[casual_games] Issues to think about in the casual game space

[Jónas Björgvin Antonsson]

Eric. I agree with you on the value of branding. I personally think that brand creation is somewhat overlooked, not only for games but for the companies as well. A company that "transformed" itself into a brand in the mind of the consumer has a stronger marketing foundation and is more likely to be able to inject new games with the some of the company brand exposure - adding value. I'd recommend reading the blogs of Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki on a regular basis since both understand the strenghts of brands and brand awareness and talk about it regularly.

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	http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
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	http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

 
Branding can also affect exlusivity enourmously. A company with a strong brand is more likely to be able to create exlusive game sites that focus on a single game. They are more likely to be able to reach out to potential players via their own branded image. "Company X is making this game" - works if company X has managed to turn itself into a well known brand that consumers look for.

I also think you're onto something regarding the ties between community and exclusivity. I personally regard communities as something closer to social networking rather then highscore lists. I also think that there is potential for games that break the barrier between community and gameplay - where one can directly affect the other. But such games rely, in my view, on some form of exclusivity. One potential solution that can soften the friction between game related communities and portal related communities would be designing games as distributed services that could be played through many different GUIs and could encapsulate many underlying community structures. But that is really hard work ;-)

Anyway - my 2 cents.

J#


________________________________

From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org on behalf of Eric Lamendola
Sent: fös. 9.2.2007 22:04
To: IGDA Casual Games SIG Mailing List
Subject: Re: [casual_games] Issues to think about in the casual game space



Having been predominantly in the online side of the casual games business for over 10 years now, we have had a unique opportunity to have some insight of some of the items you have discussed.  You bring up some interesting talking points that definitely warrant further discussion.

 

1)       Advertising revenue is real and is in a boom.  To ignore advertising as a way for content publishers to generate significant revenue is quite honestly a mistake.  Granted, there is a lack of standards for the delivery of advertising before, during and after the games, but several combinations of these are quite effective in generating and incremental to the bottom line.  Adopting one company's standard may not be the best solution either, but this market is growing - fast.

2)       Brands are extraordinarily valuable in casual games as they are in just about any industry.  Many developers focus on the development of "great games" and don't focus on the idea of creating "great brands".  Look at any other entertainment medium and you will see a focus on brand extensions, brand licensing, and of course there will be cloning.  Cloning for games is generally a result of wanting to tap into a successful play-action more than a brand, but so long as people keep buying, developers will keep making.

3)       When dealing with a screen that only has 1024x768 pixels and we have already given half of that space to the browser, the portal's header and the advertising - more than likely companies are going to have to pay for better placement since there isn't much space left on the page.  Name me one advertising campaign that isn't based on paying someone for a venue to tell a consumer what they should like and why.

4)       The demand of the public will determine the price points and whether or not they will accept the idea of in-game advertising.  Consumers are still looking for a fun experience.  Have many companies had success with the higher price point games?  I believe James had said once that tests were done at PopCap to see if different lengths of trial periods and price points had an effect on sales and the result of that was the 60min/$19.99 performed the best.

5)       I guess the question here is whether or not exclusivity would ultimately result in more promotion and a better return.  There are many game sites in Asia that seem of focus on "you come to THIS site to get THIS game", but with all of the independent developers in the US who don't have the marketing budgets to generate the kind of buzz needed to get sales going and traffic to a single unknown site, this could be tough.  How successful does a brand/game have to be before it could be exclusive to a single online site?  

6)       There probably isn't more specialization since companies are tired of getting such a small percentage if they are only one piece in the economic chain.  If a company serves as both developer and publisher, they immediately increase their share of the pie.  I guess this comes down to do more - get more.

7)       This one has been debated to death.

8)       Well, this about this one this way.  You have a community based around a game, but you want to put the game onto 20 portals.  But each of those portals has a community that they want to promote.  So, what added value is your community based game to them?  Does this go back to the exclusivity issue, or are these mutually exclusive concepts?  I would like someone to provide me with a definition of "Community" quite honestly.  This has been an overused and amorphous term for years that means everything from social networking to high score lists.

9)       I think the real question is how long have we all been talking about these same issues.  Some of these seem important, but personally I would put my vote in a standardization of an economic model which is equitable to all parties in the value chain and defines the value of each contributor.

10)   Doesn't Zango do this also?  Are they willing to share some data on the performance of additional software?

 

We do appreciate James bringing to light a lot of the items that we had discussed at the Salon at CGA Seattle in 2006 and hopefully this is the start of a group initiative to help move the industry to the next level.

 

Cheers,

 

Eric Lamendola

Director of Business Development

Slingo, Inc.

 

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