38 MCV 17/09/10
WWW.MCVUK.COM
MCV INTERVIEW ROBERT NASHAK, EVP DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT, BBC WORLDWIDE
example would be In The Night Garden. It is a beautiful show designed to help your child get sleepy for bed time. All of these new emerging platforms are really relevant for that pre-school age.”
DIGITAL GENERATION GAME As well as developing games for the likes of Top Gear (see Top Brands), Nashak’s business unit is also tasked with creating games for BBC Worldwide’s collection of websites – which draws in tens of millions of people each month. The team is also being challenged to work with the TV teams – such as those working on the upcoming US edition of Torchwood – to develop “360 degree digital strategies.” But why is BBC being so aggressive in digital games all of a sudden? “BBC thinks gaming can be a significant part of what they are doing,” continues Nashak. “They have a very robust licensing programme, they have a very big DVD business, but they know the future is in digital. And gaming infiltrates everything you do in digital. I
think the impact of our group is not just to create a great Doctor Who game online, but also help inform all digital efforts to make them more engaging.” So what’s next? Will there be any development acquisitions? And when will we finally hear some proper details of these “exciting” digital plans? Nashak concludes: “Towards the end of the year you will start to see stuff in mobile and iPad.
“It will be a mixture of external and internal development, and also licensing. Down the road I can see us acquiring developers, but it is certainly not a chief priority. I think we have got a lot of initial things to get right first. And one of those things is how do we present our brands to consumers online appropriately? “Look at the things coming down the pipe, all of it could give rise to gaming. If we work with production teams early on, we can work out how to build a TV show and integrate a digital strategy into it. These guys are working well for us on that front. It’s a new frontier and it is exciting.”
TOP BRANDS
BBC Worldwide has already identified some of the brands that are ideal for receiving the video game treatment. And it’s not so much about of-the- moment British shows, such as Gavin and Staceyor Eastenders, but global properties – such as BBC’s range of kids IP, Doctor Who, Torchwood,
LA and they did it brilliantly. It is still about mates and motors and mucking about, but it has an American feel to it. If that takes off, and I hope that it does, all of a sudden Top Gear– which is already a global brand – becomes a powerhouse brand. It’s already the No.1 car entertainment brand in the world.”
Strictly Come Dancing, and in particular, Top Gear. “Top Gearis a priority for us,” says
BBC Worldwide’s EVP of digital entertainment Robert Nashak. “We are coming out with an
American format of Top Gearin December. We introduced the hosts at the Television Critics Association in
As well as a standalone Top Gear
game, the Top Geartest track is also making its way into Gran Turismo 5. “Some of our brands could do a lot
to enhance other brands,” adds Nashak. “That is a strategy we’re thinking about with all of our properties. We don’t necessarily have to have a standalone game to be in the game world.”
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