Posts Tagged ‘game industry’

Outspark appoints EA vet Owen Mahoney to Chief Executive Officer

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

Outspark, who recently signed a deal to operate a free-to-play/microtransactions supported dance based title in conjunction with Electronic Arts, just announced that they’ve appointed long time EA veteran Owen Mahoney to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Needless to say, it looks like there was more than just the operating of the game going on behind the scenes, and yet another indication that EA isn’t taking the casual/free-to-play/microtransactions market lightly.

outsparkCurrent (or should we say, now former) CEO and founder Susan Choe will continue her involvement with Outspark, serving as the Chairman of the Board, and will work with game developers on partnering deals with Outspark, i.e. unofficially, Business Development.

“Since founding Outspark in early 2007, the Freemium MMOG market has evolved dramatically. Outspark`s team has built a leading game publishing company, executing solid growth while bringing together a unique MMOG publishing platform with social community elements,” said Susan Choe. “With Owen`s leadership and business experience in the global gaming industry, Outspark will evolve as a leading global game industry player.”

Mahoney comes to Outspark from Electronic Arts Inc., where he’s filled a number of senior executive management roles, as well as his previous experience in online media. Most recently, he served as EA’s Senior VP of corporate and business development. With EA since 2000, Mahoney has led a number of the company’s global corporate development activities including acquisitions, equity investments and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining the EA team, Mahoney held executive positions with PointCast, Claris Japan, and Radius.

The plan is for Mahoney to add his expertise to the Outspark team and accelerate the company’s continued expansion into the North American market. While North America constitutes Outspark’s largest market, they are also developing traction in Europe and the Pacific Rim. Globally, Outspark counts 4.7 million users, and since their launch in 2007, have attracted around 5.4 million unique visitors per month.

“Having the opportunity to build on Susan`s success is a great privilege and I’m honored by the board’s endorsement,” said Owen Mahoney. “Outspark appeals to a vast global user base and to everyone who wants to establish a connection with gamers around the world in real time. Outspark`s game publishing platform and portal also offer fantastic opportunities to both content developers and game publishers, and I look forward to providing value for Outspark, our loyal user base, investors and our great staff.”

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Citi sees $1 billion in IGA by 2014, and PricewaterhouseCoopers puts global market at $73.5 billion by 2013

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Maybe it’s a sheer coincidence, but combining the recent NPD numbers regarding consumer electronics consumption habits, and the extremely positive outlook on virtual worlds recently published by Strategy Analytics things are already looking good.  Well hold onto your hats, as both Citi and PricewaterhouseCoopers published even more news to get pretty jazzed about.

Citi

moneyAccording to a recent Gamasutra piece, a research note by Citi indicates that the In Game Advertising market could reach the $1 billion mark by 2014.  Citi sees the most online advertising growth coming out of the gaming sector, which currently stands at around $600 million.  An impressive number for sure, however, it accounts for only roughly one-third of the total online advertising spend, $20 billion.

According to analysts, today’s average gamer is 35 years old, with 40 percent of “total gamers” being female.  Obviously, this is a highly attractive audience to advertisers.  Citi says that in game advertisements “have higher engagement and slightly higher [cost per thousand users, representing value] than traditional banner ads.”

And this advertising isn’t simply limited to a Doritos banner on the side of an in game truck.  Citi says that this advertising is also tying into the separate trend of microtransactions, as real world brands are setting up shop in virtual worlds.  Looking at high profile, tangible examples, Citi points to both Apple and Tencent’s investments into microtransactions, and gives a thumbs up to the segment, calling it a potential “multi-billion dollar opportunity.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Recently releasing their Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2009-2013 report, financial firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is calling the US and Canadian game industry revenues for 2009 at or around the $17.2 billion mark.  In this report, the “Game Industry” is defined as console, handheld, PC, and mobile game software sales, subscription fees, and in-game advertising (no microtransactions???).

PWC predicts that these game industry revenue streams will collectively post average annual growth rates of 5.8 percent through 2013, at which point we’re looking at an estimated $21.6 billion.  Looking outside North American waters, PricewaterhouseCoopers expects to see a global compound annual growth rate of 7.4 percent, pushing total numbers to a massive $73.5 billion in 2013.

Included in the report, and cited as a driving force behind these numbers is their prediction of the release of the next-gen console, first appearing in 2012.  PWC predicts that Nintendo will arrive on the scene first, particularly due to the Wii’s inability to output HD graphics.

Echoing Citi’s statements about IGA, the firm notes that this is a particularly strong segment of the market.  PWC places today’s in-game advertising spend at $886 million (could we agree on $743 million?), but sees at 13 percent annual growth rate over the next five years, placing the spend at $1.3 billion in 2013 (again, maybe we can settle on $1.15 billion?).

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It’s GDC Week!

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Billed as ‘the’ game industry event of the year, the GDC kicks off later today in San Francisco.  Technically, the conference runs Wednesday through Friday, but a number of events are taking place on Monday and Tuesday that are sure to ignite imaginations and build solid connections.  According to Meggan Scavio, GDC Director, conference attendance is expected to be a bit off from last years’ whopping 18,000 attendants.  And while NPD reports that the gaming industry is still chugging along amidst an economic recession, lowered attendance is a clear indication of the uncertain financial outlook.

gdc-09-event-imageTwo standout highlights from this year include Wednesday mornings keynote speech by Satoru Iwata, chief executive of Nintendo.  This will be his third talk at the GDC, but his first since Nintendo’s Wii revolutionized what it means to be a ‘gamer’ and who’s included in the group.  Iwata is expected to speak about the DSi, the newest version of the popular hand held gaming platform originally launched in 2004.
Thursday morning brings industry legend Hideo Kojima, or Metal Gear fame, to the forefront; a ‘must see’ for any and all developers, designers, oh heck, if you’ve ever played a game – don’t miss this guy!

Games conferences are certainly about learning what’s hot, who’s got what technology coming out when, and making vital contacts, but let’s not forget about the events after the sun goes down.  This year, it looks like the Sony party is the hot ticket.  They’ll be kickin’ it hard on Wednesday night with their grand soiree.  In start contrast, with perhaps visions of AIG, Microsoft and Nintendo are slated to have a strong presence, but will be hosting lower-key events.

Also noteworthy is Apple’s presence, or lack there of, at the GDC.  Currently, there are approximately 6800 games available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  These devices have been hailed as the fastest growing platform(s) in the industry.  Apple is there, but they’ve yet to announce any big undertakings.  A slight ‘huh?’ comes to mind, as again, this is the biggest industry event of the year.  If Apple were ready to blow the doors off something big, this would certainly be the showcase to do it at.

View the full schedule of GDC events here.

Naturally the fatfoogoo team will be at the event in full force.  Give us a shout, and let’s talk microtransactions!

  • Martin Herdina – CEO – martin (at) fatfoogoo (dot) com
  • Clive Jefferies – SVP Global Sales – clive (at) fatfoogoo (dot) com
  • Stevie Case – VP Sales & Business Development – Stevie (at) fatfoogoo (dot) com
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Gaming gets even bigger in Cologne GDC 2009

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

Hang on to your hats folks, as the ‘Showdown in Cologne’ is headed your way this summer.  If the GDC (Game Developers Conference) wasn’t already decorated with enough pixels to make your eyeballs fall right out of your head – this year seeks to outdo even the best of the best!

Think Services (a division of United Business Media) will be presenting this coming years’ GDC in Cologne, Germany in conjunction with gamescom, the hottest game related ticket in Europe when it comes to consumers, publishers, and trade folks.  Global Games Media, an event management firm specializing in marketing and business development for the international interactive entertainment industry, will now be working with Think Services.

GGM CEO Frank Sliwka, formerly Leipziger Messe (home of the 2008 GDC) international and national advisor and conference director will be on board with Think Services as VP of European Business Development and Event Director, GDC Europe.  Silwka brings years of game industry conference and event management experience to the table and will lead the GDC Europe this coming August 17-29, 2009 in Cologne Germany.

“We are thrilled to present GDC Europe during gamescom,” Kathy Schoback, Executive Vice President, Global Events, Think Services, said. “A world class game developer event belongs at the premier European game industry event. With the support of Koelnmesse, BIU (the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software), and the City of Cologne, Europe’s most significant games gathering will definitely be a great success, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Frank Sliwka bring his deep experience to helping deliver GDC Europe.”

“We are pleased to welcome the European development community to GDC Europe during gamescom,” noted Oliver P. Kuhrt, Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse GmbH. “The team in charge of GDC Europe, Think Services and Frank Sliwka, are professionals who are renowned for organizing internationally respected developer events and who have deep industry experience, strong networking connections, and know how.”

After having attended last year’s GDC on Leipzig I can honestly say, this is THE games event in Europe, and to have Silwka on board, as well as presenting together with gamescon is enough to put this one right outta the park.  From hundreds of displays and test-drives to great sit downs, dinners, and wild afterhours parties (sponsored by Nokia – did I ever say thanks for the vodka?)  with developers, publishers, and industry peeps, the European GDC is an outstanding conference not to be missed.  Slapping gamescon on top of all this is like the pat of butter on those freshly cooked flapjacks on a cold January morning!

Details about this coming Augusts’ games smorgasbord in Köln are still sparse at the moment, but keep your radar tuned to gdceurope.com for updates.  Given the scale of this event and the already involved participants, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a surprise of two heading our way in the coming months.

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KinsIsle Entertainment brings microtransactions AND subscriptions to Wizard101

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Want to plunk down your monthly fee and play as much as you want?  That’s fine.  Want to use microtransactions to buy individual pieces and areas of the game?  That’s also fine.  Texas based KingsIsle Entertainment has set out on an interesting experiment whereby they’re now offering players of Wizard 101 the option to play via a subscription payment OR utilize microtransactions to purchase additional areas of the game.

The game’s main features will remain free-to-play but players may now either pay a monthly fee of $6.95 – $9.95 per month to access additional gameplay, or pay as little as $1/ transaction to open smaller, bit sized portions of the game.  Here’s a perfect example of players with plenty of time to play (subscription players) AND casual players that don’t want to commit to a subscription, but still want to enjoy the same level of gameplay (microtransaction players).

“We looked at our feedback and found that half the people liked subscriptions and another group wanted micro-transactions,” said Elie Akilian, chief executive of KingsIsle

Wizard101 is a spell-casting adventure and card-style game.  The game has family focused play style (lining up perfectly between parents and teens), a chat system with a number of options and a character name selector.  The game contains no blood, and characters do not die if defeated in a duel of spells – they are simply returned to a safe area to regain health.

In a recent interview with Dean Takahashi at VentureBeat, Akilian said that the teen niche hasn’t been well served by the game industry.  He points out that games such as World of Warcraft feature plenty of blood and gore, where players can run rampant, while on the opposite side of the spectrum, there are other games with much tighter controls, Disney’s Club Penguin for example.  Wizard101 is rated for everyone 10 and old, and KindsIsle has seen a number of families playing together.  The switch to a flexible pricing model shout increase not only the number of teens playing, but also the number of overall players.

Wizard101 currently features approximately 300 hours of playtime in four worlds.  KingsIsle plans on expanding this content over time.  The game currently features 170 different spell combinations, but has limited pvp combat; presumably do to the kid/family friendly rating.

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