Nick Porsche, Creative Director at Rocksolid Games, has over 12 years of experience in the gaming industry, having worked with major companies and developed the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica online game. The document reviews the online games market's growth and revenue forecasts, highlighting important factors such as game complexity, design, and production methodologies like Scrum/Agile. It also outlines lessons learned in game development and marketing trends, focusing on the importance of prototyping and optimizing workflow.

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2. Nick Porsche
Creative Director & MD
Rocksolid Games Malta
• 12 years in the games business
• Has worked as Executive
Producer, Creative Director and
Head of Finalization
• Companies include Atari, Jowood,
10tacle, The Games Company
and Bigpoint
• Battlestar Galactica Online
critically acclaimed for creating a
new standard for browser based
Massively Multiplayer Games
• Extensive experience with
international IP holders like
Universal Studio and Warner Bros
• Built up operations and teams in
several companies
• Certified IT Business Manager
living with his family in Malta
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3. Business Figures
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4. Online Games Market 2010
Tencent
Shanda
Zynga Sony
NCSoft
Blizzard
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5. Games Revenue Forecast
Micro-Transactions
Subscriptions
2010 2014 Data from Screen Digest and PWC
24 billion $ in digital games revenues 2011 according to British Researcher Ovum
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6. Free 2 Play Market Share
11/10/2011 Newzoo Trend Report | MMO Games, Massively Popular | November 2011
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7. Battlestar Facts
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8. Game Awards
• Unite Community Award 2011
• European Games Award 2011 Best Browser
Game
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9. Distributed Game Development
Oslo (Art and Tasking)
Tvar (Programming)
Hamburg (Web Integrations)
Frankfurt (Quality Assurance)
San Francisco (Live Team)
New York (Media Partner)
Hollywood (Licensor)
Malta (Control & Design)
Burbank (SFX Engineering)
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10. BSGO in Numbers
13 months development
Budget approx. 1 million Euro
Originally released in EFIGS + RU/TR/PL
Now available in over 20 languages
Monthly ARPPU of a full-price PC game
To date over 6.5 million registered users
Thousands of Concurrent Users Online
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11. GAME DESIGN
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12. Game Complexity Paradox
Larry Tesler (Apple, Amazon, Yahoo): One can’t reduce the complexity of a
task – one can only shift the burden.
• Simple games are easy because not a lot to do
• Complexity tends to fall back onto user
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13. Complexity Chart
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14. Midcore MMO Design
• “Shark in a Fishpond” game approach
• Browser = just another platform
• Visually Pleasing Games
• The Content Trap
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15. Line
Rock, Paper, Minigun
Strike Escort
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16. Level Design
• Editor Tool is key (even in Unity)
• Plan in several iterations
• Design a clear purpose and meaning
• Intersperse POI’s
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17. Sound
• Music is emotion
• Effects make world come alive
• Tracks vs. budget: 45 minutes cost 50-100k€
• Downsizing by looping ogg’s
• Voice and narration in web-games
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18. Developing in Unity
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19. Facts
• First free version released in 2009
• 700.000 registered developers
• Future integration into Flash Player (or not?)
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20. What works
• Prototyping and Tech Demoing
• Product Support
• Many Updates
• Cheap to start
• Truly Cross Platform
• Excels in Mobile and Browser (Chrome)
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21. What to watch out for
• GUI can become a nightmare
• Backend Server for MMO
• Still needs a web player install
• Can cost 3% rev-share
• Updates can endanger development
• Full Browser Caching needs license
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22. Learnings
• Create tools to optimize workflow
• Basic character animations need love
• Plan in time to update project
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23. Production
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24. Scrum/Agile Process
(Schwaber, Sutherland, Beedle 1995/2001)
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25. Stages of Development
Closed
Concept Preprod Production Alpha
Beta
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26. Stage Gate Process
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27. Minimum Viable Product
Tim Schafer “The only way to mitigate risk is to
concentrate on making something great.”
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28. Production Best Case & Risk
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29. Team Size Burndown
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30. Questions? Contact me:
n.porsche@rocksolid-games.com
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