Applying new business models to your game design

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Applying new business models to your game design

• GDC Lyon 2007

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Introduction

• In China, theyre giving games away for free.
  People who benefit from the current model will
  need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for
  others to disrupt.
• John Riccitiello, EA CEO

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The Plan

• Business Models Overview
• Designs Implications
• Guild Wars and Exteel as examples
• QA

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Existing Business Models

• Box sales
• Subscription
• Micro payment 
• Advertising
• Others?

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Selling Boxes

• Currently, most common Business Model

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Selling Boxes

• ? Selling content

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Selling Boxes

• Specificities
• Direct access to the client for the customer
  (direct access to the game)

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Selling Boxes

• Specificities
• Trading between customers (brand power)

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Subscription

• Online games predominant business model

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Subscription

• ? Provide a service to the users

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Subscription

• Specificities
• Ties in the user for a period of time rather than
  one-off provider-customer traditional relationship

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Subscription

• Specificities
• Excellent financial forecast capacity

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Subscription

• Specificities
• Requires online recurring billing system

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Subscription

• Specificities
• Enables CRM marketing potential

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Micro payments

• Micro payments enabling system

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Micro payments

• ? Small chunk of content or small chunks of
  access to a service

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Micro payments

• Specificities
• No duration based commitment (most of the time)

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Micro payments

• Specificities
• No big financial commitment

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Micro payments

• Specificities
• Difficult to set-up (billing-wise)

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Micro payments

• Specificities
• Excellent CRM potential

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Micro payments

• Specificities
• Difficult financial forecast capacity (see later)

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Advertising

• Most different Business Model

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Advertising

• ? Sell player attention

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Advertising

• Specificities
• Monetization of the user, regardless where he
  comes from (in theory, pirate versions could be
  calculated in the revenue)

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Advertising

• Specificities
• Only model here where cash doesn't come from the
  user (and he should appreciate that)

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Advertising

• Specificities
• Legally in a blur zone arguably the least mature
  Business Model

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Advertising

• Specificities
• Definitely the most alien of the Business Models
  for the current typical industry set-up (sales
  team)

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Examples

• World of Warcraft
• Box Subscription ( Micro payment)
• Runescape
• Subscription Advertising
• Guild Wars
• Box ( Micro payment)
• Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates
• Micro paymentOR
• Subscription
• The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion (Xbox360)
• Box Micro payment

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Other Business Models?

• Barbie?
• Webkinz?
• Bella Sarah?
• Marvel?

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Game design implications
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Boxes   

• Size doesnt matter

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Boxes   

• Direct access to the game

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Boxes   

• Expectation of content

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Subscription   

• Define yourself as a service - has to be provided

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Subscription   

• Regular payment Regular content

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Subscription   

• Level of content has to be impressive
• and/or

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Subscription   

• Level of replayability has to be important
• and/or

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Subscription   

• Game has to provide excellent user created
  content capacity

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Subscription   

• Beware of the divorce syndrome

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Micro Payments

• Define the content early design the Production
  pipeline around it

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Micro Payments

• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) design definition

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Micro Payments

• Content definition
• Free
• Acquired through the game
• Purchasable

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Micro Payments

• CRM / sales management (you are running a shop)

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Micro Payments

• Life cycle of a player and a player purchases
  defined in the design

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Advertising

• Nature of advertising
• Sponsoring
• In Game ads
• Web ads

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Advertising

• Different implications content art pipeline
  level design

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Advertising

• Think how the emotions ties in the game
• Victory good association by the brain
• Stress, fear bad association in the brain

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Guild Wars Examined
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BM applied Guild Wars

• Guild Wars core concept    Online RPG without
  Subscription

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BM applied Guild Wars

• All the design took into account the "No
  Subscription fee"
• Technology and Gameplay

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BM applied Guild Wars

• MMORPG justify subscription because they have
  quite high recurring costs in bandwidth and
  servers. (yes - recurring!)

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BM applied Guild Wars

• GW designs
• Instancing
• Scaling server technology
• Customer Support requirements
• Expansion packs (excellent production pipeline)
• Replayability
• Focused game experience

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Exteel Examined
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Exteel and the micropayment

• Robot Fighting Game
• Client available for free and Micropayment

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Exteel and the micropayment

• Micro payment to get access to
• Robot parts

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Exteel and the micropayment

• Micro payment to get access to
• Weapons

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Exteel and the micropayment

• Micro payment to get access to
• Repair / Recovering items (consumables)

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QA

• Questions anyone?