Why don't games companies use Viral Games (Well)

I am always confused why games companies and distributors do not use viral games more effectively to promote their products. For instance my company created a racing game to promote Vauxhalls VXR car range that was played 20,000,000 times and resulted in 3,000,000 unique visitors to their website. Tie this in with a “Do you want to test drive this car” message at the end and bingo – car sales. The user has formed an emotional bond with the brand, experienced some degree of the product and are open to calls to action.

Granted, several companies have gone down this route – take Skive’s / SCEE mini game for example, but none do it well.

Seeding a viral campaign for a computer game would not be that difficult. Creating a suitable mini game would be easy. But why not leverage it more?

For example has anyone done any of the following seemingly obvious calls to action after a user has played an online viral game:

1) If the user “completes” the viral game they are rewarded with a code to unlock a character / level / special ability on the real game. This promotes people buying the game and encourages existing owners to visit the viral site where they can spread your message very easily to their friends.

2) Referred to “on package” material in their viral campaign. If a viral game is doing well then people are going to want more of the same content. Refer to something on the back of the actual games box as a method of unlocking more online content in the same manner listed above. This could be the barcode number, the third word on the second sentence or the colour of something on the packaging. If you tied this in with an online competition with a reasonable prize and then made the item you unlocked more likely to make you win (EG you can score more because your car is faster) then you would have lots of people walking into shops and picking up your product. Could you ask any more from an advertising campaign? With Xbox 360 you could tie this in with downloading the demo.

3) Promote a PR event using the online viral game as a qualification for the day. We suggested to a razor company they did this recently and proposed their PR event was held at a motorway service station. To qualify you had to complete the online game (easy) and turn up at the venue with two days of stubble – thus allowing them to “test drive” razor before playing the prize game. Imagine the PR.

We’ve got lots of other ideas but don’t want to give them all away for free! Has anyone tried any of these items or got any better ideas?