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Posts tagged Casual Games
Digital Commerce Spending Continues to Rise
Aug 10th
A new study has found that one out of every three online gamers is spending real currency for virtual goods. The study, commissioned by Visa’s PlaySpan and VG Market, polled more than 1,000 men and woman gamers last month.
Some key findings from the study include:
- Console games with online play account for more than half (51 percent) of virtual purchases using real money.
- Social networking sites report 30 percent of purchases while massively multiplayer online (MMO) games account for 28 percent.
- Females are three times more likely than men to use Facebook credits to purchase virtual goods and/or services (32 percent to 13 percent, respectively).
What we found most interesting, however, were the results indicating how frequently consumers were purchasing virtual goods and services online. With more than 10 years serving the digital commerce industry, Plimus has kept a close eye on both how often and how much consumers buy online.
Based on conversations with our customers, partners and general consumers, we’re confident the virtual goods market will not slow down anytime soon. As indicated in the survey, 72 percent of respondents indicated they spent more or about the same money on virtual sales compared to last year. Moreover, results indicated that nearly 48 percent of consumers have purchased in-game currency within the past 12 months.
These figures will continue to rise as more and more consumers engage with the virtual world. Let’s hope that next year’s results show three out of four online gamers spending money for virtual goods.
You can learn more about this study by reading Dean Takahashi’s article, “More Gamers Are Spending Real Money on Virtual Goods, And Women Are Spending More Than Men,” published early last week.
A new study has found that one out of every three online gamers is spending real currency for virtual goods. The study, commissioned by Visa’s PlaySpan and VG Market, polled more than 1,000 men and woman gamers last month.
Some key findings from the study include:
- Console games with online play account for more than half (51 percent) of virtual purchases using real money.
- Social networking sites report 30 percent of purchases while massively multiplayer online (MMO) games account for 28 percent.
- Females are three times more likely than men to use Facebook credits to purchase virtual goods and/or services (32 percent to 13 percent, respectively).
What we found most interesting, however, were the results indicating how frequently consumers were purchasing virtual goods and services online. With more than 10 years serving the digital commerce industry, Plimus has kept a close eye on both how often and how much consumers buy online.
Based on conversations with our customers, partners and general consumers, we’re confident the virtual goods market will not slow down anytime soon. As indicated in the survey, 72 percent of respondents indicated they spent more or about the same money on virtual sales compared to last year. Moreover, results indicated that nearly 48 percent of consumers have purchased in-game currency within the past 12 months.
These figures will continue to rise as more and more consumers engage with the virtual world. Let’s hope that next year’s results show three out of four online gamers spending money for virtual goods.
You can learn more about this study by reading Dean Takahashi’s article, “More Gamers Are Spending Real Money on Virtual Goods, And Women Are Spending More Than Men,” published early last week.
Matrix/Slitherine Ltd. Leverage Plimus to Boost Sales
May 24th
Guest Post from Marco Minoli, marketing director of Slitherine Ltd.
Slitherine Ltd. and Matrix Games are video game publishers that specialize in strategy and war games such as “Field of Glory,” “Close Combat,” “War in the East” and many others. The two companies both develop for a growing gaming audience of currently 200,000 registered users, and over the years, the companies have grown tremendously. In fact, Slitherine recently launched its first Android game, “HISTORY Great Battles Medieval,’ which is also available on the iPad, iPhone, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, PlayStation3, Xbox360 and other major consoles.
Slitherine Ltd. started selling online digital content nearly 10 years ago, when the virtual market was nearly not as robust as it is today. As I mentioned above, we specialize in a niche market of gamers; therefore, it was important that we found a targeted approach to reaching them across the globe. Moreover, it was important to keep our small audience of gamers interested, having regular touchpoints with them to ensure happy (and returning) customers.
In late 2010, Matrix Games and Slitherine merged to create the world’s largest war gaming specialist publisher, with a combined portfolio of more than 150 games. At Slitherine, we were thrilled with this merger and how it increased the reach of our gamers. We cautioned ourselves, however, with the understanding that it was going to be hard to keep our high customer approval rating and that we needed an easy-to-use processing platform. Together our companies searched for a payments-processing solution that would meet the needs of our business model and reach our niche market. Through a rigorous search, we transferred our combined online game channels to the Plimus Inc. platform.
It only took 90 days for our investment with Plimus to pay off. We quickly realized the potential of our new storefront, increasing sales by 15 percent with elevated traffic and conversation rates. We attribute this success to a handful of key factors that no other vendor, currently on the market, offers. Plimus built us a customized storefront, offering a frictionless user experience, easy login process for both new and returning customers and helped us sustain our strong commitment to customer satisfaction.
We are now well into our sixth month after launch and numbers are still very healthy, mirroring the increase of the first three months. Now, we are ready for phase two of the process, where we start to implement new features, including push strategies for direct-to-consumer promotions and pre-orders for upcoming titles. The target is to increase average sales per customer, attract new audiences through word-of-mouth and increase profitability, all through a smoother buying experience and a clever approach to non-invasive marketing initiatives.
I would gladly give my seal of approval for Plimus. I urge any vendor looking for a credible, trustworthy payment solution to get in touch with Plimus. Simply, without a doubt, we are positive that Plimus is the right partner for us and we gladly invest in this relationship as much as Plimus has invested in the relationship with us.
To read more about our engagement with Plimus see the article written by Kristina Knight at BizrReport.com
http://www.bizreport.com/2011/05/slitherine-matrix-partnership-highlights-gaming-effectivenes.html
Casual Goes Mocial
Feb 14th
Tortured combinations of terms aside, Casual Connect Hamburg has been all about the impact of Mobile and Social gaming on the Casual Gaming market. It seems no conversation is complete without looking to the expansion of the space from downloadable games to new channels and new business models.
The cornerstone of the ongoing changes to Casual Gaming was the fascinating perspective shared by Rovio, the publisher of uber-popular title Angry Birds. Channeling the most forward-thinking entrepreneurs of our time, Rovio’s Mighty Eagle, Peter Vesterbacka, shared how the company’s flagship title is as much a brand and a franchise as it is a wildly popular and addictive time-suck. If you thought Angry Birds was ubiquitous on smartphones, you ain’t seen nothing yet: the brand will soon extend onto your TV, into your living room and throughout retail chains.
Casual Game publishers are starting to emulate Hollywood, whose products’ success was once measured by cinema ticket sales, but is now defined by crossover product marketing and multi-media sales. For some publishers that means taking a single popular title and creating ever more acquirable items (plush toys, board games and advertising tie-ins) to expand the brand. For others it means taking their catalog of games and building a studio-based franchise revolving around audience communities and continuous cross-promotion. Either way, the day of measuring success by number of units sold of a given title is becoming a thing of the past.
Certainly, Facebook’s decision to impose its Facebook Credits as the primary way to buy into games that inhabit its world has caused some consternation and concern. Nonetheless there is a sense that this may be just what the industry needs to start some reflection on whether to commit to a single platform led and controlled by someone else. There’s lots of innovation around allowing players to carry their in-game identity (and game progress) across channels – imagine taking those level-ups you’ve achieved on iOS and having them persist through your PC-based or IPTV-based game play. Ultimately, carrying one’s persona from channel to channel will open up the ability to build ongoing relationships between studio and player. Simultaneously, it confounds the efforts of the walled garden managers to retain control (and a large share!) of player revenues.
While it’s not wildly clear how the social gaming meme of the last year or two will play out in the next 12 to 24 months, there’s absolutely no question that casual gaming is delving deeper into the persistent relationship between player and game. Nor is there much challenge to the idea of building a movie franchise-like halo of offers around any title that gains traction. If ever there were a year to Go Mocial, it seems, 2011 is it.
Simon Jones,
VP of Strategic Solutions
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daryl_mitchell/3560636199/
Advertisers Cash In On Social Gaming
Jan 26th
To say that 2010 was a monumental year in social gaming would be casually understating the obvious. Last year alone, social gaming generated more than $850 million dollars in revenue and recorded roughly 53 million users. While these numbers are impressive, new reports indicate that social gaming is just starting to pick up steam. As we head into the New Year, social gaming is beginning to attract more attention from marketers and advertisers aching to cash in on this flourishing industry. According to a new report from eMarketer, the amount of resources advertisers will pour into social gaming is one factor that will help drive U.S. social games revenues past the $1 billion mark in 2011.
With roughly one in four Internet users engaged in social networks, this space has become a prime target for lead generation and advertising efforts. It’s not the massive amount of consumers alone drawing advertisers to this space; it’s also the demographic makeup of the audience that’s extremely desirable. On average, social gamers are typically 34-year-old women, a group widely known as the controllers of purse strings and an audience not typically engaged in traditional games.
This audience, paired with the revenue growth of the social gaming market, presents an optimal platform for marketers to promote their brands through social games. These games allow advertisers to brand virtual goods, offer custom games, create virtual environments within existing games and promote lead-generation offers. Additionally, some creative ad campaigns combine virtual and real-world items, expanding the gaming experience beyond social networks.
Although virtual goods will continue to bring in the biggest share of social gaming dollars through 2012, advertising spend will reportedly grow more rapidly in 2011 with marketers shelling out $192 million to advertise. Furthermore, eMarketer forecasts that this investment will continue to grow and projects a rise of 41 percent in ad spending in 2012.
What’s not to like about all of this? Internet users enjoy their games and advertisers are able to reach millions of consumers…seems like a win-win situation to us. For our part, Plimus will continue to offer an immersive and seamless online experience, keeping gamers entertained and allowing advertisers and other vendors to make money!
Charles Born,
Head and VP of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/athrasher/2823255013/
Game Developers Got Game – New Game Monetization Models, That Is
Nov 8th
For as long as I can remember, offline subscription billing models have been dynamic. Consumers pay one flat rate for the service they are subscribing to and are given only what the fee includes – nothing more – at least not without a hefty price. While it may have taken some time, the online world has finally caught up with the offline world. Online vendors, most successfully social game developers, are now offering dynamic billing models online.
Let me explain dynamic subscription billing in a bit more detail, using an offline subscription we know so well, our monthly cell phone plan. Each month you pay a flat rate of $50 a month for 400 weekday minutes. This means that 12 times per year, the carrier is guaranteed at least $50.00 from your wallet, $600 total in a calendar year. However, given the dynamic subscription billing, you never pay the base rate.
In order to get SMS text messaging and emails on your phone you’ll need to pay extra each month, which adds to the bill. And should you happen to talk more than 400 minutes in a month, you will be charged a premium fee for each additional minute. That’s how carriers have been able to capitalize on dynamic billing subscriptions and reap additional revenues from their subscribers.
Yet, times have changed. Offline subscription billing that we’re accustomed to has now moved online. How, you say? I thought you’d never ask.
Retailers of virtual goods are now offering dynamic subscriptions to users opening their business models up to unique revenue streams. Instead of a flat monthly rate, small, independent game developers are increasingly offering zero to low on-boarding costs to game players. The philosophy of this business model is that the lower startup cost will engage more users and help build a broader customer base. Additionally, once the player has been activated, payment for services within the game are issued as they are consumed. Gamers do not need to leave the current page they are playing to buy the magical sword that will defeat the dragon; instead, they can buy it instantly in the game. Yes, it might cost the gamer a premium to get the sword, but without it they can’t move forward and win the game thereby earning themselves bragging rights the next time they hang out with their friends or as they’re playing with their friends online, as the case may be. And who doesn’t like winning and bragging?!
Game developers are now catering to their customers by offering pay as you play pricing, instead of paying for unlimited online gameplay for $19.99 a month. This is a winning subscription offering that Plimus has seen executed successfully by several of its customers. The revenue growth is much higher for the vendors leaving gamers equally satisfied because of their instant access to additional purchases within the game.
While casual game developers are leading the pack on billing model innovation, I’m also seeing larger gaming powerhouses turning to a dynamic model. For example, the next release of the Lord of the Rings video game will be sold to gamers through this new model. This release will be the industry’s first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game that’s completely free for gamers. Any gamer can download the game for free and any additional activation, tools, weapons, etc. that he or she wants to buy can be purchased within the game for a premium. The cost of these premium purchases is up to the game developer and varies depending on the accessibility and value to the gamer.
This new model is here to stay. By the end of 2011, Plimus believes that dynamic billing subscriptions will outpace traditional billing models and there will no longer be monthly fees.
If you’re still looking to learn more, check out Plimus’ new whitepaper, “The New Monetization of e-Commerce 3.0” that we proudly announced today. Click here to read the entire whitepaper.
Charles Born,
VP and Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shareski/2703624033/
Boost Your Career with Video Games
Jul 28th
I read an interesting article last week on Forbes.com, “How Playing Videogames Can Boost Your Career.” Here at Plimus HQ, with so many gaming companies as our customers, we look at game playing as industry research. But, for most companies, playing games while on the job is taboo. In fact, it’s increasingly common for companies to track their employees’ computer usage, sometimes even blocking access to social gaming sites on the work computers.
According to Forbes, companies are beginning to notice that employees who have played online games during their youth are actually excelling at a higher rate than their non-gamer counterparts. “We’re finding that the younger people coming into the teams who have had experience playing online games are the highest-level performers because they are constantly motivated to seek out the next challenge and grab on to performance metrics,” John Hagel III, co-chairman of a tech-oriented strategy center for Deloitte, told the publication.
Organizations like Deloitte are noticing a similarity in gaming and behaviors at work. Sources in the article indicate that by playing online games, users can develop dispositions that are extremely valuable in the corporate setting. Many online games have trial-and-error processes that require players to become accustomed to and subject to loss, failure and frustration and how to learn from the experience.
Perhaps surprisingly, these games can also spur entrepreneurship. In 2004, 22-year-old David Storey bought what was reportedly the most valuable virtual object – a virtual island in the online game “Project Entropia” – for what some called a foolhardy $26,500. But David may have the last laugh: Today he makes more than $100,000 a year from fees he charges those who hunt on his island during the game. Being a virtual property owner, David told Forbes, taught him more about business than he ever expected to learn from a game.
So the next time you’re thinking that your company’s young employee who spends his evenings stuck in front of into his home computer playing an immersive and engaging fame isn’t going to amount to much – think again. Soon enough, he could be leading the pack. Check out the Forbes article, it’s a fascinating read.
Charlie Born,
Head of Marketing
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/2063651675/
