Social Gaming: Zynga & Farmville 2

Zynga

Zynga employs a 'Free-To-Play' business model that generates revenue through the sale of advertisment sponsorships or dircect payments by players through microtransactions. Zynga games operate by incorporating an 'energy replenishment' system that means the game will have certain limits, and so the player will have to replenish the 'energy' if they wish to play. This may be a case of either waiting for it to replenish (which can be a while) or the player  can buy in game currency through a direct credit card microtransaction. An example of this would be paying $5.00 for 21 credits, however this is not totally digital as it was originally. Zynga started to sell prepaid virtual currency cards in the US in more than 12,800 stores.
Zynga started to run Facebook and other sponsered advertisements on their website. They also became partners with Hasbro to create Zynga related products and brands.

Farmville 2

Farmville 2 is the sequel to the hit social Farmville. It was released in September 2012, 3 months after it was originally announced. There are adverts for Farmville 2 as sponsered posts by Facebook to help promote the game. Also, Farmville have staarted to use similar tactics to which they used to promote Farmville. Zynga have used petting zoos and gatherings to allow people who are 'neighbours' on the game to meet in reallife, while all the time publically advertiseing the game. This is a clever technique as it appeals to social gamers both young and old, young gamers get to play with the animals and discuss the game, and older gamers get to meet their online friends and meet new ones. 



Case Study: Skylanders Giants

Skylanders

Skylanders: Giants is a platform game that was developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision, it is the sequel to 2011's acclaimed Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. The game was released in Europe on the 19th October and the 21st October in  North America. Skylanders: Giants is available on several platforms including the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii ; Wii U and 3DS, as well as Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It's predecessor was nominated for 'Innovative toy of the year' and 'Game of the year', with Activision selling over 30 million Skylanders toys and making close to £350 million. It is unsurprising then that the widely anticipated sequel is expected to be even more successful .

  The Skylanders franchise is unique due to its incorporation of toy figures with the game itself. The buyer is able to purchase a figurine that can be placed on an electronic 'portal' that will then enable that character to be playable with in the game. This is made possible through the inclusion of a microchip in the base of the figures. Some of the new characters in Skylanders: Giants will even feature new light technology that will cause the figure to glow when that character is used, even though the figure does not require any form of power source. The symbiosis between the two platforms is a very successful profit maker as a player is able to use their current 'portal' and characters in the new game, but totally new players and those who wish to play with the new characters have to buy a 'Booster pack' or a 'Starter pack'. The retail prices for the aforementioned packs (for the Xbox 360) are £64.99 for the 'Starter Pack' and £49.99 for a 'Booster pack', with individual figures pricing between £10-15. It is quite clear how profits could be quite easily obtained with the higher than average pricing accompanied by the huge worldwide popularity of the franchise.

The game has been primarily marketed through the use of TV and the Internet, and so 'Viral Marketing'. Skylanders: Giants has several TV advertisements and many videos on youtube, including the franchise's personal youtube channel. The use of viral marketing allows the game to reach a wider audience and build more anticipation as more information is released, right up until the actual release of the game itself. Skylanders: Giants is a game solely targeted at a young audience, which is why TV adverts are particularly effective. It is believed that the single biggest group who purchase virtual good are under the age of 15, it is also a similar age range that spend the most time watching TV. By targeting a younger audience with Skylanders, Activision open up a multitude of possibilities in terms of making the most of a transmedia strategy. Angry birds are estimated to sell over £200 million in plush toys alone in the next year, it is clear how effective expanding a game outside of just the digital software can be. This is why, the right marketing and grasp over the younger audiences will push Skylanders: Giants to worldwide success.

Development

Different Development Models



There are several ways of which a game can be developed.

The 'Tent Pole' business model is the idea that a blockbuster game will be teleased, with a lot of support, marketing and investment. The money made will then be used to fund smaller, more risky games. It is provideing support or 'a tent pole' for these new, more creative games. EA is a prome example, when they spent $372 million on research and development in 2008 alone.

The 'Hollywood' model is another strategy of development that often requires more money, but produces a higher quality product. In this model, a large in-house development team is swapped out for a smaller team that collates the work of specialist external companies/teams.

Independent games, or 'indie' games use a different development method. Their development team is usually very small, and if the game is to be for a console, a license for a Software Development Kit, which costs money. An SDK license for a console curently costs between $2000-$10000, but Sony have recently reduced their fee to $2000. To create an independent game for Apple's iOS a payment of $99 needs to be made, and Apple will take 30% of the profits.

Synergy & Symbiosis

Synergy

Synergy is when multiple things work together to create something that wouldnt have been possible alone. In relation the the vidoegames industry, this is when different parts of the same company work together to create a better final product. An example of this could be when a game is released, but then the soundtrack is also available, such a thing was done with the special edition of Assassin's Creed Revelations.

Symbiosis

Symbiosis is when different companies work together to create a better product/ profit. An example of this is the plush toys of the Angry Birds franchise, that have been created externally from Rovio, but Rovio still take a portion of the profits. If a company wants to make products for an established franchise, a license is required.

The Rockstar Family

Rockstar Japan



Rockstar Japan was set up in 2005. They used to work with Capcom, and used to be known as the Japenese localisation headquarters.

Rockstar Leeds

Rockstar Leeds was became a strand of Rockstar in 2004, and used to be called Mobius Entertainment. They primarily develop games for handheld consoles such as the PSP and Game Boy Colour and Advance. They Developed games such as Midnight Club: DUB Edition. More recently, they worked on the microsoft version of L.A. Noire.

Rockstar North

Rockstar North was formerly DMA Design, and became apart of Rockstar in 2002, but where still owned by their parent company Take-Two Interactive. They are based in Edinburgh, and are best known for the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises.

Rockstar North are the primary developers for the GTA series, including GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas.

Rockstar San Diego

Rockstar San Diego was formerly Angel Studios but has been apart of Rockstar games since 2002. The most notable thing to come from this studio is the RAGE engine, as it was developed here and is now used in almost every Rockstar game. This studio is also responsible for the acclaimed western games, Red Dad Revolver and Red Dead Redemption. 

Jane McGonigal - 'Reality Is Broken' (facts)

1. In the United States, there are 182 million active gamers.
2. Collectively, there are 4 million gamers in the Middle East, 105 million in India, 100 million in Europe and 200 million in China.
3. There are more than 10 million gamers in the UK, France, and Germany that spend at least twenty hours a week playing.
4. 5 million 'extreme gamers' in the US that play an average of 45 hours a week.
5. Digital games, across most media platforms, is expected to be a $68 billion industry by the end of this year.
6. The planet is spending more than 3 billion hours a week gaming.
7. In America, 69% of all heads of household play computer games, 40% of all gamers are women, 1/4 of gamers are aged 50+, the average age is 35 and have been playing for approximately 12 years. 97% of youth play video games.

Independent Games and The Walking Dead (Telltale)

Independent Games

An independent game is a game that has been developed without any aid from a publisher. These games are commonly referred to as 'indie' games, and predominantly rely on digital distribution. Due to the development of digital distribution, as explained in my essay, 'indie' games have been on the rise, and are becoming very popular. Independent games such as Minecraft have sold millions of multi-platform copies worldwide, whereas some fall at the first hurdle.

In some ways, 'indie' games can be more expensive than AAA games to develop. Due to the exclusion of financial aid from publishers (making the game independent), it means the small development team often have to pay more money to create and advertise the game. However, because there are less people working on the game and those people can often go without a time restraint to develop the game, it means that the game's cost would come down (especially with the developers earning 17% of the game's retail price, but 85% if the game was sold digitally). Also, with physical copies of the game not having to be shipped throughout the globe, it is cheaper to distribute the game digitally, even after paying any loyalties to the platform holder, bringing the cost down.

From a consumer's point of view, Independent games can be, and often are, considerably cheaper than big blockbuster games. I know through personal experience with one of the currently most popular 'indie' games, Minecraft, tat the price is not necessarily a fixed one. Minecraft was first released in the alpha stage of development, which was when i bought it for around £8, but a copy of the full game now would cost you £17. Although the price has more than doubled, it is still less than half of the average price of a AAA game which retail for at least £40. Independent games are not always as 'big' or expensive, but can be just as successful as Minecraft. Rovio Entertainment launched 'Angry Birds' as an iOS App in December 2009, since then the game has sold a combined total of over 1 billion, but is on sale (for digital download) for £0.69, and also has many free, 'spin-offs' such as 'Angry Birds Seasons'. 

The Walking Dead by Telltale Games

The Walking Dead is a role-playing adventure game that is based on The Walking Dead comics. The game was created by the independent developer Telltale Games, and is split up into five episodes. The first episode was released in the week of June 27th 2012, and is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, iOS, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. There are currently 3 episodes that have been released, with a further 2 to come, as well as a second series. The game is only available through digital download but a physical copy is planned to be released at the end of the first series.

The story follows a a convicted criminal, Lee Everett on his journey for survival through a zombie apocalypse. As time goes on, and the plot thickens, you meet a range of characters, including a young girl called Clementine who you 'adopt'. In the second episode the group are befriended and fed human flesh by a family of cannibals who live on a 'dairy' farm. The recurring goal in the episodes is to survive, as well as find Clementine's parents, who you fear are dead. The most recent episode ended with you receiving a transmission through Clementine's walkie-talkie (who's parents supposedly have the other) from a man who claims to have her parents, and tells you and Clementine to come and meet them in Savannah. 

The Walking Dead fits a niche market due to its comic-like graphics and player interactivity. Gameplay is split between  cutscenes and 'point and click' style controls. Players are often confronted with choices that will have either long-term, short-term or no effect at all, and can even decide the fate of a character. It is this that has made the game so popular, as a player has the opportunity to have a different ending to their friends who may make different choices.

The first episode received positive reviews. Metacritic states the average review was 82% on the PC, 84% on the PS3 and 79% on the Xbox 360. 'A New Day' topped the sales charts of both PSN and Steam for a week. The First episode sold an impressive one million copies in 20 days, which means it is Telltale's fastest ever selling game.

The Walking Dead also received many awards including, IGN Editor's Award, GameSpy E3 2012 Award, Xbox Editor's choice Award and PC Gamer Editor's Award. With IGN giving the third and most recent episode a 9 out of 10, and saying:

• ''it's a disturbing, depressing and entertaining entry in a journey that's been nothing short of excellent so far''.

GameSpot said gave The Walking Dead an 8.5 and said that:

• ''The Walking Dead has passed the midpoint of it's series... and has every indication that the game will keep on getting better right through to it's inevitably depressing and unsettling conclusion.'' 

You can buy the episodes separately for 400 MS on Xbox Live, £3.99 on Playstation network or buy a season pass on Steam for £20.99, which allows you access to all of the episodes at a discounted total price. As i mentioned earlier the game is currently digital download only, which save Telltale money while they continue to work on the next episodes. These are a few examples of how smaller 'indie' games differ from AAA games in the production and distribution stages. With Blockbuster games, the game and it's DLC are competed and then released, however independent developers such as telltale can use an episodic strategy to build anticipation as well as actively tweak the future episodes from previous feedback. You would never see a large company such as Rockstar release a part of a game to only then go on to the development of the next segment, like Telltale are doing with The Walking Dead.

Modding

Modding

The 'Hot Coffee' mod was a patch released in June 2005, for 2004's Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. The mod allowed access to a mini game that allows the main character 'CJ' to have sexual intercourse with his ingame girlfriend. The mod was created by Patrick Wildenburg, a 38 year old from the Netherlands. The minigame was originally planned to be included in the full version of San Andreas, however at the last minute the game was hidden behind code to keep it from the public. By removing/hacking this code, it was unlocked by Wildenburg. 

In July 2005, ESRB stated that they would change the game's Mature rating (M) to an Adults Only (AO) game rating. This was due to the hidden content being a part of the original game, rather than just an outside source.

Rockstar gave retailers a choice of either returning their copies of the games, or applying the new Adults only rating sticker. Many retailers had their games recalled, as they where not allowed to sell Adult-Only games, this was at huge cost to Rockstar. However, it did grant Rockstar major publicity for the game, and so maintained popularity for when it was re-released without the 'hot coffee' coding. The EU was less effected by the Mod, by the fact that they had already labelled the game an 18+ and had laws to enforce the ratings of video games. America Released how important this was, and so in December 2005, the 'Family Entertainment Protection Act' was passed which gave federal enforcement on ESRB ratings. Along with the government, the owners of Rockstar, Take-Two interactive were extremely annoyed. The 'Hot Coffee' mod had lost them money and damaged their reputation.