3. Global Games Market
2001: $27B
2003: $40B (source: Forrester)
2008: $61B (source: CITL)
Genre Platform Number of Players
Strategy & Role Playing (RPG)
Console Single Player (SP) – Individual game
Sports & Extreme Sports experiences on a single console or
Playstation (Sony) PC. Retail Business Model. (e.g.
Nintendo)
Action/Adventure Playstation 2 (Sony)
Multi-Player (MP) – Groups of 2-64
Xbox (MSFT) players hosted by a single server.
Racing Games are a set length and high-
Game Cube (Nintendo) twitch. Subscription Business Model.
(e.g. Xbox Live)
Shooters
PC Based
Massively Multi-Player Online Games
Family Entertainment/Children Handheld – (MMOG) Thousands of people play
on a hosted server game
Game Boy(Nintendo) environment. Games are running
Fighting 24/7. Subscription Business Model.
Game Boy Advance (Nintendo) (e.g.Everquest)
Simulation
4. $1 Of Every $4 Spent On
Entertainment Is On Video Games
Video Games
24%
DVD Purchase
Music Concerts 26%
17%
DVD Purchase And Rental Includes Movie & TV
Show DVD Purchase
DVD Rental Music (Recorded) Includes Music CD, Music DVD,
Digital Downloads, Ringtones, Tracks For The Cell
7% Phone
Video Games Includes Game Discs & Downloads
Music (Recorded)
16% Movie Tickets
9% Source: The NPD Group / Entertainment Trends In America
5. Global Game Summary
• There is not that much difference in market tastes around the world for mobile games. That being
said, there are few games that work well for all global markets
• Focus now is on networked games and other 3G type content
• Female gamers making up a bigger % of users monthly
• No matter how good game is, proper marketing support essential
• Fast gameplay better than slow gameplay. Also, in general, arcade games easier to market than
puzzle or board games
• If at all possible, brand your game
• Operators becoming much more picky about which games they offer. This means differentiation and
uniqueness to markets a key for companies to make money:
• Branding
• New genre of game for a certain market
• Different look and feel in playability
• With new phones coming out faster than ever, ability to port quickly becoming more important
• Mobile gaming business slowly getting bigger. However, expect rapid consolidation globally in the near
future
• Mobile games to look like Xbox and PS2 games
• Developers should focus less on game volume and more on quality
• Almost 90% of successful games have beautiful graphics, and main character of game should be
visually appealing
6. PC Game Market
BROAD PLATFORM
Where there are just over 100M current generation
console owners there are over 1B PCs in use globally.
In many markets like China, the presence of Internet
cafés makes online gaming accessible to virtually
anyone.
NICHE MARKET
However, while PCs are more prevalent than game
consoles, PC gaming has a few limitations.
Including MMO and other digital distribution / pay to play
revenue streams, the PC Gaming Alliance pegs the total
PC game market at $10.7B.
Sources: Company data, Hudson Square Research
7. Mobile Phone Trends
BRICKBREAKER
Global market for mobile phone games reached an
estimated $3.5B in FY09.
Growth in the industry appears to have fallen short of
earlier expectations.
Limitations of handset technology, and a generally
restrictive distribution mechanism likely explains the
shortfall.
iGAME
Apple is solving two key hurdles to mobile phone
gaming: 1) customizing every game for every
device; and 2) distribution challenges.
The iPhone/iPod Touch appear to be significantly altering
the mobile phone game market.
Still, control mechanics limit the scope of games that
can be effectively played. For instance, using tilt to
control games tilts the screen away from the player's
field of vision.
And, using onscreen virtual buttons that leverage
Apple's touch sensitive screen also reduces the available
space for depicting the game itself. Sources: Company data, Hudson Square Research
8. What’s Driving this Growth ?
• Increasing availability of digital content, and input/
output devices to take advantage of digital content
• Next Generation game consoles
• Mobile Phone handset upgrades
• The convergence between Hollywood & Silicon Valley
• Broadband penetration - global households up from
82M to 320M, 31.3% CAGR
• Key technology innovation & industry adoption of
open standards and exponential reductions in
storage, processor & networking costs
9. Online Games is seeing significant growth.
Worldwide Online MP and MMP Games Revenue
US$40,000,000,000
$31.4 B
US$30,000,000,000
CAGR = 49%
(2000 – 2008)
US$20,000,000,000
US$10,000,000,000
US$0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
10. MMO Game Trends
WOW DOMINATION
Prior to the introduction of World of Warcraft (WoW), the
market for MMO games was limited to a few million
players, but since 2004, the market has grown to 17.9M
subscribers, with WoW holding a 64% share.
Over the last two years there have been several high
profile MMO game launches, though none of those
appear to have established a material subscriber base,
and two of those, Tabula Rasa, and Hellgate London
shut down within a year of launch.
Because of the network effect (as the product base
grows, the product becomes more useful to any one
individual), we believe WoW is likely to maintain its
leadership position for the foreseeable future.
We estimate MMO revenues totaled $1.5B in FY09, up
from $1.4B in FY08, although we note that market
research firm DFC pegs the total online gaming market
at $5.7B.
Sources: Company data, Hudson Square Research
11. Online Games is growing world-wide
• Worldwide - Game-savvy new generation leading the market
• Grow up with interactive entertainment, more comfortable with technology than any generation
in history (source: IDSA)
• Over 15 Million people in the US & Europe will pay $1.4B to play online games by YE 2002
(source: Datamation)
• Advertising revenue will be 30 % of the market; bulk of revenue to come from subscriptions
• Asia Pacific
• 25%+ of the WW $40B market in 2003 is in Asia Pacific (source: ABN Amro)
• Early adopters due to broadband push in Japan and Asia Pacific
• Korea largest single market for MMP play.
• The Chinese say there are more people playing online games in china than Korea has people.
But they overlook the fact that the Chinese are playing KOREAN GAMES!!
• Americas
• 40% of US homes will have a video game by year end 2002 (source: Carmel Group)
• US on line games revenue predictions range from $4.5B to $5B in 2005 (inputs: Forrester,
Accenture)
• Europe
• UK considered proving ground for on-line console services; France/ Germany lead total
console market); Germany largest broadband market
• 27.5% of the WW $40B market in 2003 is in Europe (source: Forrester)
• 12.7 M European homes will have the technology to play on-line console games by 2005, with
50% expected to subscribe to online games.
12. Online Games - Industry Snapshot
• Revenue vs. expense challenges
• Online games can cost as much as a movie to create
• Online games can earn as much revenue as a movie
• Changing business models
• Industry moving from software development model to media/entertainment model
• Risk & cost is driving fragmentation
• Increasing game complexity
• Higher quality graphics, realism - drives up cost, code complexity
• More complex game play - drives up development & test time
• Collaboration, voice, etc become expected features - creates barriers to entry
• Eroding barriers between what’s real and what’s virtual (in-game pizza?)
• Game device fragmentation
• Multiple major consoles companies: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft
• PC’s, PDA’s, phones - and hybrid devices - more every day
• Connectivity challenges
• Low bandwidth (phones, some PC’s); vs. broadband required for xBox
• Broadband has widely varying penetration - US vs. Korea
• Piracy, Digital Rights Management
13. US & Canada Europe Rest of Asia-Pacific
• If at all possible, brand your game • Europeans prefer simple and easy to • Revenue somewhat correlated to total
understand games such as recognizable population of a country, not size of
• US carriers do not require exclusivity for board games to classic shooting games carrier
games so easy to launch the same game
with multiple operators • Over 90% of carriers use Java platform, • Risque content matter not acceptable, as
thus distribution of a game easier than it is several countries hold devout religious
• Gamers are heavily influenced by PS2, X- in other areas beliefs
Box and other console games
• Language not a big an obstacle as would • Many operators looking for 3G and
• US & Canadian gamers less advanced be expected, as English is tolerable for networked games as opposed to simple
than those of Asian or European gamers
most countries standalone games
• Be ready to port your game for both • Network games in high demand at • Trend of popular games being more and
BREW and Java to achieve maximum
European carriers as well as traditional more similar to console games as well as
coverage
RPG-like ones being gender neutral
Korea Japan China
• Koreans are highly advanced gamers, as • Heavy saturation, most advanced game • China Mobile just recently launched their
evidenced by the huge following of players, many quality game companies: paid game service, so too early to collect
MMORPG games such as Starcraft, toughest gaming market in the world precise information about games
Lineage, and Ragnarok. Console games
still slow to take off • Although ‘F1’ market have the most • Shooting games, RPG, and ‘Chinese-
handsets in Japan, it’s the ‘M2’ market style’ games are doing well
• Overall, Koreans love cute characters, that actually buys and plays mobile games
bright graphics, and humorous game titles • However, most games currently just
• Porting job consists of at least 5 or 6 mobile versions of existing PC & arcade
• Men prefer PC-like & MMORPG games, different phones per carrier. Also SDKs are games
where as females enjoy casual puzzle almost entirely in Japanese only
games. Female gamers make up a good • Good ‘people relations’ essential to getting
40% of mobile gamers • Network and 3G games in full swing for games launched in
all carriers
• Board games enjoying a revival thanks to • There are many handsets out in the
so-called ‘board game rooms’. Most • Many popular games have look and feel of market (~240 million) but few phones can
console games play color games (less than ~10%)
network games also board games
15. Top U.S. Interactive Software Publishers and Key Titles
While the Industry Leaders Command a Large Portion of the Entertainment Software Industry, the Industry is
Fragmented and Numerous Small, Privately-Held Players Exist
2008 Top U.S. Interactive Entertainment Software Publishers 1
1 Based on U.S. Retail Sales
Publisher Top Brands (U.S. Sales 2008)
* % of total company U.S. sell-through attributable to top ten brands
Source: Wall Street research
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.
16. Industry Trends and Drivers
Trends and Drivers
Broadband penetration to the home, enabling digital distribution and online gaming.
More powerful PCs and laptops at lower prices.
Better graphic processors, more disc space, etc.
Improvement in quality of games, often with social elements (VoIP, text chat, etc.).
Current Longer console lifecycles.
Drivers
Growth in adoption of smart phones and other handheld devices that support gaming applications.
Changing demographics: The web-literacy rate among the target audience has been growing constantly.
Macroeconomic weakness and uncertainty, which impacts consumer spending, advertisements and
investment.
Piracy: Illegal file downloading / disks.
Inhibitors Free content available on the Internet, which lowers demand for premium titles.
Platform incompatibility: Some hardware cannot play select software.
High bar to produce sophisticated titles; costly and time-consuming to develop.
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp.
17. U.S. Interactive Entertainment Versus Other Entertainment Sectors
The U.S. Interactive Entertainment Sector Has Grown Substantially Since 2003, While Other Entertainment Sectors are
Approximately Flat to Slightly Down
U.S. Entertainment Sectors
($ in Billions)
Source: Wall Street research
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. 3
18. Interactive Entertainment Market Demographics
Although Interactive Entertainment Consumption is Well Distributed, Time Spent by 8- to 18-year-olds is Growing
Dramatically
Interactive Entertainment Market Segmentation by
Demographics (2009)
55% of the interactive entertainment market is comprised of 6%
Males older than 45 2%
males aged under 45. Females older than 45
Women now represent 40% of game players and 48% of 8%
Females under 18
game buyers.
Within the younger demographics (ages 8 to 18), time spent 36%
consuming video and computer games has increased Males 18 to 45
dramatically over the past 10 years. 19%
Males under 18
Video games use has increased from 26 minutes a day to 1
hour 13 minutes in a typical day.
Video games present 11% of media time allocation.
29%
Females 18 to 45
Media Use Over Time (8- to 18-year-olds) Media Time Allocation Among 8- to 18-year-olds
1 19% of time is spent playing computer games
Notes: Total media exposure is the sum of time spent with all media. Multitasking proportion
is the proportion of media time that is spent using more than one medium concurrently. Total
media use is the actual numbers out of the day that are spent using media, taking multitasking
into account.
Source: IBISWorld, January 2010; Kaiser Family Foundation, January 2010
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. 4
19. Interactive Entertainment Software Market by Genre
Growth in the Family / Children Segment has Been Driven by Music Themed Games Such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero
U.S. Interactive Entertainment Software Market by Genre
2008 U.S. Interactive Entertainment Software Market by Genre
Source: Wall Street research
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. 5
20. Online PC Gaming in the United States
U.S. Online PC Gaming Subscribers and
Purchased Digital Game Downloads
The market for online PC gaming continues to
advance, with more than 190 million
Americans, or approximately 60% of the
population, forecasted to play some kind of
online PC game by 2014.
Core business models include premium
monthly subscriptions mainly associated with
virtual worlds and Massively Multiplayer
Online Games (“MMOs”), paid digital
downloads, and advertising and micro-
transactions (i.e., sub-$5 virtual item
purchases).
U.S. Online PC Gaming Revenue
Digital game downloads (i.e., purchased full
game and add-on downloads) are expected to
grow the fastest, reaching 237 million
downloads in 2014, a 36.9% compounded
annual growth rate from the 49 million in
2009.
U.S. online PC gaming revenue is expected to
reach $9.5 billion in 2014, a CAGR of 22.6%
from 2009.
Source: IDC, March 2010
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. 6
21. Rise of MMOs in the United States
Strong Growth in Massively Multiplayer Online Games is Expected to Continue
U.S. Premium MMO and Casual Subscriptions
(in Millions)
.7%
: 28
GR
CA
The number of paid monthly subscriptions
.8%
(including MMOs and casual gaming CAGR: 26
subscriptions) has historically grown at a
CAGR of 27% and is projected to grow rapidly
at a CAGR of 29%, from about 18 million in
2010 to nearly 49 million by 2014.
U.S. Premium MMO and Casual Subscription Revenue
($ in Millions)
0 .9%
:2
GR
Revenue from MMO and casual subscriptions CA
is projected to double, increasing from $2.0
billion in 2010 to $4.2 billion in 2014.
%
25.8
CA GR:
Source: IDC, March 2010
38 Studios: Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. 7
22. Women Love Mario!
U.S. Total Video Games Dollar Share
Female As Recipient, 12 Months Ending 3/08
Nintendo Platforms: 60% Of Revenue
All Other
PlayStation 3 Wii
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation 2
Xbox 360
Nintendo DS
Source: The NPD Group / Consumer Tracking Service
23. The Music Genre Has Exploded
17.0M
1229.6M
YTD 2008
+264%
Units
+375%
Dollars
4.7M
3.1M 258.5M
2.7M
1.6M
132.2M
103.7M
48.6M
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Units Dollars
Source: The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
24. Beyond Guitar Hero and Rock Band
5.1M YTD 2008
+112%
228.7M Units
+126%
Dollars
2.9M
2.7M
2.4M
122.4M
103.7M 101.1M
1.6M
48.6M
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Units Dollars
Source: The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
25. China Game Market
A young market with internet cafe as main
distribution channel.
26. China a Vast but Hard to Tap Market
NO CONSOLE MARKET
Largely for fear of piracy, first party platforms have
largely ignored the Chinese game market. Because
consoles are often sold at a loss with profits made from
software and royalties, the degree of piracy in China
makes the console market effectively untenable.
INTERNET / GAME CAFÉ BOOM
With a low rate of PC ownership, the Internet café has
become the primary distribution point for games in
China.
According to Pearl research, China’s online game market
rose 63% Y/Y in CY08 to $2.8B.
But, China is banning foreign investment in online
games.
YOUNG MARKET
According to Pearl, 70% of China’s 298 million Internet
users are under the age of 30, and 65% of those have
played online games.
Sources: Company data, Hudson Square Research
27. Online Game Type
• MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer online Role Playing Game)
(ex: Chinese Hero. Lineage, Huang Yi Online, World of Warcraft)
• Strategy: Team work strategy (ex: Sango Online)
• Competition: race game or shoot game (ex: CS online)
• Casual game: gambling game or game for fun(ex: porker. Mahjong)
Competition
Casual game
Strategy
MMORPG Strategy
Casual game Competition
MMORPG
Source: The NPD Group / Consumer Tracking Service
29. Casual Games Sample
Matching Time
Games Management
Games
Hidden Object
Games
30. Casual Games Lessons
• Everyone will buy games on the Internet if they’re designed to
appeal to cater to their interests
• Online, games need to be at the right level of difficulty appeal to the
intended audience
• Work with portals to achieve a large enough audience to generate
enough transaction for profitability
• The success of Xbox Live Arcade shows that hardcore gamers work
on consoles too
• The logic of light-weight MMOs:
• 6 or 7 figure budgets (initially)
• Free to play, upsell with status items (clothing, leaderboards,
furniture, etc.)
• Far shorter development times
• Modest technical complexity
• 10-20% of your audience will pay
31. Runescape
• Browser-playable, traditional fantasy MMO
• 9 millions active players
• Of which 1 million pay $5/month for premium services
• Plus advertising revenue
• Player acquisition largely by word of mouth
32. Club Penguin
• Flash minigames aimed at kids held together with a virtual world metaphor
• Free to play
• $6/month premium membership for status items
• Key distribution arrangement with Miniclips
• #1 free game site on the Internet, >40m monthly uniques
• Receives 50% of lifetime revenue from users who join CP via Miniclips
• Sold to Disney for $350m
33. Mobile Games in Japan
As the most challenging mobile market in the
world, Japan got various new trends.
34. Japan’s main Social Network Service Players
Mixi DeNA(mbga) Gree
Users 18M 15 M 16M
FY08 Rev $121M $196M $139M
ARPU $0.60 $1.09 $1.04
35. Casual Games in Japan
Blending the lines between pre-
installed and downloaded apps
“Pet Calendar” by Success
A fun little rump
Very simple game formats popular in
Catch poop falling from the pink
print magazines throughout Japan
bum at the top of the screen
One engine gets refreshed with new
This game spread virally like
puzzle content everyday
wildfire in Japan much like
Free download includes a couple of
“gnome bowling” on the US ‘net
trial puzzles but you can register
directly within the appli for more
“Shit Panic” by Nekozone
“Pencil Puzzler” by Cybird/
K-Lab/Sekai Bunsha
36. Brand Extension: TV Game Show
• “Very very profitable”
• Mobilized web games
• Game rules mimics
shows
• Monthly game packs
add new answers,
puzzles
“Jeopardy”, “Wheel of Fortune”
by Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment
37. Multimedia Composition
• “Text to picture” engine
• Type in text message (eg SMS)
• Send to funmail shortcode with your
targets address
• FunMail engine picks images to match
your text
• Sends as EMS/MMS/… based on
recipient
“Funmail”
38. Multimedia Composition
• Use SanRio’s “Hello Kitty” to
send messages to your friends.
• You can choose what outfit she
wears and different compositions
“Kitty Mail” by Imagineer
39. Trend: Game Packs - bundling
• New games every
month to stop
unsubscribing
• For $1/month take up
to three games
• Using Tetris to bring
people in and other
games to keep them
“Petit Appli” by G-Mode
40. Trend: Multiplayer games
• Ranked #3 on docomo’s game pack menu
• Good variety of games including board
games and sports like Billiards
• Packet fees are still very high and ICPs
don’t get a cut, so little motivation to get
users rack up huge packet fee bills.
• Example: a game of othello will cost
50cents per player
• Korea is much more flourishing for
multiplayer where the biz model supports
CPs
“Table Game Jam” by G-Mode
41. Trend: 3D Games
“Chokobo” by Square for Mitsubishi
• Docomo regards the ‘505’ handset
as a PlayStation 1
• Currently many japanese game
companies are porting hit 3D PS1
titles to mobile
• RidgeRacer was the pack-in game
for the PS1. Different makers are
“Psychic Force” by Taito bundling games with their handsets.
42. Trend: p2p networking
• Create your own virtual
aquarium, bring up fish and
then beam exchange them
with your friends!
“Aqua Mode” by Moss/Bandai Networks
43. Cross Media: link to Web
• Play on PC
• Pay via Mobile.
• Purchase virtual objects using
Premium SMS
• Multiplayer Graphic Chat
“Habbo Hotel” by Sulake
44. JooJoo: Social Game Portal
Games Social Entertainment Virtual Goods
Social game portal
• Raise pets with your friends
• Non-realtime Battle games with other users
• Paid gifts and other virtual items
• Write blog articles to raise your in-game level
• Your avatar shows up in games and also on
your blog and home page
45. Operation: events, goods, community, metrics
• In social games the post-launch service operation is a critical success factor.
Pikkle has deep experience in running these services. Japanese users also
expect a high-level of customer support. We also know how to build activity in the
fan communities around our games.
Hina Matsuri Halloween Christmas Easter eggs
“Girls Day” Japanese Limited period virtual
fes1val goods
46. Monetizing the Social Games
Consumable items Offer walls and affiliate ads
Gifts with hidden contents! Bundling and special offers
47. Operation: events, goods, community, metrics
• The mobile phone is a PlayStation!
• Almost identical to the PlayStation version: Devil Car and Easter Eggs!
• Created a new high 500yen price point for premium content
• Blockbuster - the most expensive mobile game yet
• 100,000 downloads sold!
• The SH53 handset sold 500K units, so we achieved 20% penetration
48. Package: Monthly Rental
Ridge Racer Taiko No Tatsujin Appli Carrot
One game / PPV One game / sub Unlimited games /sub
$5 / single payment $3 / month $3 / month
Pay-Per-View Subscription All you can eat
49. Game Lifecyle
• Just like a game center,
different games serve different purposes. The service needs the right mix…
• Big brand titles like Ridge-Racer act as “acquisition” apps,
bringing in new customers in and convincing them to join the
service.
• Evergreen “Killer Apps” like Pac-Man just keep people
playing constantly month after month.
• Games like table-games have a lower but constant play
factor. These are the “retention” apps that keep people
subscribed to the service after they join.
• This is just a brief snapshot but of course you need to keep
adding new titles to maintain people’s interest in the
service…
• Business model affects product development decisions:
• Pay-Per-Download motivates “take the money and run” flash branded apps
• Monthly Subscription motivates long-term playability and better value-for-money.
50. On the small screen: the brand is King
On mobile, branded games hugely
outsell unbranded
• The tiny mobile phone storefront gives just
an instant for consumers to decide which
game to download
• Well-known games win every time
• Namco is a giant in the Japanese game industry with group
consolidated turnover of $1.4BN in 2002
Killer Brands…
Namco games have
inspired a range of books This banner for Pac-Man had such strong recognition
eagerly taken up by fans. that it won the D2C award for best mobile advert. Even
people who did not grow up with Pac-Man immediately
recognized it as a fun game.
51. Docomo Weekly Guide
• Very high traffic mobile site which is a guide to
what’s new on i-mode
• A way for the carrier to include more “editorial
opinion” than just straight popularity rankings
• Introducing “what’s new”
• Special Feature
• Sites that use new tech or handsets
• Emoji graphics
• Tips and Tricks
• Single Banner ad
• From this “weekly guide” you could foresee
Docomo’s stance like “contents magazine”.
• Docomo will never be a CP on their own to
enable an even field for the content providers
52. Trend: mobile charts
• Site Ranking creates a fair competitive field
• Different carriers rank their games in different
ways – number of subscribers, page accesses,
or revenue.
Docomo games categories:
Games 1 >
Game pack
Mini game total 26 sites
RPG
Communication
Sports Table games
simulation
Games 2 >
Variety mail games quiz
nurturing adventure, novel
character general
53. Mobile games boost ARPU!
• Voice ARPU is falling everywhere, but data is rising
• Games create significant data traffic – the second “S” curve
• Our well known brands are helping operators attract a mass-
market mobile game audience and launch their data services
Launch of the 503, japan’s first java capable
9000 mobile phone helped Namco subscriptions
to take off and now similar Java launches
are happening all over the world.
6750
4500 Launch of the 503 – first java phone
DoCoMo: Voice ARPU is falling while Data is rising
1999 2250
2000
2001
2002 0
2003
data ARPU
voice ARPU
Source: Docomo
Source: Namco