Girl Geek Dinners

Why current changes affecting the games industry have great future potential for women

THE FUTURE OF GAMES

Kaye Elling

Introductions

• Kaye Elling

• 12-year games industry veteran

• Artist > Art Manager

• Infogrames, Sony, Acclaim, Blitz Games Studios

• Course Tutor for

• BA Design for Computer Games

• BSc Interactive Systems & Video Game Design

Title History

Lighting-quick Overview

• Games industry 101

• How games are currently developed

• Current sales models

• Changes the industry is facing today

• Changes in sales models

• Changes in how games are developed

• What this might mean for women in games

Games are funded by Publishers

Publishers: Spanning Market & Development

The Publisher giveth, and the Publisher taketh away

Current Market Drivers

• Games controlled by budget• Budget controlled by publishers

Q: Who controls the publishers?

A: Sales & Marketing!

Games

£££ $$$ €€€

Publishers

Sales & Marketing

Budget Voodoo

•Publishers’ own sales departments

• Sales data on similar genres

• Or prequels

• In depth market analysis

• Complex & arcane algorithms

• Sum forms bottom line budgetBudget

Market Analysis

Sales Data

Budget Voodoo

• Budget = Advance fees

• Prior to title release

• Include royalty deal as well

• After title release

• This is smaller than you’d think! Budget

Market Analysis

Sales Data

“Old” / Current Revenue models

Original Title on the 360/PS3: 2.5 yrsPitch Pre-Production Production Alpha Beta Master Manufacturer

= Greenlight= Signing Adv = Milestone Payment = Royalty

Release Year 1 Year 2 Eternity

Studio Manager/CEO/Owner

Technical Director

Head of Development/ Head of Production

Art DirectorDesign Director

Technical Lead Lead Designer Lead Artist

Senior Designers

Regular Designers

Junior Designers

QA Manager

Senior Artists/Animators

Regular Artists/Animators

Junior Artists/Animators

Senior Programmers

Regular Programmers

Junior Programmers

Audio Manager

PR ManagerHR Manager

QA Technicians

Senior QA

Work Placements

Project Director/ Producer

Senior Management Shared Resources Team SpecificLegend:

Senior Audio Designer

Audio Technicians

External

Outsourcing

“Old” structure

Current stats for women in games

• 71% of UK ♀ play games*

• ~8500-9000 total developers in the UK

• Average ratio of ♀ to ♂ developers = 9%**

• That’s <800 ♀ developers

• Average ♀ salary = £33,260pa (♂ - £2000pa)**

*http://www.edge-online.com/news/study-73-per-cent-of-uk-citizens-regularly-play-games** http://www.interactiveblog.net/?tag=women-game-developers***http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32964/Women-earn-more-than-men-in-the-UK-games-industry

Markets In Transition

Boxed Product

DigitalDistribution

Cloud Computing Streamed Service?

DevelopedEconomies

DevelopingEconomies

MicroEconomies?

Product BasedBusiness Model

Service Based Business Model?

New Potential Revenue models (Subs & Micro)

More transparent monthly data = more payments

Pitch Pre-Production Iteration 1 Patch 1 Patch 2 Expansion

= Greenlight= Signing Adv = Milestone Payment = Royalties

Release Year 1 Year 2 Eternity

Subscriptions = more transparent due to continued developer input

Great news for Developers: An open market

Paul Johnson on Gameswatch http://bit.ly/84V2G

Transitions in Markets Affect Development

Entrepreneurial Structure

CorporateStructure

Smaller Teams

Reduced RiskNew Revenue

Models

Old systems no longer working? Headlines:

• Major layoffs at Sony, THQ, Red Star, et al

•Sales down 29% at Disney interactive Q4 ‘09*

• Even games magazine sales slump/stagnate**

• On the positive: Zynga buys “Serious Business”

Facebook developer ***, Steam users up 25%,

Gameloft says mobile games market >400% ****** http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/game-revenues-down-at-disney***http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/future-suffers-circulation-slumpy***http://www.edge-online.com/news/zynga-acquires-social-game-developer****http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gameloft-mobile-gaming-market-will-increase-3-4-times-in-next-few-years

Returning to the *Point*

•Finance & revenue models for games are changing

• The entire Business model for games is in transition

• Traditional games publishers no longer have a

monopoly on mainstream game distribution &

development

• Industry is in transition to a broader power base

Not just about consoles & MMOs you know!

...with accessible dev platforms?

What Does This Mean for Women in Games?

•Games are under less corporate control

• Simplicity of Arcade Titles

• Hand Held & Accessible In Browser Gaming

• Entering the mainstream

• = Reduced Dev times =Reduced teams = Reduced risk

• Open to entrepreneurship again

• Blows the traditional studio environment wide open!

Goodbye Traditional Dev Environment?

There are other options for game development

• For the mainstream games industry

• This flexibility is key to greater female involvement

100+ Team (+ Global Outsourcing)

Lumbering mega-giant in marketplace

60+ hour weeks over extended periods

Flexible Development Means Fewer Barriers

•New business models = new development models

• More potential for smaller development

• Opening of micro-studio models with freelancers

• Rise & rise of the indie developer

• This means fewer barriers to entry for women

• NOW is the time to capitalise on this

Shameless plug!

• March 25th & 26th @ The University of Bradford in

collaboration with Bradford College

• Conference: Meeting of Industry & Academia re Games

• To network & discuss issues surrounding women

• As developers & potential future developers

• As subjects of games

• And consumers too

• This year’s theme is Diversity: markets, platforms, players

• Keynote speakers are Lorna Evans, of TIGA & Sheri

Grayner Ray, author of Gender Inclusive Game Design

• Other Speakers: SCEE, Team 17, Jagex, Monumental

• Tickets are £200 for 2-day pass

• £125 for 1day/concessions

• www.womeningames.com

k.l.elling@bradford.ac.uktwitter.com/K_0