GAMES FOR KIDS
on top of the revolution that Nintendo Wii started”. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment’s UK sales and marketing director Spencer Crossley agrees, arguing that the Wii taught a family audience to expect motion control ahead of fiddly buttons. Warner, as a group, is packed with properties that are perfect for pre- teens, but the publisher also thinks creatively and forges external alliances to boost its presence in the sector.
Crossley says: “Games for younger players have always been a staple part of WBIE’s portfolio and none more so than our hugely popular range of LEGO video games, developed by the legendary TT Games. These are the gold standard in the kids games sector. “We also launched the critically acclaimed Scribblenautsseries for DS, Game Party: In Motionas our first Kinect title and The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Questas our first Move title. “We’ll also be publishing Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monsterfor Kinect late in the year, which our retail partners are tremendously excited about already.
“Our release schedule shows that whilst quality games linked to quality entertainment franchises will always do well, there is still room for the launch of new IP in this sector.”
APPY MEAL
Interestingly, at Disney, UK country director Matt Carroll believes that whilst the audience of younger gamers is growing, it is not being driven by traditional consoles: “My sense is that today the number of games for young consumers has reduced on traditional gaming platforms as we know them, but there is an increase in the number and variety of games on different and emerging platforms such as apps on mobile or sites like Facebook. “Parents by and large are now much more comfortable providing controlled access to gaming via the web for a broad arrangement of interactive entertainment and games such as Club Penguin, whilst mobile phones and social media networks are increasingly providing access to games for the younger teenage audiences. This has
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Ubisoft’s Rachael Grant (above left), Warner Bros’ Spencer Crossley (second from left), Disney’s Matt Carroll (third from left) and Activision’s Ian McClellan all place games for younger audiences as a key part of their respective publisher’s business
resulted in increased popularity and prevalence of both types of games.” He adds that whilst Disney was delighted with the success of Toy Story 3last year, and has high hopes for Cars 2and the recently announced Disney Universe, “gaming on next-gen consoles still appeals mainly to the hardcore”. Carroll continues: “For younger demographics, I feel that both the pricing and the poor economy has had a major impact in delaying the adoption of these platforms to a more mass market audience, an audience that was seen earlier in previous cycles. “Functionality improvements such as Kinect and Move are welcome innovations, but they do not replace lower prices to drive penetration. The danger for the ‘traditional games industry’ is that younger consumers turn to new formats, above all mobile, as they feel these next-gen consoles remain out of reach.” So, is that Disney calling for price cuts? Do we have our headline? Maybe not.
“The first parties have a very tricky balancing act to maximise the business from their consoles – so to that end they need to do what is right for the long term sustainability of the industry – and third-party publishers benefit hugely from the long term view.
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The danger for the ‘traditional games industry’ is that younger consumers turn to new formats, above all mobile.
Matt Carroll, Disney
“Any price move would generate huge interest and attract new audiences, but I would say they should choose the timing that matches when consumers will have the intention to buy, such as during the Christmas period.” At Activision, European marketing manager Ian McClellan talks up the prospects of Skylanders: Spyros’ Adventures, focusing on the fact that the content, even the very concept, was created with kids in mind: “This is one of the key challenges when you are creating a game for young consumers – you need to make sure you are delivering something new and different. “In particular, you need video games that allow kids to use their imaginations. With Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventurewe are doing just that. What we have created is not only a great video game, but also the opportunity for kids to collect a range of physical characters and bring them to life – that has never been done before.”
A different approach is also needed when it comes to marketing – and, where possible, cross promotions seem key.
Carroll says: “It’s important, when
marketing to a younger and family audience, we utilise and complement activity and initiatives from other areas of the Walt Disney Company.
July 15th 2011 19
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