It seems that Valve is at it again with some viral marketing, releasing a curious update yesterday to puzzle game darling Portal that included a new achievement and some curious radio message data. If you’re curious about the shenanigans, you can check Jim Sterling’s latest article on Destructoid about the Portal craziness, or alternatively the live decoding thread on the Steam forums.
I do have to say that seeing viral marketing work properly – that is to say, overt but not obvious, teasing but not condescending – is entertaining business. If you check the thread, you can see people have brought those cryptography and puzzle-solving talents to bear, figuring out an interpretation of the sounds and then the image data within hours. The fact that Valve has also been notably tight-lipped about helping is also a great way to increase the mystery and keep the high interest going.
Having something to speculate about is one thing – I mean, people have been asking for what might be Portal 2 and of course, Half-Life Episode 3 for quite some time now. But having something to speculate about along with a breadcrumb of data idly dropped by a developer? That makes the process of waiting just a little bit more exciting if not good marketing. People remember decently good viral campaigns, because they are both complex in their planning but simple in their execution. Obviously, if a game doesn’t live up to the marketing, you might think that the virus might not have done its job, but from a certain perspective, if it’s created the kind of buzz and short term exposure needed to make people aware, it just might have.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the image data (all very curious pics, you should definitely check them out) as well as the big reveal that Valve might have up its sleeve with all this. I hope you are too!