[casual_games] Re: Pricing

[Sean Ryan]

I agree with Tom that this tends not to happen as much in console
gaming, but that's because all titles must be approved by the platform
manufacturers, which tends to limit the quantity.  

 

However, I'm not sure I don't see the same quantity vs quality problem
starting to occur in the casual game segment, where there are very low
barriers to entry, increasing number of market suppliers, and what I
believe will be pricing pressure later this year since many of the
titles are not differentiated enough from each other.  I'd argue we
haven't seen very much innovation in the casual game space in the last
12 months, and I'm not sure I see it coming in 2006, but hopefully, I'm
wrong

 

Sean Ryan

 

________________________________

From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org
[mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Tom Park
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 10:09 AM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] Re: Pricing

 

I thought Softkey came in when the market was already dying. The
edutainment market was suffering from oversupply of very poor quality
titles, and a lot of companies were failing to make any sort of profit.
Around that time, I heard execs saying stuff like, "We can't seem to
sell more than 100K units of any particular SKU, so to increase revenue
we need to pump out more SKUs." Which, of course, only led to worse
quality titles. My impression was that Softkey recognized they could
offer more to the consumers by buying the devalued companies and
offering discounted, bundled packs of software.

Of course I could be completely wrong about this, but blaming Softkey's
tactics for the failure of the industry seems like a case of "post hoc,
ergo propter hoc."

The game industry seems to recognise the hit-driven nature of the market
and tends to focus on quality. But the game industry is not so different
-- the last time I heard someone say the quote above was someone at 3DO,
regarding a plan to significantly increase their production staff a few
years before they declared bankruptcy, but the sales number was 300K.
--t

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Michelle Bushneff <mailto:michelle at planbenterprises.com>  

	To: casual_games at igda.org 

	Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 9:25 AM

	Subject: [casual_games] Re: Pricing

	 

	Interesting discussion. Does anyone remember what happened to
the "edutainment" software biz when Softkey bought up a bunch of
companies then started slashing prices and offering huge rebates? The
market virtually disappeared. Ironically, the Softkey guys were former
commodities traders.
	
	All it takes is one big gorilla that owns their delivery pipe
and their content to tip pricing in the casual games market. Let's hope
it doesn't happen anytime soon...
	
	Cheers, Michelle
	-------------------------
	Michelle Bushneff
	Plan B
	www.PlanBEnterprises.com
	-------------------------

	
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