Dispatch: A prime example in weaponising parasocial relationships to guarantee sales

I was looking through other ‘indie’ games from this year and remembered Dispatch made a lot of noise recently. It is made by ex-Telltale devs so naturally I was curious to play it. That is until I clicked the Steam page and saw what that "noise" was really about. Immediately, I raised an eyebrow.

To be very clear, I am not talking about the actual game content as it is supposedly solid. I am talking about the cynical and rather disgusting nature of the marketing and the entire process behind the game.

On the Steam page itself they largely advertise the main cast. It is not just a cast list. It is a calculated checklist designed to hit every demographic wallet possible. You have Hollywood actors like Aaron Paul and Jeffrey Wright for TV prestige. You have the entire Critical Role family to lock in the tabletop and anime crowd who care about "serious voice acting". Then you have the influencers and streamers with a combined 50 million+ following.

This should immediately ring alarm bells.

Some might think these are just weird casting choices but they aren't. It is perfectly targeted marketing designed to maximise parasocial relationships. It is essentially the biggest case of "Hey, support this friend or family member you watch content of! They are living in this personalised game world you can interact with!"

The proof is in the feedback loop. You already have streamers like Jacksepticeye and MoistCr1TiKaL uploading videos literally just titled "I am in this game" and racking up millions of views. They play the game to react to their own voices and their fans buy it just to be in on the joke. Then you have Critical Role doing a tabletop one-shot to promote it. They used a D&D session to sell a video game to a loyal audience that might not even be interested in the genre. It feels like they are exploiting that "sucker" mentality where fans will buy anything simply because the "family" tells them to support it.

It feels like the project became less of a narrative-focused game and more of a vehicle for maximising that parasocial hook. It is built as "streamer bait" whilst using the serious TV actors as a shield of legitimacy.

What really rubs me the wrong way is seeing the developers playing humble recently. They claimed they "didn't expect" to sell 2 million copies in such a short time. Really? You cast the biggest streamers on the planet, actual Hollywood stars, and you have the CEO of Critical Role listed as an Executive Producer. Acting surprised that people bought it feels incredibly dishonest. You do not build a product rooted in that many massive, loyal fanbases by accident. You did it to guarantee those numbers.