July CGA Seattle 2007 Casual Games are not just Downloads Brian Robbins Fuel Industries

July CGA Seattle Overview Everyone thinks Casual Games = $20 try-before- you-buy That’s not true! Reach a different audience There are lots of ways to make money, and the most successful companies will use several methods

July CGA Seattle 2007 Ad Supported Advertisements are placed around the game This can happen in a browser, or wrapped in a download If in a download, the more integration you do, the higher revenue share you will get 3

July CGA Seattle 2007 Ad Supported examples Shockwave.com Boonty 4

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Easy Money Ad market is doing great Cons Portals don’t want to share When they do share you get poor revenue share Careful not to get too annoying for players 5 Ad Supported

July CGA Seattle 2007 Web-Based Build a web-based version of the game Put it on your website, or other web portals Typically built in Flash, but other tools exist 6

July CGA Seattle 2007 Web-Based examples Kongregate.com MiniClip.com 7

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Lots of sites looking for web versions Ad revenue can be fairly significant Simpler development than a full casual game Can take advantage of community easier Cons Not all sites share revenue from web versions Need Flash or Shockwave proficiency Lots and lots of web content available 8 Web-Based

July CGA Seattle 2007 Downloadable Console This is really sweet! All 3 consoles are working on methods for this XBLA is the most mature Nintendo may be the most open 9

July CGA Seattle 2007 Downloadable Console examples XBLA PSN WiiWare 10

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Great conversion rates High profile in game industry Huge bragging rights Can have great production value Some room for very innovative titles Cons Approval from console maker required Needs great production value Tools are more expensive and limited Success is unproven for PS3 and Wii 11 Downloadable Console

July CGA Seattle 2007 Advergaming Build games for and around client brands This is NOT putting logos in a Bejeweled clone Work direct with brands or through their agencies 12

July CGA Seattle 2007 Advergaming Examples Candystand.com American Dad vs Family Guy Sneak King 13

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Fixed budget = fixed risk Get to work with huge brands, and built in audiences Work on projects without a focus on sales Cons Sales process can be very long Brands are tough to work with Little room for a huge payoff Need to focus on this market to succeed 14 Advergaming

July CGA Seattle 2007 Subscriptions Users pay a fixed recurring fee for content Can be a single game or a suite of games Provides full or discounted access to content 15

July CGA Seattle 2007 Subscription Examples Shockwave Unlimited RealPass PuzzlePirates 16

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Recurring fees = awesome More stable revenue month to month Greater player attachment Cons Need to provide new content Who’s customer is it? Difficult to build 17 Subscriptions

July CGA Seattle 2007 Microtransactions Selling stuff in very small increments Could be additional content, outfits, badges, powerups, etc 18

July CGA Seattle 2007 Microtransactions examples Puzzle Pirates Pogo Habbo Hotel 19

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Can offer the game free Can provide a recurring revenue stream Potential for higher revenue per person Direct to you! Cons Need lots of players Community and/or Multiplayer is a requirement Portals may take convincing 20 Microtransactions

July CGA Seattle 2007 Skill-Based Games Competitive Play Multiple people pay, most of the entry fees go to winner Providers split the remainder 21

July CGA Seattle 2007 Skill-Based Games WorldWinner.com SkillJam.com 22

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Additional revenue stream Fairly easy to modify an existing web-based game Cons Not much revenue Very few companies in the space 23 Skill-Based Games

July CGA Seattle 2007 Mobile Games Developing for cell phones Can be unique content, or modifying existing games 24

July CGA Seattle 2007 Mobile Games Examples MoFactor 25

July CGA Seattle 2007 Pros Good to license in successful titles Lots of interest in the space Cons Enormous amount of work to support all handsets Distribution tightly controlled by carriers Not a lot of revenue 26 Mobile Games

July CGA Seattle 2007 What’s happening now Advertising $$$ = Download $$$ (for portals!) Web Games are big again Some Web 2.0 plays 27

July CGA Seattle 2007 What’s coming next? Lots more community Web-MMO’s with multiple business models Convergence of companies Further driving casual games into middle-aged woman niche Community created content 28

July CGA Seattle 2007 What’s not worth trying? Skill-based games Mobile 29

July CGA Seattle 2007 What’s nobody trying? A game portal for the masses Tying into web 2.0 ideas Passive play Mass audience play 30

July CGA Seattle 2007 Thank You / Questions Brian Robbins – Slides posted at – –casualconnect.org/seattle/2007/sessions/speakers/ppt/conscasualconnect.org/seattle/2007/sessions/speakers/ppt/cons 31