This feature is probably more suited to a sequel of GDT if one is ever made, but inclusion in a future version would be cool as well.
Rather than the current system of selecting a target audience and then buying generic advertising, I propose a system of custom content and targeted marketing.
Before development of a game begins, the player should decide the game’s content via sliders, which range from “none” to “extreme”. Violence, blood/gore, sexual themes, swearing, drugs/alcohol, and educational value. The first five sliders will affect the game’s content rating (more on that later). The educational value slider does not affect content rating, but a high educational value will boost sales with the young demographic (if the final content rating is appropriate). The boost is less tangible on everyone-rated games. Educational value has no observable effect on mature games.
In the later development stages, the option is given to either submit the game to a ratings board, or decline a rating. The ratings board will assign a content rating based on the content sliders. Blood/gore and drugs/alcohol count more heavily than violence and swearing. Sexual themes is the mildest at low levels, but the most severe at high levels. Maximizing sexual themes, even with all other content sliders at 0, is enough by itself to give a game the dreaded Adults Only rating.
Most content ratings work like the current GDT system (Y, E, M, or whatever if the devs decide to change it). AO and Unrated are special ratings that change how a game can be sold. After a certain point, the ratings board will be established and consoles will not allow unrated or AO games. If developing for a console, you will not be allowed to choose whether or not to have a game rated, and AO-rated games will be automatically scrapped. AO and Unrated games can only be published on PC or Custom Console.
Unrated games sell better than AO rated games, even with the same content. As such, it is beneficial to refuse a rating for a game with highly sexual content. However, releasing an unrated game with sexualized content presents the danger that a child may find it, and the developer can get sued by the parents in a story event. For the purposes of GDT, a child will never have access to an AO rated game. To reiterate, a game that should be rated AO but isn’t rated will sell better, but can get you into trouble.
The marketing aspect should allow the player to select a target audience for the adverts (i.e. which magazines, radio stations, television networks, etc. are used for advertising). Any game can be marketed to any demographic (Y, E, M for simplicity), regardless of content. Marketing young games to a young audience is obviously a good idea (even more so if it’s an educational game). Mature games can be marketed to a young audience as well, but it’s significantly less effective, because while some parents will buy gory games for their kids you just aren’t going to see the same kind of volume. Marketing AO games to kids is a terrible idea and probably illegal (even if not, it’s illegal for parents to buy those games for kids, so it would have literally 0 effect to market in that way).
I guess an easier way to say this is that I’m suggesting GDT 2 or a possible future version of GDT separate marketing from content. The current system puts them both in the same selection: clicking Y makes a kid-friendly game marketed to kids, which is why it doesn’t work well with certain topics. Topic compatibility should be based on content, marketing should be separate.