LONDON GAMES CONFERENCE NEWS ROUND-UP
a month on PS3 to spending that much a month on an online title?” asked Cousins.
The day after LGC, he announced a new hi-def game, Battlefield Play4Free, targeted at those users. That game will “truly disrupt” the traditional model, he said.
FREE-TO-PLAY ON CONSOLE Fellow panelist Shuji Utsumi added that he knew all too well that there is an appetite amongst gamers for that kind of game. In Japan his firm Q Entertainment (best known in the West for Lumines) runs a PC/PS3 cross-platform free-to-play game. It’s very successful – already making ten times what Bigpoint is. Per user, a paying customer of the game pays $100 a month. For Q, PS3 users are happy to spend lots on a free-to-play game because “they are accustomed to spending money – they had to spend hundreds of dollars on the hardware in the first place”. “I am really surprised how much normal users pay,” Utsumi added, saying that on one of Q’s mobile games users are ‘very aggressive’ with microtransactions. But examples like Qs are rare, and outside of that platform- holders are in for a shock as the free-to-play model continues to take hold, the panel said. “Anyone with a walled garden will find themselves in trouble,” remarked Cousins.
He described the potential opening up of consoles as unlikely, and only a ‘parachute’ for Microsoft and Sony at best – even though it’s the goal for developers like him to see his free-to-play games on a HD console, “they will never open their formats”.
He added that ultimately this means there is “an opportunity for a new PlayStation” – a new platform for games in the living room. Earner perhaps said it best: “In five years we’ll be talking about screens, not platforms.”
RETAIL’S PLACE IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
THE WORLD’S biggest games retailer offered a forewarning that the digital market must be embraced by the old guard of bricks and mortar outlets at LGC. In a clear, unequivocal statement, the head of GameStop’s digital business said the firm “doesn’t consider [bricks and mortar] retail stores as the be- all-and-end-all”.
GM and VP of GameStop digital ventures Chris Petrovic (pictured) spoke clearly about the firm’s continued push for bringing games to customers online.
He was not, of course, claiming that the High Street had been failing them – but instead suggesting that the digital market is an unavoidable growth opportunity.
Publishers should think about advertising XBLA and PSN games in-store as it would be of benefit to everybody, he said.
Petrovic added that there were numerous opportunities for retailers and publishers to grow within the digital space. “Somebody like us, where we have users coming in wanting to buy the disc, we can scan that disc and tell
VAIZEY INSISTS ‘GOVERNMENT LOVES GAMES’
MINISTER FOR Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey provided the closing address at LGC.
And while the lack of tax breaks still clouds some people’s view of Whitehall, he said “the Government’s support for games is as resolute as ever. The industry ticks all the boxes it should – it’s regional, cutting edge and high-growth.”
He tried to push beyond the tax break topic, saying not to ‘focus on one aspect of policy’ but ‘instead look at the wider opportunities that exist in this country’.
He insisted the Government has supported high-tech industries, including games – specifically pointing to R&D tax credits and working to make that scheme more accessible. He also said there was potential for a regional growth fund for the games industry – much like
the ‘UK’s silicon valley’ cluster in London that was announced on the same day as LGC took place. Ultimatley, Vaizey said he wanted
to ‘create a coherent maze through all the ways the Government does
support games’: “It’s my job to be a conduit for you to know how these are of practical use to you,” he said, adding that “his door is always open” to the games industry. “I feel hugely positive about the future of games in this country We are at a tipping point - technology is moving very fast and we have to be fleet of foot and nimble. But while I don’t think government can legislate for creativity what we can do is give active support where necessary. It’s my job as your minister to be sure you are plugged in and can access those funds. “There are massive opportunities for games in the UK.”
them the five or ten pieces of add-on content available,” he explained. “Or even better, we can work with publishers who are producing PSN or XBLA games and have a section in our store to highlight those – that’s a win for everybody.”
26
November 5th 2010
www.mcvuk.com
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