Ten dos and don'ts for TV companies making games
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Five dos & don’ts of making games Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival 2010 Nicholas Lovell GAMESbrief
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At the Edinburgh Television Festival 2010, I was asked to tell television producers and commissioners how to make television formats work with computer games. This is what I said.
Transcript of Ten dos and don'ts for TV companies making games
Five dos & don’ts of making games
Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival 2010
Nicholas LovellGAMESbrief
Nicholas Lovell, GAMESbriefAuthor, How to Publish a
GameDirector, GAMESbriefClients include Atari, Channel
4, Channelflip, Firefly, nDreams and Rebellion
@nicholaslovell / @gamesbrief
Five don’ts of game development
1. Don’t rely on licences“A licence is only as valuable as the amount it
reduces your marketing costs”- Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4
Existing IP:Slows down developmentMakes taking risks harderBrings built-in audiencesCan be an effective monetisation strategy for a tv
brand
Using licences is not a no-brainer
2. Don’t spend too much moneyYou don’t need to
spend tens of millions of dollars to launch a game anymore
So why would you?Unless you are
*really*, *really* sure of yourself, keep it small, test and iterate
3. Don’t spend too much time
4. Don’t think about revenue *after* the design“If a game is built around a business
model, that’s a recipe for failure.”- Dave Jones, designer, APB
I see eight different revenue streamsDave Perry sees 38Each one needs a different style of
gameplayNo time today but key insight:
virtual goods are about STATUS and FEELING, not possession and ownership
5. Don’t forget it’s a gameGames are not movies or TV showsGames are not linearThe tension is in the player’s head, not on the
screenWhat games do best:
ChoicesDilemmasEngagementImmersion
Please, no interactive movies Average rating: 16%
Five dos of game development
1. Know your platformOpen
Largest audience Best virality Low consumer barrier
to entry Conversion is hard Competition is
growing
www
Closed
Niche audience Expensive marketing High barrier to entry Strong propensity to
spend Competition is, if
anything declining, but that’s because it’s hard
Inbetween
Niche audience Crowded Appstore Low consumer barrier
to entry Downwards pressure
on App prices
2. Iterate, iterate, iterate
Most popular game in the world62 million players in last 30 days
Has been in beta since it launchedUnlikely ever to stop
3. Outsource, outsource, outsourceIf you can outsource, do it
Do what you do *really* wellLet others do what they do really well (will
pay dividends if you are successful)
Billing
Hosting
Ad sales
Affiliate networksLocalisation
Legal
Distribution
Development
Development
Marketing
Market research
4. Pay attention to the marketThe games industry is going through
continued disruptionSony and Microsoft blindsided by Nintendo WiiCasual portals like Miniclip and Kongregate
blindsided by FacebookAdvertising-based businesses blindsided by
emergence of virtual goodsYou can never be paying too much attention
5. Focus on retention, not acquisition
TV is good at ACQUIRING customersGames are good at RETAINING customers and
MONETISING themPlay to the strengths of the medium
5 dos and 5 don’ts1. DO know your
platform2. DO iterate, iterate,
iterate3. DO pay attention to
the market4. DO outsource,
outsource, outsource5. DO focus on
retention, not acquisition
1. DON’T rely on licences
2. DON’T spend too much money
3. DON’T spend too much time
4. DON’T think about revenue *after* the design
5. DON’T forget it’s a game
