This is second of ten essays contained within the second issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, a collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. We will be posting a new essay every Friday from now until September, but if you would like to read all the essays early and support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by @pillowkisser!
Time and time again while browsing adult games, I see store page after store page with bad marketing copy; bad enough that it actually obstructs the process of deciding whether or not to buy or try a game. This sucks from the perspective of a consumer, and it's also gotta suck from the perspective of a developer.
It doesn't have to be this way. I've seen indie developers talk about struggling with marketing, and I can totally understand how it can seem difficult from the outside, but it isn't something that's out of reach, even for an indie developer with no budget.
I used to work as an editor for marketing copy; I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a marketing expert, but pointing out flaws in marketing copy (and suggesting ways to fix them) was part of my job.
In this article, I want to use that experience to help you market your adult game. This isn't about advertising or social media campaigns, but about the fundamental way you describe your game to potential buyers. Specifically, I'm going to focus on what goes on a game's store page, but this information should generalize well to any other forms of marketing you choose to do.
Some Marketing Terms
There are some marketing terms you're gonna need to know to understand what I'm going on about. They're fairly self-explanatory, but I want to put them here for those who aren't familiar, because I'm going to need them to explain the problem with how adult games are usually marketed:
- A Target Audience is the group of people who would want to buy your game.
- A Value Proposition is why someone in your target audience should buy your game - what benefits it brings them.
- Marketing Copy is the text you use to explain that value proposition to your target audience.
Why Adult Games Marketing (Usually) Sucks
The short answer is that a lot of adult games don't actually talk about their erotic themes (basically, the kinks that the game is about) or how those themes are expressed. They'll talk about how many renders they have, or how many words are in the script, but clam up when it comes to the actual sex.
That is, frankly, some really fucking important information to leave out. What I need you to understand is that in the vast majority of cases, people are playing adult games to get off. Details about story, renders, and word count are nice, and they might add extra incentive to buy your game, but they aren't what gets people in the metaphorical door.
If you don't include that information your game's erotic elements, not only are you not communicating your game's value proposition, but you're not even making it clear to your target audience that they are the target audience. What's more, you can sabotage people's ability to find your game in the first place. I'm not suggesting you go down the SEO rabbithole, but if you have a game about robots and anal sex, you'd probably like it to show up when someone searches for "robot anal sex game".
When I first noticed how widespread this issue was, I assumed that developers were being restricted by storefront terms of service, but I don't think that's the case. The most compelling argument against it is that, in addition to some games on these platforms discussing their kinks (including ones generally considered extreme), storefronts like Steam and Itch.io allow explicit images and videos on their store pages.
It seems highly unlikely to me that Steam or Itch would object to a list of kinks going in a game's description, but have no issue with an uncensored HD clip of someone getting absolutely demolished by werewolf cock. But maybe I'm just out of touch.
Speaking of images and videos, they can and should supplement marketing copy, but they should not be used as a substitute. They are often ambiguous, and don't help with the issue of people not finding your game.
Common Mistakes
I don't want to negatively critique real people's real marketing copy without permission, so here's a list of some common patterns I see in how adult games are described:
- Not acknowledging a game's sexual content - There are some games where you literally
cannot tell by the description alone that the game is an adult game. - Quietly acknowledging the game has sexual content, but not given any further information - This usually takes the form of a disclaimer along the lines of "This game features nudity, sex, and adult-only content". This is not enough information.
- Quietly acknowledging the game has sexual content, but only hinting at what that sexual content is. Prospective buyers shouldn't have to try and puzzle out if blurbs like "What if you could get revenge on the people who wronged you?" is a sex thing or just a story hook. This also applies to only describing a game's content as "kinky".
How To Market Your Adult Game
Target Audience & Value Proposition
Adult games have a general formula for their target audience and value proposition. Your target audience is people who play (or want to play) adult games, and are turned on by what's in your adult game.
The value proposition is mainly why the game is going to turn them on. Things like graphics, story, and gameplay still matter and you should still include them in your value proposition if applicable, but they're secondary sources of value.
Marketing Copy
With a target audience and value proposition in hand, the actual writing part of this whole endeavor becomes a lot easier. You already have your main objective (convince your target audience to buy your game), as well as a rubric on how to accomplish that (explain your value proposition to said target audience) which you can use to guide and evaluate your writing.
Honestly, most adult games have marketing copy that would be fine if they weren't adult games; people seem to be struggling specifically with the erotic aspects of the value proposition, so that's what this section is going to focus on.
Generally speaking, I think there are two types of erotic information that you need to convey: Erotic themes, and perspective.
Erotic Themes
We've touched on erotic themes earlier in the article; They're the different types of sexual content the game contains. This category includes kinks, but also vanilla sex acts - lack of information about erotic themes doesn't mean your game is vanilla, it means your value proposition is unclear.
I actually don't think you should include every erotic theme your game has in your marketing copy. If someone is searching for a game with specific themes, they probably want those themes to be featured somewhat prominently. I would say highlight the primary themes of your game, and mention the secondary ones that still show up semi-frequently.
You should also mention if you have any themes that are likely to be a turnoff to those who aren't into them, or are likely to be upsetting to some people. Ultimately, you're not going to be able to list every kink that every person might find objectionable, but if there's something in your game you know isn't for everyone, it's good to let people know. It helps prevent angry customers, and it helps attract the people who are into those things.
Perspective
Perspective is about how the game presents its erotic themes. I think a game's perspective is just as important as its themes, but I see it talked about even less. Part of the reason I think this is important is because adult games often encourage players to project themselves onto, or roleplay as, a character, and so it matters how that character is involved in the game's erotic themes.
For example, if you have a game focused on BDSM, it matters whether the player (character) is acting as a dominant, submissive, or switch. Just like themes, perspective can have a big impact on whether or not someone will enjoy your game. The same scene could turn someone on from one perspective, but turn them off or even cross a boundary from the other.
Summary
In summary, your marketing copy should include information about what erotic themes your game has, and how the player (character) is involved. You don't have to include every erotic theme your game has, but you should highlight the most important ones, and make potential buyers aware of themes that might be deal-breakers.
A Case Study
For an example of what I think is good marketing copy for an adult game, let's look at the Steam page for Ravager, an adult visual novel with RPG elements. Ravager's store page uses Steam's "mature content description" field to display its erotic themes front and center:
Ravager contains a large variety of adult content. You will be asked what you want to feature in your game, and it will be adapted to suit your preferences.
If you choose to include it, Ravager can contain depictions of: cruelty, violence, gore, torture, nudity, sex, sexual violence, sex with monsters and creatures, incest, drug use, and self-harm.
Clearly communicating these themes makes it easy for people viewing to page to know whether or not the game is likely to be for them.The description then begins, defining the perspective of the game within the first few lines:
Ravager is a game where you play a young dragon, determined to reclaim his birthright. To do so, you will need to build your power, ally with dark forces, evade justice, and whet your monstrous appetites.
Only after the themes and perspective have been explained, does the description discuss the story, gameplay, and features, while still sprinkling in additional secondary erotic themes.
What makes this marketing copy so good is that not only does it include relevant information about themes and perspective, but it puts that information first. Only after it's hooked the target audience with the themes and perspective does it proceed to explain how the game supports those themes and perspective with art, narration, and other features.
Conclusion
Marketing isn't some inscrutable craft known only to a select few. Finding your target audience, creating a value proposition, and writing marketing copy to bring the latter to the former is all within reach of even solo devs with minimum budgets.
You don't have to be an expert to write decent marketing copy for your adult game, but you do have to be willing to openly discuss what makes your game erotic. When it comes to marketing copy, don't play coy about your game's eroticism. It's what people come for.
RagingHadron (he/they) is a freelance writer who is familiar with marketing copy, having worked as an editor and proofreader for it. They play adult games as a hobby, and are also a hobbyist musician, gamedev, and enjoyer of traditional roguelikes. You can find them on Cohost @raginghadron, usually making or reposting bad jokes.