[casual_games] Multiplayer casual games

[Kenny Rosenblatt]

Hi Everyone, 
 
I thought I would add my 2cents, and hopefully cause a big fight.  So here
goes.

Let me start off by saying that I believe there are plenty of successful
multiplayer casual games currently on the market. They are however not as
mainstream due to our industries unwarranted love affair with single player
downloadable games using the try-before-you-buy business model.

There is no shortage of innovation, or that game developers refuse to build
multiplayer casual games, but the problem lies with the aggregators.  Yes,
the aggregators.  The aggregators are the ones who have access to the users.
If the aggregators control the eyeballs, then the multiplayer game
developers must rely heavily on aggregator support for their game to be
distributed.  It's true that some developers think selling a multiplayer
game on their site alone will be enough, but in order to be truly
successful, you will need massive distribution, a big marketing budget, or a
retail angle.

Think about it this way, if you are a game developer with a single player
downloadable game, could you really succeed without having the game
distributed by Oberon, Big-Fish, Real Arcade, Trymedia, iWin, Boonty etc?   

I see three big reasons for lack of multiplayer support by the aggregators.

1) Multi-player requires a backend system.  Is your proprietary or licensed
backend system ready to handle Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL traffic?   If not,
is the aggregator willing to put the relationship with these portals on the
line?

2) The revenue model for multiplayer is often not a $19.95 try before you
buy model, so the aggregators payment systems are currently not equipped to
handle this.  If you are a game developer without the clout of Popcap, it
will be hard to push the aggregator to change their system to accommodate
your game.  This really hurts innovation and new business models like
virtual items, subscriptions, and pay-as-you go.

3) Registrations and logins.   Most multiplayer games require a registration
of some sort, and typically the site you downloaded the game from also has a
registration system.   So....how are you going to handle that?   I really
doubt that Microsoft wants its users registering for a different system if
the user downloaded the game from zone.com.   If you are able to get the
co-registration handled, who owns the user data?  Is it the retailer, the
aggregator or the developer?  

There are lots of other reasons, but the above three are the most
significant. I hope that made some sense, and if any aggregator on the list
disagrees, please let us know.  There are plenty of us ready for high
quality multiplayer games to be sold through their distribution channels.

-Kenny
Arkadium Games


-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Jay Adan
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 1:59 PM
To: 'IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [casual_games] Multiplayer casual games

Honestly, I can't say that we've done much in the Casual space yet. Aside
from Backgammon, Chess and Checkers everything we've done has been pretty
hard-core boardgaming fare (just TRY to play Euphrat & Tigris without
reading the rules... I dare you!). But our focus has been on multiplayer and
our site certainly depends on community.

I guess the question comes from the fact that, in looking around at casual
games, you're more likely to see something new and cool come out in
single-player form. All of the big hits are generally single-player. I
didn't know about Pool on Yahoo though. Thanks, Steve.

As far as the community side goes, there are certainly portals doing well
with community without multiplayer but it would seem like it would take less
effort to get that community started with multiplayer. It's sort of built
in.

Anyway. I'm anxious to hear anymore thoughts you all might have.

-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Andres Martinez
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 12:42 PM
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] Multiplayer casual games

 >  why don't we see more multiplayer games in the casual space?

Hello Jay,

As yours, our company is creating multiplayer casual games, and I  
guess more will come but compared to single-player they will never be  
similar in the amount of games available.

As Steven said, it adds more complexity and development resources,  
but at the same time it brings a new dimension and enjoyment to the  
games. So one can say that there is a good niche opportunity for us  
in this market  :  )

Regards,
Andres


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