MGF2012: The mobile games industry is maturing

For two days London was the epicentre of the mobile games industry, as the 9^th annual Mobile Games Forum took place at the Hilton Tower Bridge hotel 25^th and 26^th of January.

An event like this is a good indicator of where the industry is at, and more importantly, where it is heading. Last year’s focal topics were whether or not to go freemium, what to do with location based services, and which platforms to embrace. This year’s event showed deeper signs of maturing as speakers were presented more forward-looking plans and showed concern with external adoption from both consumers and businesses alike. Of special interest were discussions around design convergence that have greater console-like experiences; the role of games in mobile transmedia; and the introduction of key performance indicators for stimulating transparency. Continue reading…

Beer is the answer? How Sony won the EU console wars with PSone and PS2

Video game console wars is a topic often touched on by industry experts and academics alike. While these ‘expert’ perspectives often are well reasoned and offer valuable insights, having the view of someone that actually fought these ‘wars’ is something else.

Chris Deering: Sony (Computer Entertainment) EU's former CEO

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a talk by long-time Sony (Computer Entertainment) Europe CEO Chris Deering. At the London Business School Marketing Club, the industry veteran elaborated on how Sony gained foothold in the video game console industry and ultimately became the market leader. Deering, at Sony EU from 1995 – 2005, explained how organization design, a strategy of ‘platform play’, and beer are key to becoming a dominant player in today’s disrupted and expanded market. Continue reading...

Five objectives for remarkable brand positioning in the Digital Era

In a world of digital distribution where video game developers become more and more independent from publishers, marketing increasingly becomes something that ought to happen within the boundaries of the firm. Returning guest author Bart Hufen explores five objectives to pursue in positioning your brand in the digital era. His views are largely derived from his book ‘A Brand New Playground – Building brands in the Digital Era’ that can be downloaded for free here.

In the current era of digitization, an organization can no longer afford to produce products that do not meet brand promises. Almost two billion people worldwide are connected through the Internet, and stories from one side of the globe can reach the other side almost instantaneously. Also, communication nowadays is far more reliable than when we were still sending letters to each other through the mail. Once a consumer has posted something on his/her weblog or on Twitter it will stay there and will remain accessible and findable. This ‘forces’ organizations and brands to be more truthful in what they communicate (‘walk your talk’ and ‘practice what you preach’).

Continue reading…

An overview of online gambling and social gaming

Betting in social gaming is on the rise. Yazino has established itself as a legitimized player in the social gaming sphere while start-ups like Plumbee are bound to enter with a bang. At this year’s Social Gaming Summit, Facebook’s Julien Codorniou offered developers one piece of advice: develop mobile social casino games! I invited Julia Maxwell Research Analyst for CasinoTopLists to write an article about the current state of online gambling and its early footsteps into social gaming.

In many ways the world of online gambling is a unique beast. It generates revenues in the tens of billions of dollars each year, yet it has only really been in existence for the last 15 years, with the first substantial online sites emerging in the mid-to-late 1990s. While the basic core of the online gambling business remains the same – offering people the chance to play poker, blackjack games, and bet on sports from the comfort of their home – the industry has already seen several major changes during its brief lifespan, with plenty more on the way.

Continue reading…

Social games marketing 101

Lessons learned from the Social Gaming Summit

If there is one thing that last week’s social gaming summit made abundantly clear, it’s that it is just as much about the marketing as it is about the game. Whereas last year’s summit revolved around the growth and consolidation of the social gaming market, this year’s summit reaped the consequences of that trend. Social gaming has matured, the market has become crowed, and heavyweight  company’s such as Zynga and Wooga are dictating the capabilities and budgets required to win. What follows is an overview of some of the marketing lessons taught at the summit. Continue reading…

Mario on iPad in an all digital console industry?!

The future of the console industry according to the London Games Conference

These are not the console industry’s most flourishing times. Nintendo reports significant losses, there is little growth in both the hardware and games markets, and console development studios are being closed after being unable to meet expectations. In the midst of this context, roughly a week ago, there was the third annual London Games Conference (LGC). With over 300 execs attending, predominantly from console-related backgrounds, surely this one day event would be good indicator of where the industry is heading. Continue reading…

2B B2B or B2C: Entrepreneurship in social media

Entrepreneurs in social media and digital gaming are, amongst many choices, confronted with the very formative question of whether to opt for a business-to-business (B2B) route to market or business-to-consumer (B2C) route to market. This is a decision that will have far going implications for the DNA of your company and ultimately the things you will and/or should do in order to be successful. Digital games developers are now faced with the question to market their games independently or through an alliance with a publisher. The same goes for social media services, is it better to ‘white-label’ such as ExMachina’s PlayToTV or better to go direct to market such as Tribesports?

Despite there being hybrid solutions, such as Facebook eventually partnering with game developers for matters of engagement, or Sticky Game Studios that offers the occasional direct to consumer digital game such as the recent Temple Trouble to channel extensive creativity. Ultimately, the focus of the company should be predominantly on one or the other. In many cases there often is one route that will work best taking into account the product, team, and industry. And regardless of the opposition that publishers such as Chillingo face nowadays, it could well be that partnering up to commercialize your service is the best route to market. Continue reading…

CEO Interview: Spil Games’ Peter Driessen

With over 130 million monthly active users across their online gaming platforms and approximately 300 employees worldwide, Spil Games is a prominent actor in the social gaming market. Recently, the company announced a partnership with another major platform holder, BigPoint. On the basis of my article on Spil games’ latest feature, the Activity Feed a News Feed like feature meant to social-fy Spil’s gaming platforms, I was invited to Spil’s headquarters in Hilversum (the Netherlands) for an interview with the company’s CEO. For an hour long, I listened and discussed with Peter Driessen about the company’s heritage, current position and envisioned future state. From generic domain names to business model innovation, what follows is a report from the interview. Continue reading…

How iSEN Enters the Game: Part four – creating legitimacy

The way to a successful innovative organization (4/4)

From an academic perspective, the added value of formal planning for strategic decisions remains ambiguous. Should you as a digital gaming company have an explicit process for determining the firm’s long-range objectives? I would say up to certain extent, yes; know where you want to go but remain contingent in your strategies until you are a dominant force within the digital games industry. For iSEN (the interactive Sports and Entertainment Network) we have agreed that we want to be successful in bringing to market relevant innovations in the form of sports community solutions that bridge the gap between real life events and digital entertainment. This raises the following question: How to create a successful innovative organization?

Continue reading…

How iSEN Enters the Game: Part three – strategic management style

The way to a successful innovative organization (3/4)

From an academic perspective, the added value of formal planning for strategic decisions remains ambiguous. Should you as a digital gaming company have an explicit process for determining the firm’s long-range objectives? I would say up to certain extent, yes; know where you want to go but remain contingent in your strategies until you are a dominant force within the digital games industry. For iSEN (the interactive Sports and Entertainment Network) we have agreed that we want to be successful in bringing to market relevant innovations in the form of sports community solutions that bridge the gap between real life events and digital entertainment. This raises the following question: How to create a successful innovative organization?

Continue reading…