[casual_games] multiplayer?

[Kim Pallister]

>One thing that surprises me is how few multiplayer options there are for casual gamers. Why is that? My friend, another game developer, said it's because there's no way for a casual game developer to make money on multiplayer games. Is that true? Are there no viable business models around that make multiplayer game development appealing to casual game developers?


I'll take a stab at that one:

Just like with "big budget" games, there are a couple different types of multiplayer you can look at here: multi-player web games, multi-player 'mode' in a DL game (i.e. multiplayer as feature), MMO type model (subscription or item sales), etc.

Games like Kart rider and Puzzle Pirates have shown that the latter of those models can work in the casual space. I'll stick to the former.

There's a number of reasons you see fewer of these than single player:
- It raises the cost of the game
- It complicates distribution (portals are reluctant to host games that either send their users to other sites/communities, or subject users to profane chat, etc)
- There's a lot of disagreement in the industry about whether or not multiplayer is The Next Big Thing, or whether it's a niche within the existing market.

We're starting to see more games using it as a differentiator. We've had a number of web games on our site with multiplayer for some time, and they've done pretty well (traffic-wise).

To get back to your original question: I think multiplayer can be made to work in any of the existing casual games business models. It's just whether the additional risk is worth it or not that is the question.


Kim Pallister
Business Development
Microsoft Casual Games