CHEAT SHEET
THE EDITOR TWITCH CAN MAKE AMAZON NO.1 IN GAMES T
here’s an interesting sentence from Peter Moore on page 16,
which in many ways sums up Amazon’s decision to splash almost $1bn on Twitch. We asked him just how big
he realistically expects FIFA to become, and he doesn’t really answer the question. Not because he doesn’t want it to get any bigger or doesn’t think it will – he always wants more players – but instead because he doesn’t really care. His, and EA’s, real goal right now is to get people playing FIFA for longer and spending more money via the game’s Ultimate Team mode. Football fans should be playing FIFA all season long. They shouldn’t feel the need to go anywhere else. Amazon wants a similar thing.
It, like most retailers today, wants to keep consumers within its ecosystem. Like Apple with the App Store or Valve with Steam; these are places people come to discover games, buy them and then play them. Even Facebook – arguably one
of the most eff ective discovery platforms in existence – now has its own games-playing device in the Oculus Rift. Similarly, GameStop is an
all-in-one games business. It is a retailer, publisher via its Kongregate division and even a media giant thanks to the Game Informer magazine. Amazon is now looking the complete package. It is one of the biggest retailers in the world, it has its own gaming platforms via Kindle Fire and (shortly) Fire TV, it’s starting to publish and develop its own
August 29th 2014
Acquiring the Twitch audience will be worthless if Amazon doesn’t protect its investment. Gamers love to spend money, but they don’t like being sold to.
video games and now – with Twitch – it has one of the most exciting games discovery platforms around. Twitch has an enormous user base. Last month it attracted 55m individuals who watched 15 billion minutes of videos. And it’s growing. Amazon has not just acquired streaming tech, but it’s bought a lucrative audience. Currently, Twitch users see a game being played and (assuming they like what they see) then shop around. Now, much like with FIFA, they won’t need to go anywhere else. Of course, this audience will be worthless if Amazon doesn’t protect its investment. Gamers love to spend money, but they don’t like being sold to. Mess with the Twitch formula, make too many changes, and that audience will go elsewhere. But if Amazon lets Twitch
keep its independent spirit, then it may be able to fi nally do something it has repeatedly failed to do: become a legitimate rival to Steam and the ultimate games retailer.
04
THE WEEK IN VIDEO GAM
Market Data
UK games sales increase by 16 per cent as Diablo III debuts on the latest generation of consoles
£10m £5m £7.1m 285,976 £6.21 255,092 £0m
£7.98m 265,564
Week Ending August 9th
Week Ending August 16th
Week Ending August 23rd
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