators etc. 

Grace Bradbury.