1. DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS TO GAIN VALUABLE INFORMATION ABOUT COMMUNITIES OF AAA GAMES TITLES AND GLOBAL GAMES GIANTS.
Enquiry

2. EVALUATE AND ANALYSE CONTENT IN ORDER TO LAUNCH AAA TITLES FROM A PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE.
Analysis

3. COMMUNICATE FINDINGS AND GAMES METRICS ACCURATELY, CONCISELY, LOGICALLY AND THOROUGHLY.
Communication

4.DEMONSTRATE A CRITICAL AND PERCEPTIVE CONSIDERATION OF THE PR PRACTITIONER’S POTENTIAL AND CONSTRAINTS FOR MAINTAINING AAA GAMING COMMUNITIES.
Reflection

Students explore what kind of content you need to create for AAA title launches, how publishers work to keep momentum in-between games releases, how community managers work creatively to successfully manage communities when working on multiple titles (case studies may include a look at Blizzard and the world of eSports), when community management for AAA’s goes wrong, and a look at the pros and cons of big budget community management teams.

Building upon Community Management for Developers, this module will enable students to discuss, examine and reflect on the following:

Understanding AAA Publishers
• How Global giants work and the Production Cycle
• Analysis of a AAA Game Product Lifecycle
• How to engage the publishers with community in feedback and which feedback to engage in.
• Creative ways to engage the community with limited assets but a big budget.

Understanding the Players in the Community

• Understanding different types of players – Fifa fans to World of Warcraft
• AAA title fan sites
• Social media listening for AAA game launches

Metrics for AAA Publishers
• How to keep the community happy – Tomb Raider case study amongst others
• Monetisation Metrics - EA

Reporting
• Working as part of a global community management team

Developing an advanced knowledge and understanding of Community management for publishers and AAA titles.

This module consists of
• 18 x 2hour lecturer/seminars lead by the Tutor
• 4x 2hour Seminars lead by the students
• 2x 2hour Reflective Tutoring sessions

• ‘The Power of Gaming Communities’ - https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/01/09/the-power-of-gaming-communities/
• ‘Game Devs: Build Your Community As You Build Your Game’ - https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/13/game-devs-build-your-community-as-you-build-your-game/
• ‘Building A Positive Gaming Community’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bZZ7C3EJIY

AAA Case studies:
• Various communities – including Fifa - (https://www.easports.com/uk/fifa/community), Overwatch https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch), Total War (https://forums.totalwar.com/, Dark Souls https://steamcommunity.com/app/211420/) and Guild Wars 2 (https://gw2community.com/)
• Reddit – such as Dark Souls Reddit Channel https://www.reddit.com/r/darksouls/ or God of War (https://www.reddit.com/r/GodofWar/)
• Discord –Red Dead Redemption 2, Yakuzu 6, Monster Hunter World, Final Fantasy etc.

University library: 24/7 access, for books, journals (PR Week and www.prweek.com a recommended window to the industry) and electronic resources including access to www.cipr.co.uk the industry-standard and professional portal for PR practitioners.

Blackboard: 24/7 access online, for course information, notes, links to publications and updates.

The Media Centre: Editing suites and studios and free loans of all equipment including audio kit, video and stills cameras.

Pre-requisites Community Management Specialism: Developers

Students explore what kind of content you need to create for AAA title launches, how publishers work to keep momentum in-between games releases, how community managers work creatively to successfully manage communities when working on multiple titles (case studies may include a look at Blizzard and the world of Esports), when community management for AAA’s goes wrong, and a look at the pros and cons of big budget community management teams.