[casual_games] 2006 Casual Games White Paper now available

[Brian Robbins]

The IGDA Casual Games SIG is very pleased to announce the availability
of the 2006 Casual Games White Paper. The 116 page report can be
downloaded from http://www.igda.org/casual/  It is also available in a
perpetually updated form on the IGDA wiki:
http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Whitepaper

This year's paper represents the combined knowledge of nearly 40
professionals in the casual gaming space, spanning all aspects of the
industry including developers, publishers, portals, tool providers and
more.

All aspects of the document have been updated from last year.
Highlights include the Business Models section with up to date
information on how casual game companies are making money today. The
Publishing section contains results from a publishing survey of over
50 players in space. These results provide information about how games
are actually brought to market. Among other things this survey shows
how companies earn their revenue, what genres of games perform the
best, and typical royalty rates seen for the various players in the
space.

Perhaps most importantly, the white paper is also available on the
IGDA wiki where it can be continuously updated by the community. Going
forward the wiki should contain the most up to date information, while
the PDF version will contain a snapshot of how casual games work
today. The wiki can be accessed and updated at:
http://www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/Casual_Games_SIG/Whitepaper



I would also like to personally thank everyone who has contributed to
this paper. We are only able to provide this kind of information to
the community through the tireless efforts of our volunteers. Everyone
worked very hard to make this document a reality. I hope that their
efforts can be rewarded through your utilizing the paper, and eventual
contribution of knowledge back out to the community. I'd also like to
specifically call out Margaret Wallace for special recognition. She
was the co-editor of the paper this year, and she did an outstanding
job of keeping everything on track, and her efforts directly led us to
releasing the paper on time for Casuality (something we have not been
able to do for several years!)

-- 
Brian Robbins
Director of Games, Game Trust
http://www.gametrust.com/
Chair, IGDA Casual Games SIG
http://www.igda.org/casual/