August 29th 2008 | Mike Sorrenti

Making a Connection at Casual Connect

I touched down in Seattle not knowing what to expect from the Casual Connect conference. What I found is an industry, in its relative infancy, which lives on the themes of collaboration, great ideas, and a genuine passion for creating compelling casual game experiences to be enjoyed by the masses.

The overall vibe of the conference was like no other conference I had attended before. The meetings offered welcoming faces with bright ideas and lofty goals, the seminars offered frank information from industry veterans for those who were entering the market. The advice given was all valuable, it came from mistakes that were made by presenters as they trekked through doing something for the first time and offered real world examples of what to do, what not to do, and what to avoid. In addition to all of the meeting and learning there were quite a number of parties and there was no shortage of new friends to make over a drink - something that I find is lacking from most other conferences, not in terms of parties but in terms of friendliness and the ability to make new friends.

The booths featured representation by some of the biggest names in casual games, and games in general for that matter. Representatives from companies like EA, Microsoft, and Ubisoft were all represented.

The conference was small. Approximately 1,800 attendants that made it a very intimate affair. My days were filled with meetings with representatives from various companies. Although every face to face meetings was entirely different, a common theme I found was how pleasant and friendly the industry is as a whole. This may be due to the fact that the community is small but the aura of collaboration was welcoming, as people discussed ideas, needs, goals, and the future of the industry.

The seminars were all very informative and topics included everything from technical aspects of creating multi-player online games to actual game demographics. The talks were given mainly by industry insiders and the honesty of the speakers was refreshing. What is the best platform? Best game idea? In some instances, it seems we are all learning the formula together as we go along. However, one thing was apparent. There are many mediums for the art we call casual games.

Below you'll find a breakdown of my findings from the event when it comes to distribution, revenue models, platforms, the potential market as well as parts of a very insightful NDP survey about the target audience for casual games.

Distribution

The games are all distributed in different ways, such as:

Portals

Some of the portals offer paid subscriptions and others work on a per
download basis, while others base revenue on ad sales and offer free play. The most interesting model is free play with the ability to buy in game items such as rims for your race car.

Consoles

Xbox and Wii both offer online play to members. Microsoft launched
XNA, which allows developers to create and launch content as well as share in revenue earned by their games.

Handsets

Cell phones such as the iPhone and the Blackberry are exciting mediums for developers. However, it seems that porting of games to different handsets and cell phone provider controls are making this area more of a niche.

Distribution

A lot of developers are taking their games to traditional distribution in retail locations. One such player is Sandlot, whose offerings can be purchased at many retailers throughout the US and Canada, for the cost of renting 2 movies in some cases.

Revenue models

There are also a variety of revenue models for developers. Among the must common are:

Work for Hire

Usually common in smaller games or adver-games. The developer sells the game outright.

Partnership

Developer will receive funding in exchange for exclusivity. Revenue is usually shared.

Distribution

Developer creates a game for syndication on multiple sites. Revenue is most often shared, and in some cases, billing is handled by the developer.

Affiliate

The developer hosts the game, handles billing, and customer support. A portal may ask for segregated lobbies and some branding. Most MMOs operate this way and contract terms vary.

Development Platforms

Development platforms vary based on the game:

Flash

best for online games
easily accessible
some security risks
strong supports

C++

downloadable
longer development cycle
more secure

Other (such as XNA)

usually tailored to specific portals

Potential Market

I have included a breakdown of the potential and current casual games market, as provided by Big Fish Games. The information came from a partnership between Big Fish Games and NPD Group and was gathered from an online survey of a random US NPD panel of 2,611 participants.

90% play casual games
68% play core games
58% of gamers play both casual and core games

Business Overview

The game market is a very complex one with a multitude of business models, segments and platforms. Below is a listing of some of them.

Types of Business models

Pay-per-play
Try-and-buy
Multi-game subscription to own
Multi-game subscription to rent
Advertising supported
Advergames
Micro-transaction item sales
Single game subscription
Skill game wagering
Brick and Mortar sales
Arcade

Platforms of delivery (not an exhaustive list)

PC
Mac
Mobile Phone
Touch Phone
PDA
Xbox 360
XBLA
Playstation 2/3
PSP
Wii
Gameboy
DS
Wiware
IPTV
In-flight entertainment
Basic Browser
Social Networks
DVD

Customer Segments

Nancy Drews
Old School
Spongebobs
Whimsical
Frenetics
Clickers
Tycoons
King of Kongs
Dancers
Kid Worlds
Heavy Action
Slow Strategists
Fantasy Worlds
Virtual Life

Below is a breakup of each of these gamer types and what they are like.

Nancy Drews

Older female gamers that prefer to play alone and like to think, relax and rejuvenate

Key Findings

63% female
59% over 35
Highest concentration of retirees and unemployed not looking for work
Over-represented in Old School and Clicker segments
Least likely to have a console of any kind, except a handheld console
More likely to be reading books and visiting eBay

Primary genres

Match 3 Puzzle Games
Bejeweled, Jewel Quest
Brain Teasers/Logic Games
Sodoku, Crosswords
Mahjong
Mahjong Towers
Word Games
Bookworm, Flip Words
Hidden Object Puzzles
Mystery Case Files
Jigsaw Puzzle Games
Jigsaw 365
Trivia Games
Trivial Pursuit
Puzzle Adventure
Azada, Myst, Dream Chronicles

Heavy Action

The manly man gamer that plays for conquest and adrenaline

Key Findings

73% male
45% 18-34 year olds
A surprising 56% also play in the Nancy Drews segment
Over-represented in Fantasy Worlds and King of Kongs
Under-represented in Old School Segment
High concentration in military, craftsman and students
Not surprisingly under-represented in retirees and home makers

Primary genres

Shooter Games
Doom, Halo, Half-Life
Racing
Need For Speed, Grand Turismo, Nascar
War Games
Call Of Duty
Driving Mayhem Games
Grand Theft Auto, Crazy Taxi
Fighting Games
Mortal Kombat
Flying Simulations
Microsoft Flight Sim
Realistic Sports Simulations
Madden Football, Fifa Soccer
Heavy RPG Or Role Playing Games
Everquest, World Of Warcraft

Old School

Empty nesters that do not want the stress of action or the challenge of thinking games

Key Findings

57% female
63% over 35
Over-represented in King of Kongs and Clickers
Under-represented in Slow Strategists and Heavy Action
Strong base of retired and unemployed gamers
Low annual expenditure for games
Generally play alone

Primary Genres

Card Games
Solitaire, Poker
Board Games
Monopoly, Slingo, Family Feud
Casino Games
Bingo, Slots¨

Spongebobs

Kids, tweens and teens playing branded games or what’s cool with friends and love any Nintendo platform

Key Findings

48% female
Under 18
Over-represented in Kid Worlds and Dancers
Under-represented in Old School
Largely students or part-time service workers
Highest incident of ownership of Nintendo products (Wii, Game Cube, Game Boy and DS)
Online habits include listening to music and using social networks

Primary Genres

Light Action
Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers
Educational Games
Colors, Numbers, Alphabet
Thinking/Logic Games
Wonderland

Whimsical

Getting into the action for fun with the family or with others in the same room

Key Findings

50% female, 50% male
All Ages except over 55
Over-represented in Frenetics, King of Kongs, and Kid Worlds
Not under-represented in any other segments, very broad interests
Surprisingly under-represented among retired people who play games
Spend 50% more money on games (purchased and rented) usually for Nintendo platforms, old and new generation
Social connectors who love to Blog, and unlike other 'casual' genres, love to talk about their gaming

Primary Genres

Maze Style Arcade Games
Pacman, Ms. Pacman
Casual Sports
Wii Sports, Backyard Baseball

Frenetics

High school dudes and frat rats that ‘like to get their game on!’ and are shy about it

Key Findings

64% male
23% are 17 or 18 years old
Students and part time workers
Virtually no older players
Heavy users of consoles, both old and next generation
Very heavy social networking and consumption of online music and video
Closest correlation to Whimsical Sports and Heavy Action

Primary Genres

Platform Running/Jumping Games
Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog
Rhythm Games
Guitar Hero, Rock Band

Clickers

The all age female version of the Frenetic gamer, hooked on performing under pressure

Key Findings

62% female
Players equal distributed from 17 to 75
PC and Mac fans
Propensity to garden and use eBay
Computer savvy
Feel guilty about their gaming habits…but tell people anyway
Heavy time commitment

Primary Genres

Time Management Games
Diner Dash, Cake Mania
Marble Popper Games
Zuma, Luxor
Brick Buster Games
Breakout, Ricochet, Magic Ball

Tycoons

Guys and gals in their teens and twenties who likes to see progress and show it off to others

Key Findings

40% teens
50/50 male/female
Love virtual worlds and MMOs of every kind
Highest use of internet video both consumption and creation
Play 11 hours a week
High consumption rate across all platforms

Primary Genres

Simulations
SimCity, Virtual Villagers, The Sims, Build-a-Lot
Tycoon Games
Rollercoaster Tycoon, Lemonade Tycoon

King of Kongs

Attracts the middle age male tech-savvy Internet surfer longing for the good old days of quarter arcades

Key Findings

64% male
43% over 35
Most likely business management, government, or trade/craftsman
Very active Internet users
Play games on multiple devices…strongest segment for mobile phones
Much more title sampling than other casual genres
Closest correlation to MMORPG and Virtual Worlds

Primary Genres

Classic Action Arcade
Mortal Kombat, Defender, Galaga, Space Invaders
Classic Arcade inspired
Chicken Invaders, Platypus

The future of Flash Games

The way I see it currently Flash games are a safe bet and there are many good reasons to develop game in Flash. I think this will remain the status quo for awhile due to the sheer saturation of the Flash player despite the many notable rivals creeping up such as unity3d (more information can be found at unity3d.com and this may be a topic for a future article), Silverlight, AJAX and other that may be in development. That being said Flash seems to be used mainly in advergaming, MMO’s, and on portal sites that do not require payment such as addictinggames.com and miniclip.com, it has also crept up in some larger online games where users buy items and add on to the game rather than paying to play the game.

There are some things limiting the use of Flash for now. I would like to see Adobe address some concerns when it comes to speed, setting resolution and the security of code. that would help Flash go from a web and application platform to a game platform.