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Service companies in the video game industry do not differ much. They mostly have the same service line, which is quite understandable. What’s not so clear is why all those companies' websites say the same thing and make the same mistakes. Self-centered copy, cliches, too much focus on what the company does rather than on why someone should care, and boring formal language. Such “lazy” communication results in “lazy” sales.
But Room 8 Studio chose a different approach.
By partnering with Kaiiax, Room 8 Studio created a website for a new brand focused on 2D and 3D art services. We created copy for an already existing design mockup and helped Room 8 Studio build a vivid and memorable brand.
Getting away from the commodity trap
The video gaming industry is booming. Due to the pandemic, more people started playing video games and the amount of consumed content has increased dramatically. Along with the growing demand for games, the demand for talent also rises. It’s no surpise that the number of game development companies looking for service providers has increased from 1% in 2019 to 25% in 2022, according to the XDS report.
The vast majority of service-based companies offer game art services. And these services are projected to have the biggest demand in the next 12-18 months, according to the developers and game publishers who took part in the XDS survey.
On the one hand, it’s good news for service companies, as now they have an unprecedented opportunity to increase the number of projects. But on the other hand, there are lots of service companies and it’s very difficult to find the differences between them.
A big share of companies that offer game development services don’t have a well-defined specialization. They offer a wide range of services meant to fill all the needs of game companies and publishers, such as art, development, testing, and LiveOps.
Room 8 Studio didn’t want to go this way. Because if you offer all sorts of stuff, your services can quickly turn into a commodity. Instead, they chose a diversification and differentiation strategy. They have separated into several brands that focus on the fields valued by clients from the gaming industry. This is how Room 8 Group emerged - a group of companies that includes such brands as Room 8 Studio, Solid Bash, Dragons Lake, Massive Black, and more.
The Room 8 Studio brand chose game art as its focus. After all, Room 8 Studio started as an art production company back in 2011. To introduce this brand to potential clients, Room 8 Studio decided to create a new website.
We joined the project when the website design was complete. Even though it goes against our content-first approach, according to which, content sets out the design, and not vice versa, we decided to help Room 8 Studio stand out not only when it comes to business strategy, but also in copywriting. Here is how we did it.
From self-centered to client-centered communication
Because Room 8 Studio had already had their website redesigned before they started working with Kaiiax, content for the pages was taken from the previous website version. We found a few flaws in that copy.
The biggest downside was that the company was talking only about itself in its communication: things they do, their experience, the team they have. There was no word about the clients and how the company’s services can be helpful for them.
Self-centered communication doesn’t resonate with potential clients because people are not interested in how wonderful someone else’s brand is. They only care about themselves.
To focus on the client and the benefits offered by the company, we changed the self-centered messages to customer-centered. Here are a few examples of before and after.
UI/UX design
Before
Room 8 Studio’s dedicated art team creates UI interfaces and icons that help players navigate and accomplish goals with a focus on the player’s experience of enjoyment and entertainment. In the past years, we’ve gathered vast experience on how to help make a game worth playing and how to deliver perfect UI/UX and icons at scale for our partners.
After
Make the UI/UX of your game feel natural so your users don’t even notice it. We translate the game designers’ vision into a fun and intuitive player experience.
Animation & VFX
Before
Realistic motions of creatures, vehicles, environments, props, and hard surface objects for a wide range of game genres and settings. Turnkey service with rigging, skinning, laying out, blocking, and animation all done within one team.
After
Bring your game to life with animations and visual effects that keep players engrossed in a gameplay. We animate fantasy creatures, human characters, vehicles, environments, props, and even hard surface objects.
The easiest way to shift attention to the client is to begin sentences with a verb that says “achieve your goal by working with us”.
Relevant “why choose us” for each service
The structure of all service pages we've recieved from Room 8 Studio was very similar. Each of those pages had a block with subservices, examples of work, and the “Our strengths” block that answers the question “Why us?”. There is nothing bad in this somewhat template-ish approach to creating pages of the same type. However, if we single out the “Our strengths” block, it can’t be about the same thing on each page.
We've studied the specifics of each service thoroughly, paying special attention to “Our strengths” and came up with relevant messages that reveal the company’s knowledge, experience, and values in the context of each service.
For instance, do you know that diversity and inclusion are some of the hottest topics in the gaming industry? It’s all because almost 79% of modern game characters are male, while nearly 54% are white. Top-level companies in the gaming industry are fighting these statistics successfully, giving preference to diversity and inclusion. They need to know that their potential partners share the same values.
For the 3D characters page, we added diversity and inclusion not only to show that Room 8 Studio has experience in creating characters with lots of personalities, ethnicities, and appearancies, but also to convey the company's values.
While working on the UI/UX design page, we asked ourselves “What guides a designer who creates the game interface?”. And we found the answer! It turns out a UI/UX designer has to achieve two goals when creating a user interface: let players understand the game (usability) and get excited about it (game feel). We understood it thanks to a video in which Celia Hodent, Ex-Director of UX for Epic Games, reveals the details of creating the user interface of a famous Fortnite game.
We used this finding in the form of two principles - usability and game feel – that the Room 8 Studio's UI/UX design approach is based on.
We also added the company’s ability to create separate interface functions that let gamers get a positive gaming experience to the UI/UX design page.
In an engaging 3D environment, everything looks as if it belongs to this world and that the world had existed long before the gamer’s foot stepped into it. To achieve immersion, game artists follow the principles of context and consistency. We added this principle to the 3D Environment page, highlighting the company’s ability to create an engaging gaming environment.
Details that visualize content
The copy from the previous Room 8 Studio's website version had one more significant flaw. It was “lifeless”. Passive voice, broad generalizations, cliches, industry jargon - all of this doesn’t facilitate creating trustworthy, emotional, and interesting communication.
To make messages more impactful, emotional, and lively, we used visual copywriting.
Visual copywriting is writing copy that tells a story and engages your audience in the context of what you're communicating. This type of copywriting is all about using vivid descriptive language and details to give your audience a chance to visualize your content and remember your brand.
Here are a few examples of before and after:
3D environment
Before
We can help with the high-grade content for your racing project! From AAA 3D models designed and polished to correspond to the original car models, to related environment assets that perfectly match the game style.
After
From Formula to GT and more, we create digital replicas of the greatest cars designed and polished to correspond to the game style. We work closely with the programming and game design teams to ensure optimal use of polygons, shaders, and textures.
Have you visualized it yet?
UI/UX design
Before
Motion design helps create a pleasant and intuitive experience while guiding the user through the digital product and conveying a narrative. These animations carefully sync to the user’s needs to improve their interactions.
After
A pulsing button, a moving backdrop, a rolling bar, a flickering vignette — by adding a tiny bit of animation to a screen, we make a game look more appealing. With our excellent understanding of cinematography and visual storytelling, we build UX motion behaviors that orient, teach, and guide the player experience.
Pulsing button, moving backdrop, rolling bar, and flickering vignette are the words that involve motion — these are sensory words. They add “life” to your text.
Animation & VFX
Before
Room 8 Studio creates amazing 3D animation and visual effects for a wide range of verticals and product categories. It’s a turnkey service with rigging, skinning, laying out, blocking and final animation all done within one team.
After
Jump, fall, walk, dance, disappear, reappear, zig-zag, spin, explode — our professional motion artists create 3D animations that make a character move naturally. We produce realistic animations by adhering to the laws of physics and Disney’s 12 principles of animation.
And here is movement again! After all, it's the animation we are talking about. By the way, you can check out 12 animation principles from Disney here.
Concept art & 2D
Before
We ask our clients to give us a rough description of what they expect to see in the project, and we use our extensive creative resources to make it happen. It takes a bit of trust from our client’s end, but we always exceed expectations. Let us make your game a reality!
After
A script, an outline, or a verbal pitch — no matter how you deliver your requirements, we turn them into visuals that meet your expectations.
“Approximate requirement description” is a very general concept. If we add well-defined examples of what we mean — a script, an outline, or a verbal pitch — it will make our communication clearer and more specific.
Messages focused on the client’s results
For the Games page, which sells game development services, we started communicating with the outcomes the client receives by working with Room 8 Studio. Create a game that didn’t exist before, reach a wider audience of players, and meet new challenges without team burnout. To all these promises we added information about what Room 8 Studio has to be able to keep them. For example, to create a new game, the company has years of experience, which increases the game's chances of success. To reach a wider audience of players, Room 8 Studio can move the game to any platform. And to overcome new challenges without exhausting the team, the company has more than 800 game development specialists who will allow the client to grow without limits.
Three key messages focused on results end with an outcome that solves the main client's problem, which is “Keep up with the pressure to release fresh content consistently.” It is the need to constantly release new gaming content amid the growing demand that pushes game companies to search for development partners.
What’s next?
Kaiiax's work on Room 8 Studio website lasted nearly two months. Along with it, we developed a content strategy and helped other Room 8 Group brands create separate websites, cases, and content strategies.
Room 8 Studio released their new website in July 2022. Next in line is long and thorough work on SEO and content that we will be happy to do for our client.
One more thing
There is one more interesting detail on Room 8 Studio's website that their team came up with. If you visit their home page and try to copy the tagline “We’re smart with art” to your Google Doc, you will see two extra words invisible otherwise:
On the website:
In your Google Doc:
WE’RE SMART
AND CRAZY WITH ART
The tagline about smart and crazy successfully conveys the brand mood and fits the chosen design style. We are fully supporting this creative decision!
