Friday, April 06, 2007
Ready To Cash In On Internet Gaming?
Gaming is no longer just for teenagers -- it's entertainment for everyone. The gaming industry is not an exclusive club for large game developers, publishers and console manufacturers. Not any more. You too are invited. The Internet has reinvented gaming, and now gaming is reinventing the Internet. Over the past 10 years, the Internet and gaming industries have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship, feeding each other new ideas and business models.
For instance, MUD (multiuser dungeon) games are not only the precursors of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) such as "World of Warcraft" and virtual-world or alter-ego games such as "Second Life," but they also embody many elements of a social network.
In the meantime, many new Internet technologies and business models such as e-commerce, micropayments, interactive advertising and subscription-based online entertainment services have found a place in the gaming world. Nowadays it's getting difficult to distinguish a game from a social network and vice versa, and virtual-world games such as Second Life are blurring the lines even further. Since these games are about virtual "realities," anything that happens in the real world can happen in the game.
Better yet, anything that's not ready or appropriate for the real world can also happen in the virtual world. Second Life is therefore not just a game; it's also an advertising and promotional platform, a collaborative environment, an online communication platform, an incubator for new ideas and concepts and a potential platform for digital content distribution (and did I mention a virtual sex playground?). In this brave new world of gaming, the game (and its success or failure) is not just about gameplay and content -- it's also about community and socialization. Granted, there are gamers who prefer to face only the CPU (central processing unit) and never bother to play with or against others; however, the success of several community-based games and gaming services provide ample evidence that many gamers -- when they play games -- are also seeking a communal experience and a sense of belonging.
The subsequent diversification of gaming genres and business models is also leading to the diversification of gamers. The dichotomy of casual versus core gamers is splintering as the gaming industry expands. (There are six segments of gamers.) Time and money are only two of the many dimensions that define a gamer, and an equally if not more important dimension is what motivates a person to play games.
A marketer looking only at time and money spent is missing the bigger picture. Dormant gamers might not be spending lots of money simply because they cannot find any appealing content or services. In the meantime, a leisure gamer who spends a lot of time playing casual games but contributes little money can be better monetized if the right business models exist. Today, power gamers are 10 percent of the total gamer population and generate about 30 percent of the total game content revenue. However, middle-market gamers -- including social, leisure and dormant gamers -- already represent 56 percent of the total market revenue.
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For instance, MUD (multiuser dungeon) games are not only the precursors of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) such as "World of Warcraft" and virtual-world or alter-ego games such as "Second Life," but they also embody many elements of a social network.
In the meantime, many new Internet technologies and business models such as e-commerce, micropayments, interactive advertising and subscription-based online entertainment services have found a place in the gaming world. Nowadays it's getting difficult to distinguish a game from a social network and vice versa, and virtual-world games such as Second Life are blurring the lines even further. Since these games are about virtual "realities," anything that happens in the real world can happen in the game.
Better yet, anything that's not ready or appropriate for the real world can also happen in the virtual world. Second Life is therefore not just a game; it's also an advertising and promotional platform, a collaborative environment, an online communication platform, an incubator for new ideas and concepts and a potential platform for digital content distribution (and did I mention a virtual sex playground?). In this brave new world of gaming, the game (and its success or failure) is not just about gameplay and content -- it's also about community and socialization. Granted, there are gamers who prefer to face only the CPU (central processing unit) and never bother to play with or against others; however, the success of several community-based games and gaming services provide ample evidence that many gamers -- when they play games -- are also seeking a communal experience and a sense of belonging.
The subsequent diversification of gaming genres and business models is also leading to the diversification of gamers. The dichotomy of casual versus core gamers is splintering as the gaming industry expands. (There are six segments of gamers.) Time and money are only two of the many dimensions that define a gamer, and an equally if not more important dimension is what motivates a person to play games.
A marketer looking only at time and money spent is missing the bigger picture. Dormant gamers might not be spending lots of money simply because they cannot find any appealing content or services. In the meantime, a leisure gamer who spends a lot of time playing casual games but contributes little money can be better monetized if the right business models exist. Today, power gamers are 10 percent of the total gamer population and generate about 30 percent of the total game content revenue. However, middle-market gamers -- including social, leisure and dormant gamers -- already represent 56 percent of the total market revenue.
Join The Guardian eCommerce Privacy Seal Program
