Archive for February, 2009

« Older Entries

Former New York Press President and Publisher Michael J O’Hara on microtransactions

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Michael J O’Hara is a print and online media expert having close to 20 years experience in both on and offline media.  He has served as President and Publisher of one of New York City’s leading alternative newspapers and online portals, The New York Press.  Michael also holds a bit of Virtual World experience, having served as CEO of 3D Pipeline, a premier enterprise software company with physics-based rendering engines used in flight simulation, surgical medical training, sensor development, and educational training and research.

Stemming from our initial conversation concerning Walter Isaacson’s rapidly becoming ‘infamous’ Time article in which he puts forth the concept of saving print media via online microtransactions, Michael and I sat down to discuss the state of print media and where microtransactions fit into the mix.

[audio:michaelohara_microtransactions.mp3]

O’Hara agrees that both ‘analogue’ and online digital media publishers are desperately seeking a mechanism that will compensate them, thereby allowing them to pay for good journalism and provide readers with a more robust content application.

“I think if microtransactions could take off, it could be a real bone for these guys,” says O’Hara, “…most of them have attempted or dabbled in the subscription model, and the only one who’s been marginally successful from an analogue to digital perspective is the Wall Street Journal.”

[When media mogul Rupert Murdoch acquired the Wall Street Journal he publically speculated about dropping the monthly subscription fee.  However, after reviewing the revenues, Murdoch decided to stand by the fee; a decision which has now proven to be very wise.]

Searching my internal memory bank of how online print media has run its course over the years, from charging to not charging and back to charging again, Michael offers up his opinions on the reasoning behind it all.  “The economy is certainly driving this even more, with all the layoffs, and the fact that subscriptions, most publishers would agree, are not going to be able to drive eyeballs to their pages by charging subscriptions.”

“Arguably, when you’re talking about a business model, I could say, if you sell enough microtransactions and someone thinks your product is that good eventually they’ll convert to a subscription.  That’s why I think that they may keep going down two paths, but that microtransactions might drive them into a subscription.”

As with all things that were once free, but now require a fee, there’s bound to be some resentment or push back from the average consumer.  To this O’Hara says, “I think it’s probably a question of convenience.”  Making a strong case by using Adobe’s Acrobat (pdf) software as an example, Michael explains, “I always think back to the time when we were first sent our first adobe pdf file, and you’re thinking, oh crap, I have to download another application to be able to read this, why can’t they just send it to me in word?  …We all downloaded it for the first time, and now you can’t imagine a day without using a pdf file.  I think the same thing holds true for microtransactions.”

“You’re going to have someone who’s an opinion leader, a tipping point, that isn’t a threat, but someone that these content people follow that’s going to have to stick their neck out there and make it an adoptable formula.”

With online games, both PC and console, as well as with virtual worlds, we’ve all become accustomed to microtransactions, and their place and value in our chosen entertainment.  Since this is not the case with print and online media, I asked Michael his thoughts on whether the device delivering the content could further drive this business model.

“I think that the one platform everyone has is a mobile phone, which are increasingly becoming mini computers, and although the screen is smaller and it’s not as user friendly, when you talk about iPod and Steve Jobs, he could have charged almost anything.  $.099 was the magic number, and the adoption was because so many people had the iPod; the other mp3 devices could have given it away and not been as successful as Jobs was at selling them at $0.99, and that’s the tipping point.”

“We’ve reached the time, it’s whether or not people can adopt a singular platform, and I think that’s the key to this [microtransaction] success.”

I then put Michael in the driver’s seat and asked him what he would do if this were his project.  “I would try it.  There’s no doubt in my mind that I would try microtransactions. “

“The more that we become attuned to this is really the only way you get a good story, there are certain stories you’re willing to pay 10 cents or two bits for, then I think you’ll see that tipping point, you’ll see the adoption curve swing over, and that’s what’s necessary.”

Find out more about Michael J O’Hara at The O’Hara Company and/or talk to him directly on twitter.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Combat Arms Europe leaves beta in the dust, now officially open for business

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Two months and ten days after the commencement of their open beta phase, Nexon Europe is proud to announce the commercial launch of their free-to-play, online first person shooter Combat Arms.  This also marks the official opening of Nexon’s revenue generator, the in-game item shop, the “Black Market”.  Players are now free to choose from additional mercenaries including the games’ first female character, and a wide variety of customizable items, gears, and weapons.

ca“We had a great beta run and have continuously received huge feedbacks after the official launch,” said Sung-Jin Kim, Manager of Europe Business Team at Nexon. “Players really love the fast-paced game play along with the socialization features of Combat Arms Europe. The opening of the Black Market will bring another dimension to the customization attributes of the game, and offer players at all levels to opt for further play options to enhance their game play without harming the fairness of play.”

The newly launched “Black Market” will now allow European Combat Arms players additional methods by which they can personalize the game and their character’s individual look while slugging it out on the battlefield.  Additionally, Combat Arms clans can now further customize their brothers-in-arms by creating their own unique clan emblem, which is then displayed in-game, as well as on the Combat Arms web portal.

Kamara, the games first female character has also now joined the battle, available as a mercenary, which may be hired as an added character for 30 days, and starts off with 30,000 Gear points.  In addition to purchasing Kamara or Zadan’s services, players are also offered new machineries including an M4A1 Desert Warrior, a Dragunov Black, a P90TR, to name a few.  The “Black Market” has also been stocked with a host of new gears and camouflage options to spice up players looks and capacity.  And if all these shiny new toys weren’t enough for you, Combat Arms official European release also includes a new battlefield to be conquered.  The “Waverider” map is set in the resort city of Rupheria, originally designed and developed to reflect a traditional European coastal resort (can you say Monaco?).

Nexon isn’t just resting on their laurels, as they have a full schedule of new items in development and will be introducing these items into the game via the “Black Market” shop over the coming months.  Also in the docket are new maps, combat modes, weaponry, and additional free content.

If you’ve yet to give this successful free-to-play online first person shooter a go, now is the perfect time; download Combat Arms for free at: combatarms.nexoneu.com.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Second Life gets and “F” from the Better Business Bureau

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

The Better Business Bureau is a US based, non-governmental organization that networks local Better Business Bureau (BBB) organizations together and gathers and reports information on business reliability.  Founded in 1912, the organization alerts the public to frauds against consumers and businesses, provides information on ethical business practices, and act as mutually trusted intermediaries between consumers and businesses to resolve disputes.  In other words, they’re a trusted source many turn to when a businesses operational procedure(s) are called into question.

Linden Labs, creators of the virtual world ‘Second Life’ have recently been granted the distinction of being rated with an ‘F’ by the Better Business Bureau.  According to the BBB’s website:

“BBB assigns grades from A to F with pluses and minuses. A+ is the highest grade and F is the lowest. The grade represents BBB’s degree of confidence that the business is operating in a trustworthy manner and will make a good faith effort to resolve any customer concerns.”

Ouch.

According to the rating, the BBB cited the following reasons for its rating:

  • Number of complaints filed against business.
  • Failure to respond to complaints filed against business.
  • Length of time business has taken to resolve complaint(s).

Of the complaints filed, the two largest issues were ‘Billing or Collection Issues’ (13) and ‘Customer Service Issues’ (12).  Given the inherent nature of how business is conducted on Second Life, whereby Linden Labs actively encourages users to create their own virtual goods based business with real-money transactions happening on the back end (secondary marketplace), the in-game economy is ripe for a virtual fraudster’s picking if adequate and preventative measures are not securely in place.  Virtual economies place developers and publishers in a highly complex ecosystem of millions of virtual (and real) transactions occurring on a daily basis.  If the economic backend is not fully mapped out, including room for unlimited scalability, anti-fraud measures, and the ability to identify and limit known ‘trouble makers’, a myriad of potential virtual world problems can balloon over night.

To be fair, let’s look at this rating with a grain of salt.  The BBB “F” rating was initially reported by (the infamous) Tizzers via twitter.  If you’re not familiar with Tizzers’ story, he’s the guy so knee deep on Linen Lab’s s#*^ list that at one point Linden Labs banned every avatar that had the first name of Tizzers.  As a home for your alter ego, the likelihood of some serious draaaahma  going down on (and sometimes off) Second Life is quite high (love triangle murder, anyone?).  That said, it is entirely possible that some disgruntled Second Life residents may be artificially inflating the numbers by filing baseless claims with the BBB for fun.  And let’s be fair, when was the last time you heard a satisfied customer as or more vocal than the dissatisfied customer?

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | 1 Comment »

 

EA takes itself not-so-seriously and introduces microtransactions to real-world golf

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

You’ve simply got to love it when one of the biggest names in gaming decides to throw all caution to the wind, and host a charity golf tournament – with microtransactions included.

Apparently this is the brainchild of EA CEO Rich Hilleman who sought to use design elements from Korean microtransaction based games in a real world golf tourney.  All players were allowed to purchase special abilities each round.  Some would help them improve their score, while others would damage opposing teams  (see pricing chart below).  Prices range from $1 to toss a beach ball at another player and moving another players ball one club length from the hole, to $10 which allowed players the ability to kick another players ball into a water hazard (take THAT Mr. Perry).


Image courtesy of MTV

EA Partner’s GM David DeMartini joked that the event was actually a test.  “So if microtransactions catch on here at the golf course today then it’s likely they will in the real world.”

And while EA smartly applied the microtransaction theme to a good cause, there’s also a timely message contained in this exercise.  Bob Wallace, principal at Strategic Alternative says, “The industry has been interested in microtransactions since the arcades.”  He thinks that although the model originated primarily in Asia, North America and Europe are prime to reap the benefits of microtransaction based pricing, “Because, you actually get what you pay for.”

DeMartini echos Wallace’s sentiments, “”I think we’re certainly headed in that way with more of the mid-session games, some of the free games…I think it’s going to be much more of a free-play microtransaction model.”

When asked about the market shift, Wallace predicts “Five years or less”.  He says that the two models (subscription and microtransaction) will coexist for a time (aren’t we already at this phase?), but that microtransactions will gain ground, “I think it has a lot of appeal to mass market gamers.”

All proceeds from EA’s microtransaction charity golf tournament will be donated to the Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund, part of which may be used to help fund the education of future game developers.  If you’re unfamiliar with who Randy Pausch is, clear 10 minutes from your schedule and watch.

YouTube Preview Image

View the full 1 hour 16 minute version here.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Freemium model tops Social Networks monetization list

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

During Social Media Week held in New York City, Abrams Research polled over 200+ social media founders, bloggers, journalists, entrepreneurs and high profile Twitterati members from across the US and Canada asking a simple question, ‘How should social networks be monetized?’  Other topics surveyed ranged from which social networks were the most important to them, to where they see facebook, twitter, linkedin, and other social networks headed, and more.

According to the survey, just under one third (thirty-two percent) said that they would most likely pay to used facebook, with linkedin taking a very close second with thirty percent, and twitter rounding out the top three with twenty two percent.

As far as monetizing social networks, the survey revealed that a “freemium” business model was most acceptable to the audience.  A freemium business model is a monetization model that allows users to use a ‘basic’ version of a service for free, and then seeks to add revenue via purchased upgrades.  A prime example would be Playfish’s ‘Who Has the Biggest Brain’ application that allows users to access core functionality for free, but offers a ‘Go-Pro!’ option; a one time fee paid by users to access premium content including more games, time trials, etc.  An overwhelming forty-six percent of respondents said that freemium was the way to go.  Other than twenty percent of those surveyed responding with ‘contextual/targeted ads’, other interesting monetization models paled in comparison.  Nine percent stated that social networks should monetize by charging for research, only 6.9 percent liked a subscription model, and traditional banner ads scored the lowest with only three percent liking the idea.

What exactly are social networking users looking for from the experience?

Twenty-four percent of respondents stated that the most critical feature to them is the status update, closely followed by twenty-one percent ranking the newsfeeds as must-haves.  Rounding out the top four are comments coming in at seventeen percent, and personal messaging taking home fifteen percent of the pie.  Not quite as impressive, yet still noteworthy are those ranking in at less than ten percent: uploading and sharing photos and videos, mass-messaging, and tagging and untagging.

And while facebook tops the list of social networks that users would be willing to pay for, twitter takes the top spot as ‘must haves’ for businesses.  Forty-five percent of those surveyed advised businesses to have a twitter account (and presumably interact with clients/customers).  LinkedIn nabbed second place with twenty-one percent, YouTube with nineteen percent, and oddly enough facebook took the number four spot with fifteen percent.

All’s good, so where’s the problem?

Of the top movers and shakers surveyed, twenty-nine percent said that the biggest problems facing social networks is the “inevitable slide into uncoolness” (myspace, what?).  15.3 percent stated that lack of advertiser interest would be their demise, and 13.4 percent found the ‘inevitable spam problem’ to be the final nail in the coffin.

Download and read the full survey available from Arbrams Research (pdf download).

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Stevie Case (aka Kill Creek) featured on Avault.com podcast

Friday, February 20th, 2009

fatfoogoo’s own Stevie Case has recently been interviewed by the Avault.com podcast team.  Speaking with Chris Micieli, Bill Bolton, and Mark Turcotte, Stevie joins the crew to talk about everything ranging from Stevie’s career as a pro gamer to micro-transaction powered games are how they are the future of gaming.

Speaking first to her role as Vice President of Business Development and Sales with fatfoogoo, Stevie lays out our technologies and how and why game development studios should be talking to fatfoogoo when they are ready to monetize their product.  Noting that microtransactions are a relatively new way to monetize gaming, Stevie goes on to explain that with the current state of the economy, combined with falling advertising rates, microtransactions are a great place to be.

“It’s a good way to get users to not only spend small amounts of money, which isn’t as intimidating, but it also makes games sticker and doesn’t really break game play,” explains Stevie.

Stevie also highlights a quintessential point of microtransactions: user generated content, “I think it’s really cool to see users be able to create their own content and then actually sell that; have it become a part of the game, and become a part of the world.”

When asked about how microtransactions and user generated content could effect the overall balance of a game (i.e. the ‘pay to pwn’ theory) Stevie comments, “It’s a valid concern; I think that the key is you’ve got to have great game design upfront, and you’ve got to take all that stuff into account.  A lot of people have tacked on this notion of a virtual economy later because it sounds like a good way to make money, but if you don’t design it in upfront, it can be challenging for those reasons.”

Coincidentally almost mirroring David Perry’s remarks at DICE 2009, Stevie says that when you create a virtual economy based game, you’re putting a large amount of power in the hands of your users, thus game design should be held to even higher standards.

Speaking briefly to microtransactions in the mobile space, specifically the iPhone, Stevie points out, “Microtransactions are prohibited within iPhone applications.”  She continues on to discuss what iMafia is doing with their unique “if you go buy our other app we will give you points in this app” approach, but “as of today microtransactions are not officially supported.”

When asked about fatfoogoo’s list of clients, Stevie talks about our European clients, our involvement with Sun Microsystems via project darkstar, and hints at our upcoming release with a major US partner, and our involvement with a European based FPS/MMO.  But more on that later….

Give the podcast a listen in it’s entirety at Avault.com (episode #20).

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in fatfoogoo | No Comments »

 

Perry predicts cloud gaming, the rise of free-to-play, and the death of single player games

Friday, February 20th, 2009

This year’s DICE event which wraps up today in Las Vegas wouldn’t be complete without video games industry veteran David Perry’s take on the current state of play, and what he sees as ‘the next big thing’. We’ve covered some of Perry’s predictions in the past, but for those out there that don’t remember or know of David Perry, he’s the founder of Shiny Entertainment which was responsible for Earthworm Jim, and Messiah to name a few along with MDK, Wild 9 and Enter the Matrix.

Taking a page from his standard presentation playbook, Perry started out his DICE talk by showing some old marketing collateral from his first computer, the Sinclair ZX81, noting that at the time the mainstream consensus was that computers would be used solely as a productivity tool. “I, like everyone else, however, used it to make and play video games,” he said.

Looking forward, Perry notes how far and fast computing technology has progressed since its humble beginnings. Specifically, Perry speaks to increased storage space and read/write speeds. He foresees a future with unlimited storage media delivered via fast, ‘available everywhere’ wi-fi. Not limiting future options just to storage, Perry also predicts cloud processing, i.e. the end of in home owned single or multi-core processor platforms.

Driving this prediction, Perry explains that he’s been looking into technology that’s powered by remote storage and processing, thus removing the need for players to own powerful software or processing power. The end goal is to deliver the final rendered frames to gamers via Flash video.

“It’s like going back in time to when we had terminals instead of desktops.”

Speaking to distribution mediums, Perry didn’t waste any time aiming a canon at GameStop, who’s COO Dan DeMatteo recently stated that the era of full digital distribution is 12 to 17 years away. Perry’s thoughts consider this timeline ridiculous, and he’s quick to point out that much of the Asian market is largely dependent on digital distribution. And we all know how the Asian market is hurting in the video games department.

With perhaps his most startling statement of the day, Perry also sees the end of single-player games. Instead, he sees free-to-play, mulit-player online games as the absolute future, “I personally think the days of single-player games are numbered. Without question, our focus is entirely on multiplayer.”

Duly noted, Perry serves as Chief Creative Officer with Acclaim, a completely free-to-play, microtransactions based game developer/distributor, so it’s fair to say that his view might be slightly biased.

Using imagery of some of the greatest game designers of all time, Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima, Perry notes that Japan has turned out some of the best games and designers the world has ever seen, and asks, “would you be willing to bet China will never produce one of those names?”

A highly relevant question, as David warns that if and when this level of talent starts popping up in China or Korea, both areas where free-to-play is rapidly becoming the de facto business model, traditional game developers with traditional business models may find themselves on the outside looking in.

Summing up his presentation, Perry says, “The key trend is that we are going to be closer to our audience than ever before. We must listen to them at every step. … Your entire executive team must speak with them, not to them.”

Amen to that statement Mr. Perry. Got anything to say to us? We’re listening. Talk to fatfoogoo on twitter.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | 1 Comment »

 

Cross Fire nets 25,000 users in 3 weeks

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

It looks like 2009 is quickly shaping up to be the year of free-to-play first-person-shooters (FPS).  Admittedly, the timing of Subagames’ release of their open beta stats is slightly suspect, appearing just one day after Nexon had released their whopping 2 million North American player stats.  However, Cross Fire’s numbers are quite impressive in their own respect: netting 25,000 registered players since the opening of the beta on January 30, 2009.  The open beta runs through the end of February, and if G4BOX Inc. and Wicked Interactive Ltd., the North American publishers of Cross Fire stay on target they could end up doubling this number.

Chief Executive Officer of Wicked Interactive Garvin Yeung says, “We knew there was an audience out there that was really anticipating Cross Fire, so we expected a good result.”

G4BOX CEO Howard He adds, “But even we are amazed by the overwhelming response that Cross Fire has garnered thus far.”

As previously reported, the Cross Fire website had received 1.9M hits prior to the November 7th closed beta launch, two-thirds of which came from the US.  Cross Fire has been a success in Asian markets, with an excess of 500,000 users simultaneously playing.  The North American open beta introduced new features including an in-game friends list, new maps, weapons, and items.  In addition, a military ranking and stat-tracking package has been introduced.  Wicked and G4BOX have started tracking players’ progress and activity since the open beta onward so that players are able to accurately gauge their skills against the rest of the Cross Fire community.  And as with any respectable MMO, Cross Fire now features a clan system whereby players can band together to play in persistent teams.  Supported by a Subagames clan page, this feature maintains rankings of all clans not only active in Cross Fire, but across the entire catalogue of Subagames’ free MMO’s.

Developed by SmileGate and Neowiz, Cross Fire is an online military FPS developed for the PC platform.  Players choose their role in this conflict scenario shooter, either Black List or Global Risk mercenaries.  They are then thrown into the thick of battle by joining a combat team that must cooperatively work together in order to complete objective based operations.  And while Cross Fire does sound a bit like the rising number of free-to-play FPS’s currently making their way to market, their standout feature is the unique “Ghost Mode”.  In this mode, one team is in possession of a top-secret cloaking device that allows them to become invisible to the opposing team.  “Ghost” teams are armed only with knives, and must utilize stealth tactics to hunt and track the other team.  Other play modes available include Team Death Match, Search and Destroy and Elimination modes.

Naturally, as with most free-to-plays, Cross Fire features an extensive set of character customization and upgrade options.  This in-game currency used in Cross Fire, may also be used in any of Subagames’ other titles including Metin2, ACE Online and Prison Tale, as well as the upcoming Prison Tale 2.

Sign up and join the trigger pulling fun at crossfire.subagames.com.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Nexon’s free-to-play FPS Combat Arms reaches two million user milestone

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

After pioneering the free-to-play space with their runaway hit ‘Maple Story’, it looks like Nexon has done it again with their first first-person-shooter, ‘Combat Arms’.  The company proudly announced yesterday that in just three months they’ve doubled their user base, now hovering at the two million player mark.  The game opened the public doors in October of 2008 in North America.

Citing the game’s intense, frontline, player-versus-player gameplay and exciting customization and community features as a reason for the explosion of Combat Arms on gamers’ radar, VP of Marketing Min Kim says, “Combat Arms really hits the mark with core FPS veterans playing alongside casual gamers.  This latest milestone is further evidence North American gamers want to play high quality, free-to-play games.”

Featuring an extensive range of character personalization, various combat modes, maps and weapons, Combat Arms has already undergone a number of changes and upgrades since reaching the 1M user mark.  In addition to the already added Rattlesnake, Sand Hog, and Waverider maps, Nexon has also chucked in a number of new game modes that offer free-to-play fans even more options.

Given Nexon’s free-to-play/microtransactions business model, ‘The Black Market’ (an interesting moniker choice) serves as the bread and butter of the game.  Nexon says that they’ve seen tremendous success with the in-game item shop, noting that a large number of combatants that are willing to pay for character customizations, thereby enhancing their gaming experience.  Some of the top sellers on The Black Market include the Elite Moderator item, which allows players to set up and host their own fully moderated games (God, is that you?); and mercenaries, alt characters that can be used to play in the place of the players standard character(s).  Naturally, The Black Market can hook your soldier up with a bit of battlefield bling including a number of gold plated assault rifles.  Personally, I’m holding out for a diamond and sapphire encrusted scope.

“With a host of interactive features and modes set in a completely free-to-play environment, Combat Arms is truly a leader in the online first-person-shooter genre and offers a one-of-a-kind gaming experience,” said Herb Yang, managing producer of Combat Arms. “As we celebrate, we are also looking forward to further shaping Combat Arms into a title that sets the tone for a whole generation of online FPS titles.”

While it seems like Combat Arms is indeed ‘king of the hill’ in the free-to-play/microtransaction based first person shooter genre, this news arrives on the same day that EA/DICE’s Battlefield Heroes sent out 4,000 beta keys, and lest we forget about Acony and their upcoming release of Parabellum.  Combat Arms wears the crown and holds court.  For now.  Stay tuned…..

YouTube Preview Image

Ed. note – Thanks for the tweets and emails – Looks like I forgot about Suba Games’ Cross Fire.  More on that tomorrow.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | No Comments »

 

Disney’s free-to-play Pixie Hollow drives online growth

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Along with launching DisneyXD last week, the big mouse also announced that recent ComScore data reveals that Disney Games takes third place among all online gaming destinations with 13.4M visitors in December 2008, a 13% increase yoy.  Reaching one further, ComScore’s January 2009 data sees Disney leapfrogging EA Games and grabbing the number 2 spot.

Disney’s not-so-secret ingredient?  Their free-to-play, virtual world Pixie Hollow.  According to Virtualworldsnews.com, a Disney representative explains the surge in traffic as, “largely driven by our virtual worlds, and specifically by the popularity of the new Disney Fairies Pixie hollow virtual world.”

And while Disney’s corporate policy dictates that no concrete numbers could be released, the rep also adds that Club Penguin has been a consistent driver for Disney, “but that the recent spike in Fairies traffic helped boost Disney last month.”

These numbers might seem large and impressive, but keep in mind that back in October Senior Vice President of Disney Online Steve Parkis stated, “More than 7 and a half million Fairies have already been created and, until now, have been all dressed up with no place to go. Now, in Pixie Hollow, Fairies can join their friends, take flight and live their very own Fairy adventures.”

To this end, it’s fair to say that Disney did they due diligence in ‘pre-loading’ the site with over 7.5M players that were ready and waiting for the magical world of Pixie Hollow to roll out the welcome mat.

The game itself is free-to-play, but similar to Disney’s Club Penguin, players may buy into a $5.99/month membership fee that gives them exclusive access to a number of game features.  Also noteworthy is Disney’s ‘real-world’ tie-ins to the online virtual world.  When played in the real-world, the companies’ Clickables Fairy collection rewards players with a number of special content unlocks that allow them to add unique clothing, accessories, and décor to their virtual world collection.

Disney may have taken the number two spot in online gaming destinations, but not all is well at Disney’s Interactive Studios.  Earlier this month in an earnings call, DIS made it quite clear that they’re in a similar bind as a number of other games publishers: falling prices.  Disney CFO Tom Staggs says that DIS sold more units last quarter, but ended up with less coinage in the bank due to, “a competitive and difficult market put pressure on pricing.”

Despite recent DIS layoffs, Staggs says that Disney expects to “continue to invest in… videogames, websites and virtual worlds.”

Given the problem facing the folks at DIS, combined with the massive growth in their free-to-play Pixie Hollow, I’d be interested in the revenue numbers Disney’s virtual world product sales are generating.  Is it time for Disney to seriously rethink how they’re monetizing the online and/or gaming space?

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in industry news | 6 Comments »

 
« Older Entries