Posts Tagged ‘Martin Herdina’

fatfoogoo at the vgSummit 2008

Friday, October 10th, 2008

fatfoogoo is a proud sponsor of the vgSummit 2008 and both Martin Herdina and Stevana Case in attendance at the one day conference taking place October 10th in San Francisco.

Now in it’s second year, with over 300 participants last year, this event is expected to play host to over 400 industry experts sharing, discussing, and debating the future of market opportunities in virtual worlds, goods and economies.  The Summit is hosted by Charles Hudson, VP of Business Development for Serious Business.

Topics and panel discussions will include:

What Users Want — Branded and User-Generated Virtual Goods

One of the key decisions in any virtual goods offering is determining what users want. Looking for answers as to what your users want from your virtual goods offering? Curious about how to blend branded and user-generated virtual goods? Our panel of experts will share their experience on what it takes to get started and how to make a well-informed decision on this crucial topic.

Making Virtual Economies Work — Lessons from the Leaders

Managing a virtual economy is no easy task. Managing inflation, dealing with billing, and being vigilant on fraud are just a small fraction of the issues facing anyone managing a virtual economy. Our panelists will share their experiences and insights on this important subject.

Virtual Goods and Social Networks

Virtual goods are beginning to make a major footprint on leading social networks. Aside from offering an alternative to advertising, virtual goods offer application developers a solid opportunity to capitalize on the user engagement they generate. What will it take to fully take advantage of the virtual goods opportunity on social networks? Our panel of leading thinkers will share their views on this topic.

Generating Real Revenue from Virtual Goods

The goods are virtual, but the revenue is real. Interested in figuring out how to turn browsers into buyers and driving more engagement around virtual goods? We’ve assembled a strong group of panelists who can share their insights on how to tackle the challenge of converting virtual goods into real revenue.

Getting Paid – Build a Dominant Payments and Billing Strategy

Designing and merchandising virtual goods is only half of the equation. For a virtual goods model to work, determining what payment types to accept and how to combat fraud are critical issues. Our panel of experts will share their views on what it takes to succeed in this crucial part of the business.

fatfoogoo is proud to sponsor the Wi-Fi at this event.  We find ourselves in good company, with other sponsors including Mashable, socialmedia, and viximo to name a few.

Again, both Martin and Stevana will be at this conference.  If you missed speaking to them in person, feel free to get in touch via email:

Martin[at]fatfoogoo.com
Stevana[at]fatfoogoo.com

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fatfoogoo to Offer Micropayment Software for Project Darkstar

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

Monetizing Software Services Now Available to Thousands of Game Developers in Sun Sponsored Community

fatfoogoo, the leading provider of in-game commerce ecosystems, today announced that it will enable integration of its microtransaction software with Project Darkstar, an open source development environment created by Sun Microsystems Laboratories, that caters to the online games, virtual worlds and social networking industries. In a first step, fatfoogoo’s monetizing software services, such as virtual item trading, subscription management and in-game economic control, are now available to thousands of developers in the Project Darkstar Community.

fatfoogoo is the first company to offer commercial billing and transaction software that is explicitly designed to work with Project Darkstar technology. Project Darkstar simplifies the development of online games that take full advantage of today’s multi-core processors to deliver a new generation of scalability. Pairing fatfoogoo with Project Darsktar opens these games and virtual worlds to real money transactions, by enabling developers to leverage fatfoogoo’s secure and easy-to-use micropayments for in-game transactions.

“The work that fatfoogoo is doing to extend the reach of Project Darkstar exemplifies and underscores the value of open source communities,” said Karl Haberl, Director of the Project Darkstar research initiative at Sun Microsystems. “fatfoogoo has openly shared their expertise with others, enriching the Project Darkstar Community with their code contributions, interactions with game developers, and now with commercial software offerings. We are very pleased with the positive results of fatfoogoo’s Community participation, including the new opportunities they have presented to developers of online games, virtual worlds, and social networking applications.”

“We are bringing microtransactions first to the publishers and developers and, as a result, to the gaming community,” said fatfoogoo CEO, Martin Herdina. “Implementing micropayments into a game is a complex process that needs close attention. We make it easy for game developers to integrate our services into their games, so they can focus on their core competence. The real beneficiaries, however, are the gamers who can now easily make small and secure payments within the flow of the game.”

About fatfoogoo

fatfoogoo is the leading in-game commerce ecosystem for monetizing online games and virtual worlds. fatfoogoo’s solutions allow both publisher-to-player and player-to-player financial interaction, as well as traditional user and subscription management. Publishers can choose white label turnkey solutions or individually configured modules. Founded in 2006 by Daniel Petri and Martin Herdina, fatfoogoo is headquartered in Austria and also has offices in the US and the UK. For more information, please visit www.fatfoogoo.com.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world’s most important markets. Sun’s philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

About Project Darkstar

Project Darkstar is software infrastructure designed to simplify the development and operation of massively scaleable online games, virtual worlds and social networking applications. Created by Sun Microsystems Laboratories as a research effort, it is today advanced as an open source project through the Project Darkstar Community. Learn more at http://www.projectdarkstar.com.

Contact
Heather Sorensen
Plugged In PR for fatfoogoo
+1-503-841-0625
Email Contact

Cate Powers
Bite Communications for Sun Microsystems, Inc.
415-365-0477 – desk
970-846-3857 – cell
Email Contact

 

fatfoogoo at Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo in LA

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

fatfoogoo CEO Martin Herdina, along with Senior Vice President – Global Sales: Clive Jefferies and Vice President of Sales and Business Development: Stevie Case are in attendance at the Virtual Worlds Expo in Los Angeles this week.

In addition to being a sponsor of the Virtual Worlds conference and expo, Herdina and company will be available for any and all questions concerning what fatfoogoo does, how we do it, and what we can do for you!

The 2nd annual Virtual Worlds Expo is a top meeting point for major players in the virtual world space.  Featuring 115 speakers from media, entertainment, IT and virtual worlds, 41 of which specialize in the virtual world space, this is one of the premier events for gaming industry professionals.

Keynote speeches will be delivered by featured speakers including:

  • Jon Landau – Academy Award winning producer, Lightstorm Entertainment Advisor, Multiverse
  • Tim Kring – Executive Producer and Creator of NBC hit – Heroes
  • Colin J. Parris, PH.D – Vice President, Digital Convergence, IBM Research
  • Steve Parkis – Senior Vice President, Disney Online

The Conference is broken out into 5 primary tracks, each having it’s own unique focus:

Virtual Worlds Hollywood
Virtual Worlds have the ability to bring creators together with passionate fans in an environment that supports rich storytelling and engagement on a level impossible with other forms of entertainment media. This track is designed for entertainment industry professionals seeking to understand the opportunities presented by virtual worlds and how to effectively work in virtual worlds tied to entertainment brands.

Enterprise Virtual Worlds
Companies are now using virtual worlds to strengthen their communication externally with customers and business partners and internally with employees. This track focuses on best practices for large-scale enterprises adopting virtual worlds. Topics range from the general use of virtual worlds in the workplace to specific examples of applications for onboarding, sales training, collaboration and more.

Virtual Worlds Kids
Kids are dominating the virtual worlds landscape with more than 60 youth-oriented worlds currently available and over 40 more coming online in short order. This track is designed for the owners of kids brands and will provide attendees with the understanding necessary to launch, operate and maintain a virtual world for the younger set in this highly competitive landscape.

The Future of Virtual Worlds
This track focuses on the future of virtual worlds technologies and applications. Topics include interviews and debates with virtual worlds technology and business visionaries, mirror worlds, augmented reality, Web-based worlds, embeddable worlds, and open-source, interoperable virtual worlds.

Again, fatfoogoo is in attendance, and will be available to speak to you regarding our services.  In the off chance you don’t cross paths with either Martin, Clive or Stevie, they can be reached at:

Martin Herdina – martin[at]fatfoogoo.com
Stevie Case – Stevie[at]fatfoogoo.com
Clive Jefferies – clive.jefferies[at]fatfoogoo.com

 

fatfoogoo at the Games Convention and Developers Conference

Monday, August 18th, 2008

The Games Convention which kicks off in Leipzig, Germany this Wednesday and continues through Sunday in will see two equal sides of fatfoogoo. CEO Martin Herdina will be speaking at the GCDC (Games Convention Developers Conference) about in-game economies and item trading, while Loki and DT will be scouting the floor, reporting on and talking to gamers about the newest trends in various multiplayer games.

Many publishers have expressed interest in or are currently in search of additional revenue streams for their virtual worlds. Discounting the ‘traditional’ subscription fee, thousands of developers are either already in the game or standing at the starting line with free to play titles springing up almost everyday. The problem? How do we monetize it and recoup some of (read: ideally all of) the development costs? If the already established gold and item trading system (aka Blizzard) wasn’t already the Goliath these David’s are staring down, more and more suppliers are shying away from ‘Secondary Market’ third party suppliers. fatfoogoo has comprehensive experience with developing, managing, and providing ‘ready to go’ in game ecosystems, which makes it the ideal partner for a number of these publishers. fatfoogoo can function either as the Primary Trading platform or an Add-on marketplace. Combine this functionality with Comscore’s data: 32% of all Internet users play online games – and they’re prepared to spend money on it, along with the NPD Group’s recent study stating “…more than half of the Extreme Gamers and just over a third of Avid PC Gamers said that they would definitely download a feature to enhance a specific game that they own.”

Another interesting topic being covered in at the GC is the future of specialty trading. Not exactly new, but the genre is…eSports. Could we be seeing microtransactions being applied to “coach’s hours” whereby players receive special tips and tricks on how to command in-game mastery? Stay tuned as developments continue….

Martin Herdina is scheduled to speak on Wednesday morning, delivering his talk: A New Revenue Stream – Legitimizing the Trading within a Virtual Market. fatfoogoo is in good company, as Acclaim co-founder David Perry will deliver the Keynote speech with 125 other speakers and approximately 1000 industry participants discussing the future of the gaming industry.

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Fatfoogoo goes b2b with bbq flava

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Focusing not only on the needs of the player alone, after careful research and consideration, your favorite foogoos are now opening the doors to partnerships with individual game publishers. No worries, the current state of fatfoogoo isn’t going anywhere, and we’ve still got your back for all things trading. We’ve simply added another dish to the menu.

We took a long hard look at not only the technologies that we’ve developed in house, the experience and knowledge that we’ve gained, but also at what players and publishers across the world are looking for in a gaming experience. Combine that with the current state of the industry and the tremendous interest and revenue streams in the micro transaction field, adding the fatfoogoo partnership program was a no brainer.

In a recent interview fatfoogoo CEO Martin Herdina sites, “The trading and selling of virtual assets is truly the future of online gaming. It is an important alternative business model to the classical subscription fee-based programs that are currently dominating the industry. Fatfoogoo looks to fulfill a demand for this market. Our new Partnership program enables us to provide the best of both worlds: Primary Market trading, i.e. Publisher to Player and Secondary Market Trading, i.e. Player to Player trading. With the incredible growth of both primary and secondary trading markets, most major publishers understand that there is a need for an independently operated, fair and secure marketplace for virtual goods and services.”

And what a demand it is. The secondary trading market for virtual assets alone is currently growing at astonishing rates, going from revenues of approximately $1 billion in 2006 to an expected $7 billion in 2009, according to Nielsen.

This model has already been proven in Asia with Maple Story and Kartrider, both published by Nexon games. Research has shown that 8%-30% of all players purchase items via micro transactions. This in turn results in a higher revenue stream for publishers as opposed to the traditional subscription fee model. According to industry experts, on average, ‘Free to Play’ games generate anywhere between $15-$20/month. In the April edition of Fortune Magazine, senior writer Devin Leonard weighed in on the future of gaming:

(Game Publisher) Nexon pioneered this business – hooking players with a seductive free game while urging them at every turn to purchase extras using prepaid debit cards sold at retail outlets like Target. Nexon collects ad revenue in overseas markets, but in the United States the big money so far is in these microtransactions: $1.6 million a month. John Chi, CEO of Nexon America, says that the Nexon card is the second-best-selling prepaid card at Target – after the iTunes card. (Target will say only that Nexon cards are “doing really well.”)

Our experience in the virtual world micro transaction field is unparalleled. Not only have we created a multilingual platform, currency, taxation, and support system, but also gained real life experience and have weeded out a lot of headaches. As with anything in life, nothing is 100% certain, but here at the foogoo, we’ve already dealt with a whole number of things that could go wrong, have fixed them, and have learned from them. No other system in the world can match our level of multi national experience.

Back at the top-secret underground foogoo labs, our partnership engineers are already hard at work developing solutions for clients. Stay tuned, as we’ll be announcing some of our exciting partnerships soon!

 

Fatfoogoos off to Londontown

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Yes that’s right ladies and gentlemen, fatfoogoo is heading to the land of fish and chips, one seriously big clock, and drivers on the wrong side of the road.

Last year over 450 attendees from 23 countries descended upon the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe in London. With over 80 speakers, 2 days of workshops, conferences, expos and networking functions this was THE conference to be at.

This year’s event looks to meet and exceed expectations. With over 600+ professionals interviewed regarding content, take home podcasts, demo and keynote theatre as well as tech developer streams, that’s enough alone to make one shout ‘Blimey!’. But wait….there’s more! Building upon the overwhelming success of the expo area, this year’s Forum includes stands from 25 exhibitors, a shell build scheme, previously mentioned demo and keynote theatre live and in person on the demo floor, live tech developer streams, and 400+ expo only passes.

Direct from Virtual Worlds Forum:

VWF 08 helps you harness the power of virtual worlds to engage with clients, suppliers or customers, connecting brands, corporations, digital and virtual worlds agencies, entertainment and games companies, technologists, academics, regulators and VCs.

We are working on bringing you a bigger expo, more great content and workshops, and parties. We like to party.

Funny…we like to party too!

Our beloved fatfoogoos are raiding London this 6-7 October, are already registered as Associate Sponsors, and our very own Martin Herdina has applied for a speaker placement. Alas, the VWF hasn’t gotten back to us quite yet, but if placement if based on knowledge, experience and all around ‘He’s a good guy to listen to, and knows his stuff’; Herdina’s headed to the podium mighty fast.

 

ION Game Conference in Seattle: redefining online

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

ION Game Conference in Seattle: redefining online

Under the motto “Redefining Online”, the Annual ION Game Conference took place in Seattle, WA ion between the 13th and 15th of May. The global gaming industry converged at ION to discuss the future of Online Gaming, exchange news, and set new goals for the coming years. Besides industry titans from both the US and Asia such as EA Games, Bigpoint, Crytek, and Epik; fatfoogoo was one of the few European companies present. We were here not only to represent Fatfoogoo, but also to get a view of the newest developments in online gaming. How these developments look, and where they will be taking the next generation of Online Gaming, we proudly present to you here:

Free Games with downloadable content and additional services

The first Trend that’s abuzz in the industry is the increasing alternatives to drive revenue generation. Publishers will sooner or later move further and further away from costly subscription fees and expensive stand alone games, and more in the direction of a “Free to play” platform, i.e. the game is free to download and play, but it’s also self financing by additional downloadable content, services, and micro-transactions between player to player or publisher to player. An excellent example of this concept would be South Korean publishers Nexon, who with Court Rider and Maple Story have banked over $230M in turnover, or German publisher Bigpoint whom already have over 10 million users. On average 8%-30% of these users have already, or will in the future pay for additional functionality and levels.

Outsourcing

The second trend amongst game publishers deals with competition in the global market and the often negative feelings/opinions associated with outsourcing. In order to spend more time in developing games, publishers are increasingly relying on third technologies; game engines, sound creation tools, and/or micro transactions (the selling and/or trading of objects, items and services within a game), between players or between publishers and players. The time and money saved with outsourcing should be reinvested in the core components of manufacturer; game development. There’s already a prime example of a masterful use of outsourcing in Epik’s Unreal 3. Unreal 3′s engines are pretty much the same as any 3D shooter, but they employ various sound engines from the Dolby Engineering labs, or micro-transactions from operators like fatfoogoo. The already existing cooperation with second and third line suppliers of engines and services should be worked out in the future. At it’s essence this will free up game publishers to do what they do best: Develop and publish games.

The merging of (suppossed) opposites

The third trend focuses on the fusion of the various different pieces of Social Networking and Gaming. The border between PC and Console, virtual worlds, games and personal net applications, mobile and casual games is becoming more and more blurred each day and should interoperate with each other – technically, functionally and economically. The platforms will be open to each other, and offer the end users several different levels of interaction. Nevertheless, the challenge for this kind of openness in technology lies not only in the tech sector, but the judicial as well. Copyright and tax laws vary from state to state, country to country. The challenge of a functional multinational system is a priority not only for software and hardware manufacturers, but for politicians as well.

Final Thoughts

Final thoughts and personal observations from Martin Herdina, our foogoo on the ground at ION:

A letter from America

Martin HerdinaBeing back in Europe the jetlag still doesn’t allow me much sleep at night but – and what’s a lot more relevant – I am looking back to a super exciting week at fatfoogoo.

Listening to the industry legends from EA, THQ and NCSoft talk about micro-transactions as the future revenue model for online gaming and to the success stories around Nexon’s “Cartrider” in Korea ($ 250M p.a.) has been extremely interesting and demonstrated once again that fatfoogoo is serving exactly the right market segment at exactly the right time.

Apart from these business aspects I met a full crowd of great people from the US gaming industry, enjoyed some super cool US Ska music at night (check out http://www.myspace.com/dealsgonebad) and was successful at avoiding all business-development meetings taking place in one of Seattle’s strip clubs.

Best,
Martin