Top Trends in Online Games Jon Radoff Las Vegas, IMGDC 3.0 – April 19, 2009

Agenda What is changing about players? What is an online game? How are Business models Evolving? What do Harleys and good games have in common?

history quizzes stories

Gamer Stereotypes of the past…

Games are not a media category. Games are played by everyone!

OF TEENAGERS PLAY GAMES 9 7 %

Couples play games

Families play games

People of all ages play games

What is an online game?

World of Warcraft

Madden NFL 09 World of Warcraft

Guitar Hero III Madden NFL 09

Web-based, easy-to-play, collectible Duels, Warstorm, Planet Storm Browser based Strategy Game In April 2009, the Travian website is more popular than the World of Warcraft website (342 vs. 819 on Alexa) Web-based and iPhone 9 million daily active players in 2009

XBLA, iPhone, Web = Capital Efficiency Low cost of development Low cost of customer acquisition Better business models New Online Game Platforms Fertile ground for independent developers

XBLA, iPhone, Web

= Capital Efficiency

Low cost of development

Low cost of customer acquisition

Better business models

Word-of-mouth as the vehicle for growth Braid as a marketing case-study

What do Harley-Davidson cycles and a good online game have in common?

Hint: it’s also what drives people toward sports franchises.

Good online games are tribal Swagdog guild shirt for World of Warcraft

But it isn’t just guilds – games with any social components are more successful

Rock Band vs. Guitary Hero 3 Daily Players of Rock Band vs. GH3 Why did Rock Band command high daily attention levels? Q:

Grand Theft Auto IV Daily attention from launch day

Call of Duty IV Daily attention from launch day

High attention = word-of-mouth = more customers High attention = sustainable revenue It’s all about attention Attention drives biz model + distribution

Business Models that leverage attention Virtual goods / collectible items Franchise sequels Content patches Online competitions / skill-gaming Subscriptions Advertising

Conclusions Larger, more diverse audience than ever Capital-efficient platforms exist to connect you with this diverse audience People are looking for “tribes” to be a part of Capturing and sustaining attention is the essence of good online game models

Thanks! Jon Radoff, CEO, GamerDNA [email_address] GamerDNA: tarinth Twitter: jradoff