OUYA Inc should learn from PlayJam

[Ayrik]

I got this email from PlayJam last week and just noticed it today:

Dear GameStick Customer

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for placing an order with GameStick. Some of you have been patiently waiting for some time now so we want to reassure you that we have your order, and that it will be shipped to you as soon as possible.

As things stand today, our plan is to go in to production for KickStarter backers at the end of July, followed by pre-orders. That means your order will be leaving the factory in China during the first two weeks of August, and will then enter a logistics chain that will bulk distribute all orders to your local territory, and then by courier to your address. PlayJam is committed to ensuring that your order arrives as fast as possible and we are working with respected shipping agents both on pre-orders and KickStarter fulfilment that we believe will give you a great service.

The website you used is temporarily unavailable as we are now channeling all sales through our retail partners, however you can now reach us at support@gamestick.tv if you have any queries. You can also see what's happening at gamestick.tv where we have a list of the latest games and media interest, or on our Facebook page. We're also on twitter @game_stick. You may be interested in our latest competition on Facebook to design your own controller skin - check it out at http://tinyurl.com/qb4lvul.

Since we launched GameStick on KickStarter in January we have had overwhelming messages of support, and are now working with leading retail partners such as GameStop, Game UK, Amazon.com and others to bring GameStick to the mass public. We're very grateful for your support, and we thank you once again for being one of our early customers.

If you have any concerns about your order, or you need to change your shipping address or any part of your order then let us know at support@gamestick.tv and we'll do our best to help you as soon as we can.

Many thanks - and happy gaming!

The GameStick Team


PS if you are also a KickStarter backer, and used the pre-order service to add to your existing pledge, then let us know as we can now merge your orders in to a single delivery.

Imagine how much calmer everyone would be if OUYA sent out similar updates.

[arcticdog]

I suspect Gamestick may have actually learned a thing or two from OUYA in this regard... if ya know what I mean..

I bet that this letter was composed based on what happened to OUYA, how they handled the situation, and how the backers reacted.

[Ayrik]

So you're saying that GameStick is listening to OUYA's customers better than OUYA? Seriously, I love OUYA but they need some major PR help. And I suspect you're right, but OUYA needs to learn from themselves too!

[arcticdog]

In terms of GameStick's campaign, I'd say their communication was/is better, but not significantly. They also have 150 employees, so more resources available (and probably well established) to do the necessary PR and marketing. Nobody yet within OUYA has publicly owned up to having the job title for running the PR and Marketing (although it's pretty easy to find him/her on Linked-In).

I think the email addresses nearly every single point of failure in OUYA's campaign directly. Giving WAY more information than I think they would have had OUYA not stumbled (such as when they will leave factories, and when they hit shipping, local parcels, etc). It would have been interesting to see how things would have played out if the roles were reversed and PlayJam had led the release schedule. They will most certainly benefit from OUYA's stumbles should they encounter shipping problems themselves. I suspect people will be much more forgiving the second time around if they are shown this is a relatively common thing.

[Jeremy Reilloc]

OUYA sent out an update that was almost exactly the same mid year last year, explaining the stages and dates to be expected. So right now the only difference between this and the way OUYA is doing it is it's supposed to start this month, but who knows what may or may not go wrong with that!

My question is, when are KS backers SUPPOSED to get their units for GameStick? It's already been delayed once, who knows if they will hit their mark, either.

I"m not saying they will share OUYA"s problems, and they may have learned from it (hopefully), but this update is a lot like the one received from OUYA (or a combination of a few updates, I forget)

[Ayrik]

Well, it's all about how they phrased everything, and their attitude. Also, OUYA released their update AFTER THE FACT, and not before, like these guys have each time. Also, I'm NOT a backer of GameStick, but a pre-orderererer, which OUYA didn't even acknowledge existed and still hasn't! So, yeah, I'd say this is WAY better than OUYA's response.

The problem with their response in general is OUYA said things like "we promise" and "it will", where GameStick says "we expect" and "our plan". That's how I feel anyway.

[arcticdog]

Yeah.. I agree. Gamestick's responses are much more non-committal. I'm not sure if that makes them "better" responses. But it certainly makes them safer.

The thing is, Kickstarter is a much different animal than a venture capitalist. You can get away with "we promise" and "it will" because there are fewer entities holding you to your word in that situation. And if you fail to deliver it, VC's aren't the end-users directly affected by the product. They only care if they get their money back.

OUYA has an impressive list of talent working for them. But I wonder if some of those who connect to the public are a still little lost in the corporate culture of their past lives. It sometimes feels like they're a little too used to having a mutli-layered shield of lower management between them and the consumers. If you're used to being largely funded by venture capitalists, or have a well established profitable business maintaining those layers, I think sometimes upper management forgets how to engage the general public.