Bots Dominate More Hot Buys: How To Improve Bot-Blocking

In September 2020, Nintendo announced the Super Mario 3D All-Stars pack, a collection of Super Mario games from previous consoles. The release was to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., one of the most popular games ever created. Containing the Nintendo 64’s Super Mario 64, the GameCube’s Super Mario Sunshine and the Wii’s Super Mario Galaxy, the pack would make all those titles playable on September 18 on the Nintendo Switch.

To make things exciting, Nintendo announced it was only shipping a limited number of physical copies and would stop electronic downloads of the game on March 31, 2021. Unfortunately, this confused and angered Super Mario’s legions of fans—many of whom complained on Twitter about Nintendo’s limited release plans. Some gaming journalists called out Nintendo’s decision and warned it would result in a massive scalping issue like what has happened with Sony’s in-demand and hard-to-find PlayStation 5 game console.

Nintendo sold plenty of games in the end. However, poorly managed limited releases can backfire even if they result in a lot of sales; frustrated customers can inflict brand damage if they feel the release is unfair. Worse, bot operators can snag much of the online inventory, shutting out true fans. This played out multiple times with the Sony PS5 console during 2020 and 2021, as hordes of bots besieged online stores. According to data engineer Michael Driscoll, 10% to 15% of all PS5s were quickly resold at high markups.

Fortunately, smart companies can easily avoid that fate by proactively planning out their limited release program and designing it for success.

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What is the goal of your limited release program?

Do you want to use it as a hook to encourage the purchase of other products? To reward loyal customers? To gain buzz? (Read more...)