DMW Games LA Games Conference 2014 - Event Review Part One - David L. $Money Train$ Watts - FuTurXTV...

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DMW Games LA GAMES CONFERENCE 2014 Event Review Part One 5-5-2014

5-5-2014 - Written By David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV Howard Hobson Funk Gumbo Radio Raymond C. Reed Global Media Village Auggie Cavanagh FuTurXTV Partners David Velo Stewart & Brandon Bowlin

(L-R) David Anthony, Smack-a-Fool game & Mikko Setala, Executive Vice President, Rovio Entertainment

First, I want to give a big shout-out to Ned Sherman who organizes and runs the DMW

Games LA Games Conference 2014 on May 1st at Hollywoods Roosevelt Hotel. Ned just

the previous month pulled off the highly successful debut event of Digital Entertainment

World (DEW) 2014. Ned made the wise and gusty decision to cut down the usual two day

Games Conference to one day. I felt this was smart because it provided a greater sense of

unity for the speakers, press and attendees. But there was a glaring omission to this years

LA Games Conference that has to be asked: Where was Oculus Rift? The hottest new VR

gaming company and new gaming platform in Southern California has to be at an event

called LA Games Conference. I know Oculus Rift was big hit at last months GDC and I

fully expect it to be a major hit or booth sensation at next months E3 Expo. So why not

Funk Gumbo Radio: http://www.live365.com/stations/sirhobson @FUNKGUMBO [email protected] www.funkgumbo.com

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get someone from Oculus Rift with a few demo units to wow the LA Games Conference

attendees. But I strongly suspect that since Oculus Rift was already sending Eugene Cheng

to speak at next weeks Variety Entertainment & Technology Summit at Digital

Hollywood, Variety did not want #LAGC to steal their shine. But hopefully by DEW 2015

or next years LA Games Conference an Oculus Rift headset and console for gamers and

consumers will be out or coming soon. Anyway, I will give my most important takeaways

and speaker quotes from the panels at DMW Games LA Games Conference 2014. Also,

FuTurXTVs 2014 LA Games Conference social media and publishing partners are David

Velo Stewart of www.hhbmedia.com and Brandon Bowlin of www.thedarkroome.com.

Welcome to the Conference #LAGC - Blossom Room Ned Sherman, CEO & Publisher, Digital Media Wire

View from the Top: The State of the Game Industry Blossom

Room

Industry leaders discuss the current state of the game industry as the business continues its

transition towards a digital future. What does it take to make a successful game these days

across platforms? What emerging gaming platforms will be the most important in the

years to come? How do you make money in this more and more complicated gaming

universe with new digital platforms competing for the time and pocketbooks of consumers?

PANELISTS:

Walter Driver, Co-Founder and CEO, Scopely

Mikko Setala, Executive Vice President, Rovio Entertainment

Steve Wadsworth, President, CEO and Board Member, Tapjoy

Chris Early, VP, Digital Publishing, Ubisoft

Moderator: Liam Callahan, Director, Games Industry Analyst, NPD


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Chris: We have Google Glass in house and are figuring out what to do with them.

Mikko: We [at Rovio Entertainment] need millions of downloads of a new technology or

app to make a new tech profitable for games like Angry Birds.

Steve: Somebody is going to get serious about developing new games for Google Glass and

get down on Google Glass in a big way.

Liam: The first obstacle to me is that wearing Google Glass looks goofy and thinks most

consumers are waiting for cooler designs before it takes off.

Did not get to hear Ned, but Ned is usually on point with all the major current gaming

Industry trends, news and statistics. If Ned does not know something breaking big or

important it tech than I doubt it has happened yet. But I did enjoy the first panel because it

covered a lot of the basic trends in the multi-billion gaming biz and the panelists were good.

Whats The Next Big Thing in Gaming: Keynote Conversation with

Kristian Sergerstrale Blossom Room

Kristian Segerstrale, Co-Founder, Initial Capital, Investor/Former Board Member,

Supercell, Co-Founder, Playfish (acquired by EA), GluMobile (NASDAQ)

Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors

(L-R) Kristian Sergerstrale Co-Founder Intial Capital, Investor/Former board Member Supercell,

Ned Sherman, CEO & Publisher Digital Media Wire & Mike Vorhaus, President Magid Advisors

Kristian: Intial Capital invests $500,000 to $750,000 in seed funding and 70% of those

funds are allocated to games and the remaining 30% is for game related infrastructure who

supply the game world. Our main focus of our investments is to build up and support new

games startups so it is prepared for series A funding roundsWhat I am really hot

about hot organic games that one wants to shape their life around.


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Kristian stressed in his Keynote Conversation that one had to careful comparing platform

games vs. casual games because although Sony sold 5.4 million PS4 units there were 92

million daily Candy Crush users. [That phenomenon has more than 90 million daily active

users (DAUs), and people play it over 1 billion times a day. The developers next-closest release is Pet Rescue Saga, which has 15 million DAUs.] Kristian predicted fewer hit

gaming titles for platforms, but does expect to be a surge in new tablet gaming hit titles.

Kristian: The only barrier that tablet games have still yet to crack is first person shooter

games. This is the last gaming area for tablet game developers that has been yet to be

conqueredAnd Super Evil Megacorp is a unique game that melds the tablet experience

with free to play gaming.

Kristian: I predict that 3 to 5 years from now that the top 3 to 5 tablet games will as

profitable and successful as the top 3 to 5 console gamesAnd one still needs to spend $1

Million to create a mid-core game.

@MoneyTrain: I asked about the globalization of gaming and would he only look to fund

game developers in Silicon Valley when the next Flappy Bird viral game hit could be in

Malaysia, Bombay or Lagos.

Kristian answers my question by saying that talented game developers can be located

anywhere and highly believes that the globalization of games is better than ever before.

Kristian: Developers can blow up anywhere, but he right now is still primarily investing

in game startups in Northern California because I can give them direct hands on support,

guidance and mentoring.

I thought this was a great Keynote conversation to get things started at LA Games, but

again we need to have a video presentation to show examples of new hit gaming trends.


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Mobilizing Games through Free to Play Academy Room

This panel will discuss free to play and freemium models for games. What works? What

doesnt? Whats the right mix in deploying free to play?

PANELISTS

Adam Gutterman, Director of Game Design and Monetization, Unity

Ari Brandt, CEO & Co-Founder, MediaBrix

Bjorn Book-Larsson, CEO, Reloaded Games

Christina Lee, Associate Director, Nexon America

Moderator: Brian Lovell, CEO, RED Interactive Agency

Christina: To really monetize free to play games one has to be good at constantly keeping

it fresh for the gamers.

Brian gave an example of how sometimes one can let game moderators play along with the

gamers and put in special features that only a select few know at first, but then becomes a

fan frenzy to complete levels or challenges. He said in one free to play game an bonus

Easter Bunny avatar or character was controlled by a game moderator kill the bunny and

then get a special reward, power or prize.

@Money Train: I asked the panel about designing a game that used Bitcoins as a game

platform to reward gamers and a few panelists say we are not there legally to develop

Bitcoin based games. But some games are experimenting with allowing gamers to buy

virtual goods in games. No one really wanted to get into the Bitcoin to Play debate and I

just wonder what are the real legal ramifications of game developers creating skill based

games that give Bitcoin rewards instead of virtual rewards. Who is setting the standard

that a digital currency like Bitcoin is anymore real than virtual prizes in a free to play

game? Ari Brand then said he was going to China next week to China for a major free to

play summit at Media Bix which has over 500 games to play. And he said skill based games

are legal and chance based games, poker, slots, blackjack, etc., are still not legal in the U.S.

for gamers. He believes there is a huge potential for brands to get into the free to play

gaming marketing space. I agree about native ads incorporated with more game brands.


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The Evolution of Digital Pricing Models Across Consoles, PC and

Mobile/Tablets Academy Room

This panel of experts from console, PC and mobile/tablet gaming will discuss the evolving

digital pricing models, including revenue shares and the current and future landscape

across the various platforms (Consoles, PC, Mobile/Tablet, etc.)- from freemium to

freemium to premium and everything in between. The panel will focus on the specifics of

how the industry is changing due to emerging platforms and how people are monetizing on

them.

PANELISTS

Jason Enriquez, Director, Business Development & Global Communications, Glu Mobile

Chris Donahue, Co-Founder, Elevate Partners

Chris Mahoney, SVP, Strategy & Marketing, Lockwood Publishing

Rick Sanchez, VP, Product and Marketing, OnLive

Moderator: Nate Nanzer, Vice President, Frank N. Magid Associates

Jason: I play a lot of games and there is not a guarantee that the product delivered in

premium mobile/tablet games is better than other free mobile/tablet gamesAnd with

thousands of free games launching one needs a valuable IP to standout.

Rick Sanchez wanted to know how will Facebooks Oculus Rift games work with their

fermium model of social games. And I think Facebook will have some top free VR games.

Jason: We one of the first gaming companies to make games [Spellista, which is an

innovative word puzzle game] for Google Glass more as an experiment than to make a

profit. Right now there is no Google Glass store or pricing modelFreemium in my honest

opinion is doing well because King, Supercell and even Zynga are crushing it still.

Jason also empathizes great graphics is at the heart of great mobile/tablet games nowadays.

But I am still shocked at how Google launched Google Glass with only one or a few games.


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Investors Roundtable Luncheon Blossom Room

Join Leading Game and Tech Investors for Q&A Roundtable and Lunch. Find out what it

takes to get funded and how companies are positioning for successful exits in the current

environment. Bring your questions!

Participating Investors:

Clinton Foy, Venture Partner, CrossCut Ventures

David Siemer, Managing Partner, Siemer Ventures

Sunny Dhillon, Early Stage Investor, Signia Venture Partners

Manish Patel, Partner, Highland Capital Partners

Peter Levin, Managing General Partner, York Ventures

Chris Petrovic, Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships, Kabam

Brandon Quartararo, Vice President, Digital Capital Advisors

This top group of investors has invested in gaming, mobile and tech companies including

Playdom (acquired by Disney), Next Games, Midverse Studios, Iddiction, Artillery, Trooval,

Playground.fm, Grow Mobile, Wild Needle (acquired by Zynga), Grand Cru, Tykoon, Funzio,

Pepperdata, Red Robot Labs, Project Slice, Triangulate, Adify, Alibaba, Idle Games, Xyologic,

AiryLabs, U4IA Games, Super Evil Megacorp., Top Prospect, Flycast Communications,

Matter Network, Kihon, PlayChemy, Fun Lab, CEI Digital, Aviate (acquired by Yahoo),

Disconnect, Fleksy, Leap Motion, Game Closure, Leap Motio, SmartThings, GumGum,

Science, Pulp Media and many more.

@MoneyTrain: I asked the panelist who were all male what they thought about lack of

diversity among females and minorities among tech and game investors like themselves.

The only ones who wanted to answer was Sunny and Chris and Sunny they both said some

PC stuff about Silicon Valley needing more diversity and how things are getting better. But

the fact that 99% of all investor panels at DEW, LA Games and DH are always composed

of 99% white males is damning statement in itself. And I think the gaming investors are no

different than tech investors whereas they only fund 5% of women owned tech companies

and only fund 1% of minority tech companies. This is an appalling and unstainable stat in

Silicon Valley. It would take Wall Street to reward VCs that have diverse entrepreneurs.


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What I really hoped would happen is that someone on the panel admit that the Gaming

Industry could expand even greater and create even more original and hit titles if more

women and minority game developers were being backed and funded on a regular basis.

Game Marketing Leadership Roundtable Blossom Room

This panel of leading game marketing executives will discuss the mix and techniques being

used to market games today and how they see this changing in the years to come.

PANELISTS

Bryan Buskas, SVP, Performance Advertising, AdColony

Jonathan Anastas, VP, Global Mktg, Digital/Social Media Head, Activision

John Koller, VP, Marketing - Home Consoles & Handheld Platforms, PlayStation (Sony

Computer Entertainment America)

Steve Fowler, Head of Global Marketing, ArenaNet

Moderator: Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors

(L-R) Bryan Buskas, Jonathan Anastas, John Koller, Mike Vorhaus, Steve Fowler and Ned Sherman

The moderator Mike Vorhaus actually started the game marketing panel by following up

on my diversity question from the previous Investors Luncheon Roundtable. Mike made

kinda of an observation/statement/joke that when he recently went to do some consulting at

Pinterest he was surprised that all the top execs were men. Even though Pinterest is a

heavily female driven social media site. You could hear crickets on stage after Mike spoke.


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And when Mike said this I then realized why Deena Varshavskaya, the founder and chief

executive of the Wanelo, has successfully figured out how to merge shopping and collecting

pictures. Deenas Wanelo app is a mega-huge hit for a new tech start-up. Yet the primarily

male run and heavily financed Pinterest is still utterly clueless on how to create a profitable

and engaging shopping experience from the Pinterest boards of its users and businesses:

Launched in 2012 by Deena Varshavskaya, 34, Wanelothe name is shorthand for want,

need, lovehas insinuated itself into the lives of intense shoppers. In August the company

announced it had 11 million users, up from just 1 million the year before. Ninety percent of

them are women, though the proportion of men on the site is increasing. So, too, are the

accounts of retailers using the platform to find out which products resonate most with

consumers. We noticed mid-last-year that there was lots of inbound traffic coming from

Wanelo, so we quickly jumped in to create an account, says Bryan Galipeau, director of

social media at Nordstrom (JWN). Within five months, we had a million followers, the fastest

growth of any of our social media accounts.

Wanelo is an intermediary and doesnt stock anything itself. Instead, it lists more than 12

million products from roughly 300,000 stores worldwide. Like users of Twitter (TWTR),

Instagram, or Pinterest, those of Wanelobe they browsers or stores or fashion designers

post images of products theyre interested in. They can also save items others have posted on

Wanelo into their own wish lists. Unlike similar sites that serve up grids full of desirable stuff

ad infinitum, Varshavskayas site is different in that everything is instantly purchasable. If a

spring-break-bound college girl is looking for a swimsuit, she might scour e-commerce stores

and Wanelo for bikinis, paying special attention to those that have been saved the most,

then create a board of options to see which gets the most praise. Next to each item is a counter

that shows how many times it has been saved to users accounts. Below that is the price and a

giant green buy button.Kurt SollerBloomberg Businessweek4/24/2014

Sometimes it takes Mikes innocent and humorous Pinterest story to actually confirm why

some multi-billion valued social media companies like Pinterest even be more successful or

profitable today. Imagine if they had a top female tech executive like Deena to better serve

and engage their predominately female Pinterest user base? How can tech companies truly

reach billions of women and multicultural customers when many of these tech and gaming

companies do not have any diversity whatsoever among their top staff or decision makers?


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Steve: The trend in game marketing now is that consumers are now defining the brands

and real time data on consumer behavior is what drives sales and advertising campaigns.

The old days was the game publishers just pushed the new game titles to the consumer and

they just bought it without any debate.

Jonathan: Today 51% of traditional ad money is for TV ads and 49% are new media

buys. But he wanted to stress that TV advertising is not dead. I am more concerned about

how many eyeballs engage with what they are viewing as opposed to just being happy that

people are viewing their content or ads.

Jonathan also stressed on his panel that with an attention deprived economy you have to

have shorter ad campaigns before launching a major title. No time to have lengthy or big

multiple month campaigns that will be forgotten before a release date of a game. Focus on

presales for a year or 10 month campaign to drive actual sales of hardcore gamers. After

the panel was over I asked Jonathan if his quote from last years LA Games Conference

was still true. And he says in fact Facebook has actually gotten worse for Activision to

freely reach all its Facebook fans. And I asked would his ongoing concerns with Facebooks

tight control of Activisions posts on its own company newsfeed effect their ad buys for

Facebooks new video ad platform. Jonathan quickly said no because any Facebook video

ad buys from Activision will come from their TV ad buying budgets and TV ad campaigns.

Growing Your Game Through Facebook Blossom Room

Keynote Conversation with Owen O'Donoghue, North America Casino Team at Facebook

and Alan Avidan, CEO, Bees and Pollen

This was an absolute waste for me because the only thing I wanted to hear someone from

Facebook talk about regarding gaming was their new Oculus Rift platform. We badly

needed to see a demo like what was going to be offered next week at the Variety Tech

Summit. And predictably Owen did not take any questions and no attempt was made to

allow him to take questions as usual with a Facebook speaker on a tech panel in LA. Maybe

things are different up in San Fran or San Jose at their tech conferences. One has a better

chance of asking questions to a Leprechaun than an actual living breathing Facebook

employee on a tech panel in Los Angeles. I directly asked Owen after he got off the stage

why would Facebook users share gaming content or ads when they are having such a hard

time sharing their own content to their friends. Owen could not give a good answer to me.


DMW Games LA Games Conference 2014 - Event Review Part One - David L. $Money Train$ Watts - FuTurXTV...

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