The Swedish developers Paradox Interactive are considered geniuses when it comes to turn-based strategy games in historical settings. With “The Lamplighters League” (Steam, Xbox, Game Pass), they are now releasing a new game and wanted to promote it via purchased Twitch streams on September 28. It didn’t go so well, says MeinMMO author Schuhmann.
What kind of game is this?
- The Lampglighters League is a turn-based strategy game where you control 3 or 4 heroes and face off against groups of “look like Nazis, but aren’t” henchmen. Gameplay-wise, it resembles a mix of Evil Genius (the strategy map) and X-Com (the fights).
- A special feature is that before starting a battle, you have the option to eliminate some enemies. Depending on your character type, you can throw mines, sneak up on them and knock them out from behind, or charge at them.
- The game has the look of “The Mummy Returns” films but is also often compared to Indiana Jones.
In early tests, the game received an 82% rating from GameStar , while PC Gamer was less impressed, finding it too grindy, too monotonous, and rated it 62%. On Metacritic, The Lamplighters League has a score of 75%.
On October 3, The Lamplighters League launches – currently, there is a demo available on Steam :
Developers want to promote a game that is not meant for Twitch via Twitch
What is the problem with such a game? Such a game is usually not at all suitable for Twitch. There are at least three reasons:
- For one, we Germans like the genre “turn-based strategy game” much more than the rest of the world. Even the release of the similarly positioned Jagged Alliance 3 hardly interested anyone outside Germany. Jagged Alliance 3 currently ranks 552 on Twitch.
- Moreover, single-player games are generally difficult on Twitch, especially linear ones, as viewers spoil themselves by watching. Exceptions are horror games, where viewers are happy if the streamer gets scared, or very creative games like Baldur’s Gate 3.
- The Lamplighters League has a relatively slow gameplay style, making it not very exciting to watch. The gameplay loop repeats quickly.
In normal circumstances, the game would not interest anyone on Twitch upon its release on October 3.
Paradox books sponsorships with major streamers
This was Paradox’s plan: Paradox Interactive has booked sponsorships with some major US streamers and scheduled them for September 28: The two largest streamers by far were LIRIK (3 million followers on Twitch) and CohhCarnage (1.5 million followers).
These are variety streamers known for having a passion for indie games. CohhCarnage was also the largest streamer for Jagged Alliance 3 and was at the forefront for Baldur’s Gate 3.
Did the plan work? No, unfortunately not. CohhCarnage messed up the embargo and showcased the game on September 27 for 2 hours. On September 28, he followed up with another 2 hours.
Although LIRIK stuck to the plan, he only showed the game for the apparently agreed 2 hours and not a minute more.
Switching from Counter-Strike 2 to The Lamplighters League costs every 2nd viewer
This was the streamers’ problem: Both streamers were live on Twitch with another game and had to interrupt their actual stream to switch to “The Lamplighters League” at the agreed time. This also caused many viewers to disappear:
- Lirik had almost 20,000 viewers while he was active in Counter-Strike 2. The drastic change in theme from shooter to strategy game cost him about every 2nd viewer. By the end of the stream, he still had 9,400.
- CohhCarnage fared slightly better: Instead of 12,000 viewers who watched him a few hours earlier in Cyberpunk 2077, there were only 7,000 for the strategy game. He was far away from his peak numbers of around 20,000 viewers for the week.
LIRIK didn’t seem too eager to show the game anyway: He ended the game in the middle of a mission when the two hours were up and wrapped it up rather listlessly, mentioning that the game is also available on GamePass.
What would have been better? The significantly better sponsorship partner for Paradox Interactive would probably have been the strategy-oriented German Twitch streamer Writing Bull, who was already looking forward to the game at Gamescom (via gamestar).
He showed nearly 4 hours of “The Lamplighters League” to about 450 viewers, but they stayed engaged. Writing Bull, who also extensively showcased Jagged Alliance 3, likely reached the right target audience for the stream.
Steinwallen, whom Paradox had actually booked as well, did not stream.
Sponsorship money for strategy game only buys a short hype, but it fades quickly
This was the problem: Paradox essentially only bought a “very short” viewership spike with the sponsorship money, precisely in the midst of the hype for Counter-Strike 2 and Cyberpunk.
Once this spike was over, no one showed The Lamplighters League on Twitch anymore: By the next day, only a single channel worldwide showed the game, the German Twitch streamer Moerp with 171 viewers.
A similar experience had to be faced by Amazon with the shooter “Crucible”: Upon release, they bought some of the best and most expensive streamers, but it didn’t help at all, and the game was soon out of the picture.
When is the game coming out? “The Lamplighters League” will be released on October 3 on Steam and will also be available on Game Pass. A demo is already available.
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