LONDON GAMES CONFERENCE NEWS ROUND-UP
Capital ideas KEYS TO SUCCESS IN ONLINE GAMES
Bigpoint CEO Heiko Hubertz opened LGC with an incisive look at how to survive in the browser game market
Over 250 people flocked to the second annual London Games Conference last week. Here, MCV provides a summary of the best sessions
BIGPOINT CEO Heiko Hubertz opened the London Games Conference with a compelling insight into the online games business – and he wasn’t afraid to slaughter some sacred cows. Bigpoint, formed in 2002, was one of the first businesses to support free-to-play games – well before Facebook was even a glint in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye. Today it has 150m users across 60 active games in 30 languages.
According to Hubertz, 46 per cent of internet traffic is generated by online game sites, with DFC Intelligence forecasting 270m online gamers by 2015. 142m in North America and 128m in Europe.
All of that means “the online gaming business is much bigger than console games.”
But publishers need to understand that there are differences between the EU and US markets for web games, he said – and that some similarities with the boxed model exist. Plus, a more open approach to flexible business model is needed for those planning to make the jump. North America is bigger than the
EU, he said, even though Europe is the bigger territory. Localisation, different currencies and different cultures, break the European market up significantly. He pointed out that although Europe has a number of early adopters in online
“ 24 November 5th 2010
Low budget doesn’t mean low quality. You can make a good game with $300,000. Heiko Hubertz, Bigpoint
games – such as Playfish, Unity, Jagex and Gameforce, plus of course Bigpoint – in North America Facebook game maestro Zynga is worth more than all those companies combined. That’s because it started in America first. “So, if you’re starting an online company, and you want to be successful you need to start with the English language and in North America,” said Hubertz.
BRITAIN’S NEXT TOP MODEL But in terms of the business strategy for online games, Hubertz’ advice was clear – MMO-style subscriptions just won’t cut it in the long-term.
www.mcvuk.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92