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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Opinion   >   Why is the games industry so in thrall to Z-list celebrities from other media?

Why is the games industry so in thrall to Z-list celebrities from other media?

By on August 23, 2010

Last week, MCV ran a story entitled Hollywood stars land at Gamescom. It listed the “stars” who were attending shows to promote games at the consumer event in Cologne.

I haven’t heard of any of them. Not one. Why not check out the list below and see how you do. Ten bonus points if you can name the person in the picture on the right.

Now I fully admit that I am not exactly current on popular culture. I also acknowledge that Gamescom is a German consumer show and these celebs might be the equivalent of the cast of Hollyoaks or German Big Brother winners.

But there is a bigger point. To put it succinctly.why the bloody hell are we so excited that a group of people no one has ever heard of, still less care about turn up to a games conference.

As games developer Charles Cecil of Revolution Software put it :

“Surely we should have the confidence to trumpet our own – God knows, our audience will be much more excited about video game personalities than these good folk and we should be too.“

It’s a fair point. What do you think?

A list of celebrities no-one’s heard of.

  • Joe Greve
  • DJ Ghanaian Stallion
  • Chris Hülsbeck, Michael Stöckemann & Filipp Issa
  • Ed Boon & Olivier Wolff
  • Steve Niles
  • Sammy Deluxe
  • Oliver & James Phelps
  • Andreas Köpke, Lutz Pfannelstiel, Jörg Stiel, Lars Leese & Manni Breukmann
  • David Török, Leyla & Necla (Martial Arts)
  • Andre Olbrich & Marcus Siepen (Blind Guardian)
  • Gina Lisa
  • Van Canto
  • Olli Banjo
  • Das Bo
  • Azad
  • Materia
  • Rytlock Brimstone & Caithe
  • Katsuhiro Harada & Yoshinori Ono
  • Anja Niedieck, Jörg Rohde, Michael N. Kühl & Julia Augustin (Alles was zählt – German soap opera)
  • Jens Nowotny
  • Adrian SutilLutz Marquardt & Marcel Spand (Verbotene Liebe)
  • Bernadette Kaspar
  • Stanfour & Revolverheld
  • Fertig, Los!
  • Goldhawks
  • Dúné
  • Shout Out Louds
  • Daniel Benjamin
  • Samuel Harfst
  • Aura Dione
  • Max Herre
  • Roman Fischer
  • Timid Tiger
  • Olli Schulz
  • Klee
  • 2raumwohnung

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com