January 2015 | Page 12 of 19

Microsoft Chooses The Detroit Auto Show To Confirm ‘Forza Motorsport 6’

January 13, 2015, 12:00AM

Emboldened by the runaway success of Forza Motorsport 5 as the Xbox’s fastest selling racing game of all time with over 1.8 million copies sold to date, Microsoft has unveiled a new entry in the Forza franchise, choosing the historical heart of America’s automotive industry for the special occasion.

Detroit’s North American International Auto Show played host to the announcement, where Microsoft confirmed that Forza Motorsport 6 is in the works at Turn 10 Studios and set to come out later this year.

The Ford F-150 Raptor, GT, and Shelby GT305 Mustang were showcased as cars included in the game.

Dan Greenawalt, Turn 10 Studios’ creative director, tied the critically-acclaimed racing series’ history into that of the prestigious automaker founded by Henry Ford. “Just as Ford has pushed the boundaries of car technology in GT, Forza Motorsport 6 will embrace that spirit of innovation as our most technically advanced racing simulation to date, offering a fun and realistic automotive experience for both car lovers and gamers.”

The North American International Auto Show is a smart spot for Microsoft to unveil Forza Motorsport 6, as the franchise is known for its creative partnerships with big-name manufacturers. A venture with Honda brought the Civic Type R to Forza Motorsport 5 just this past holiday season.

More information about Forza Motorsport 6, including an exact release date, is expected at E3 in June.

The Top 20 Grossing Android Games In China

BY Steve Peterson

January 13, 2015, 12:00AM

By Peter Warman & Steve Peterson
Together with our partners Talking Data, we are today launching a new & unique monthly mobile ranking: The Top 20 Grossing Android Games in China. The data is gathered by tracking the use of apps on 1 billion mobile devices in the Chinese market. The new ranking, based on game revenues, complements the existing monthly overview of Top 20 Android Games by Installs and MAU and Top Android AppStores in China by Installs. This is the first grossing game ranking in the world that combines all of the Android stores in China, representing approximately $2.8bn in revenues in 2014.

DOTA Legend Reigns Supreme

DOTA Legend has made a huge impact on the charts since its release in February of 2014. The game is a DotA themed real-time Battle card game, using characters from Valve’s popular MOBA title. It is published by Longtu Games and has been the top game in terms of revenues since September. The World Cyber Arena (WCA) hosted an esports event in October where games like DOTA 2, Hearthstone and World of Warcraft took a backseat to DOTA Legends — which boasted a $1.1 million prize pool.

Space Hunter from Yinhan has also been solidifying its place in the charts, now at number 2 followed by PopStar Official. Space Hunter, an MMO RPG with similar game play to Hearthstone, was first released in November 2012 and grossed $7 million in its first six months. The success of these titles demonstrates how the Chinese love affair with MMO/MOBA style games is not limited to the PC screen and mobile versions of this genre can prove extremely lucrative.

PopStar Official from Zplay, which is the third highest grossing title, has been the number 1 game in terms of MAU since May.

Western Winners: Mojang & Supercell

Although none of the top 3 titles come from Tencent, the Internet giant makes its presence very well known in the charts. Of the top 20 grossing games in November, eight are published by Tencent. This is especially impressive when you consider that no other publisher has more than one title in the rankings. There are two Western publishers with games featured in the top 20 — Minecraft from Mojang at number 11 and Clash of Clans from Supercell at number 15 respectively. Looking beyond the top titles, PopCap and Gameloft are the only other Western publishers inside of the Top 50 grossing rankings.

RPG Best for Revenue

As noted previously, the highest average time spend is dominated by Board & Card and RPG titles. Not surprising then that the #1 and #2 titles fall into these genres respectively. In terms of overall dominance, the majority (20 percent) of the top games are RPG titles with Space Hunter, and Tian Tian Xuan Dou the best performing games in this genre. More casual genres such as Tile Matching are also popular, with three of this type of game featured in the Top 20.

The [a]listdaily queried Peter Warman about some of the insights he’s gained from studying the Android game market in China. He provided us with some exclusive information about the report.

To what do you attribute Tencent’s domination of the list Is it the company’s dominant position in chat with QQ and WeChat, or just good choices in games, or something else?

Tencent dominates the channels in the Chinese mobile games ecosystem. They have two”super apps” which they use to promote their games (QQ and WeChat) and own a popular third party appstore- MyApp. On top of this, they have a huge portfolio of and investment into new games.

Tencent’s appstore MyApp is installed on 25 percent of all 1 billion connected devices that our partner TalkingData tracks . . . That gives them direct access to a connected mobile audience that is larger than that of the US.

RPGs and card games are obviously big winners in the current list. Does this say something about the demographics of the early smartphone adopters in China? Do you expect this to change as smartphones broaden their reach in China, perhaps with more casual games appearing on the top-grossing lists?

China is not in an early adoption stage of smartphones. The billion devices tracked are all online and predominantly smartphones and tablets. Still, the demographics skew young and male compared to the US and Western Europe. This increases as we move through the funnel towards mobile gamers that spend a lot. For instance: 57 percent of Chinese mobile gamers is male rising to 69 percent for big spenders on mobile games. Of this last group the majority is between 21 and 35: 83 percent.

The fact that we are starting to see cannibalization of PC/MMO revenues by mobile confirms the feeling that these are the traditional Chinese gamers that are spending. The same accounts for the popularity of poker games.

Casual games will rise but this will be slow when it comes to spending. This is not particularly because of a broader use of smartphones but a change in cultural and social attitude towards games. Gaming (and spending money on it) is seen as a young male activity, more so than in the West.

Do you think Western games will be able to do better in China over time? Does a Western game have to be an RPG or a card game to have a good chance in China?

Western franchises are popular in China. If the games are localized well and supported by local distribution partners they have a good chance of succeeding even without being a RPG, Card Battle or Poker game. Just look at Minecraft and Clash of Clans on Android and Clash of Clans and Boom Beach on iOS. The games should appeal to the male skewed audience though . . .

With iOS picking up some market share in China over the last quarter, can you comment on how the top-grossing list for iOS in China is similar or different to the Android list?

iOS has roughly a third of the market in terms of revenues. The top 10 games on the iPhone are different with the exception of Lei Ting Zhan Ji and Quan Min Fei Ji Da Zhan both from Tencent. Both charts are dominated by RPG titles.

Analysis

The amazing impact of mobile games in China has extended even into the eSports realm, which is something that has yet to occur elsewhere in the world. Yet it seems inevitable that mobile games will develop eSports, and when there’s over a $1 million prize pool, as noted above, it’s sure to attract attention and competitors.

One thing about the top-grossing list that’s quite interesting is the concentration of RPG and card battle games; the top-grossing games in China seem to have somewhat less variety than in other countries. Whether this is due entirely to the nature and quality of the games currently on the market, or it’s a fundamental difference in preferences, remains to be seen. Tencent’s domination of the charts isn’t surprising given its command of the messaging app market, but it’s a very different picutre than we see in the West. Messaging apps exert a powerful influence in guiding players to games, as is also seen in Korea with Kakao and in Japan with Line.

Will messaging apps ever exert such influence in the West That’s hard to say, but you can bet there will be plenty of interest in trying as discovery continues to be a major issue for all mobile game publshers.

Also of great interest is that while iOS has far fewer devices in the market, it still commands one third of the total revenue for China’s mobile games. That speaks to the nature of the iOS device buyer in China, and it will be interesting to see how this evolves over time.

Newzoo’s Focus on Asia

The new China ranking reflects Newzoo’s desire to assist its clients with understanding, sizing and seizing opportunities in the worlds’ fastest growing games markets. Combined with our In-Depth Consumer Insights and Chinese gamer and revenue projections from our Global Games Market Data, this provides us with an unrivalled overview of the Chinese (mobile) games market. In addition, our free China Report puts the local games market in a broader cultural and digital media perspective. More recently we performed our biggest research effort to date focused on Southeast Asia, resulting in a 75-page report and and abundance of data that can be used to benchmark all countries across 200 variables.

About TalkingData

TalkingData offers the best-in-class Big Data products varying from highly-scalable data mining, deep data analytics, DMP (Data Management Platform), analytical reports, industry benchmarking, and deep-dive market insight reports. Today, 80 percent of the Top 50 developers in China rely on us to track their app metrics, analyze user data points, and monetization. Our service has reached more than 700 Million unique devices from 50,000 applications.

About Newzoo

Newzoo is the leading global market research firm focused purely on the games market. The company provides its clients with a mix of primary consumer research, transactional data and financial analysis across all continents, screens and business models. It is also known for actively sharing a variety of insights by means of free trend reports, infographics, blogposts and monthly rankings. Newzoo’s clients include Tencent, SEGA, Logitech, Wizards of the Coast, Nvidia, Microsoft, EA and Visa/PlaySpan.

Video Ad Platform Teads Raises $30M

BY VideoInk

January 13, 2015, 12:00AM

By: Sahil Patel

European video ad startup Teads has raised $30 million in new financing as it looks to enter more international markets.

The financing is an even split between equity investment and debt. Investors include existing backers Gimv, Partech, and Elaia, as well as new investor BPI. The other half comes via a “mid-term” line of credit from Bank of China, HSBC, BNPP, and BPI.

The money will allow Teads to “speed up the company’s growth on a global scale,” according to Teads executive chairman Pierre Chappaz. He says Teads will focus on technology innovation as well as expansions in the US and new markets like Brazil, Russia, South Korea, and Japan.

Read more…

This article was originally posted on VideoInk and is reposted on [a]listdaily via a partnership with the news publication, which is the online video industry’s go-to source for breaking news, features, and industry analysis. Follow VideoInk on Twitter @VideoInkNews, or subscribe via thevideoink.com for the latest news and stories, delivered right to your inbox.

Evolving Business Models For The Top Game Brands

BY Steve Peterson

January 13, 2015, 12:00AM

The launch of Call of Duty Online today in China is an interesting milestone — and a signpost — not just for Activision, but for the game industry as a whole. Here we see a glimpse of the future for major game franchises, the changing nature of game design, the fundamental shift in business models for games, and the evolving role of game marketers, all in one announcement. And here you probably thought it was just another game being announced . . . but that’s only the surface reality. Let’s peel back the onion a bit and look at the different skins, and try not to shed a tear for the passing of the game-industry-as-we-knew-it.

It’s been abundantly clear for years that the marketplace for major console game brands is changing. No, not the shift to new consoles — that’s been a regular part of the business for decades, and publishers are all familiar with that change and have learned to deal with it. No, this shift has to do with how publishers are making games and selling them, and how buying patterns are changing.

One of the great reasons that Electronic Arts’ major brands Madden NFL Football and FIFA Soccer have generated so much revenue for so long was something that other console games didn’t do. The very nature of those licenses meant that a new game needed to come out every year, if for no other reason than to incorporate the last year’s worth of stats, roster changes, new players, and other changes that occurred in the sport being simulated. Since (long ago) you couldn’t push out updates via download, this meant a new boxed version of the software would ship every year — whether or not the basic engine was updated (sometimes it wasn’t, or not very much). This had the pleasant side effect of generating annual massive revenues for Electronic Arts.

Of course, this wasn’t lost on other publishers. If sports titles made a lot of money with a new version coming out annually, why not other types of games as well Activision decided to put Call of Duty on an annual release schedule, which eventually meant that not just one studio was developing the game — now there are three fully staffed studios working on different versions of Call of Duty. Now there are annual releases of this core franchise for Activision, yet the sales each year have been declining for the past several years, despite a massive effort by Activision in both development and marketing. Assuming that the issue isn’t a decline in the quality of the games or the marketing (which seems unlikely, given this has been steady over several years with games from different studios accompanied by increased marketing budgets), what’s causing this?

One likely reason is competition . . . not from other companies’ games, but from earlier versions of Call of Duty. When a new Call of Duty was separated in time by two or three years, and online play and DLC weren’t major components of the game, players would be eager for a new version. In three years they had exhausted the possibilities of the game. Now, though, we’ve got news maps and scenarios coming out quarterly, and a whole new game coming out a year after you paid $60 for one. Perhaps more importantly, online multiplayer is the most important part of the game now — and if you’re still having fun with that, why buy a new version. Especially if the new version means learning new maps, new gameplay techniques, and making sure all your buddies have the new version too . . . it’s just easier, and less expensive, to stick with the version you’re already playing.

The problem also comes with the price tag. You’re asking for $60 up front for the game, plus $15 for each major DLC pack (or $50 for a season pass), not counting extras like a collector’s edition or various skins you can get. Those are big chunks of money. Compare this with League of Legends, where you can play the game for free, and extra Champions are around $5, and skins can range from a few dollars up to $10 or more. But it’s all optional, and the main map of the game isn’t changing — so you can easily play with friends who have paid out nothing, and friends who have spent hundreds of dollars, on an equal basis. Those smaller increments of cash are much easier to spring for than the bigger chunks console games demand.

Activision isn’t blind to this, of course, and there’s no doubt that one of the reasons behind Call of Duty Online (besides the chance to garner huge revenues from the massive Chinese market) is the opportunity to experiment with an entirely different business model for the Call of Duty franchise, and in a way that won’t upset current fans. Activision will get reams of data from this game, and learn plenty about what works and what doesn’t with this different business model for a venerable franchise. Sure, there are cultural differences at work that have to be taken into account, but nonetheless Activision should be able to get a pretty clear picture of whether this is the future of Call of Duty, not just in China, but elsewhere in the world.

You can also see experimentation at work in Destiny, which is combining parts of the FPS market with the MMO market . . . along with variations on pricing. Note the success of games like Guild Wars 2, with an upfront cost for the game but no subscription charges, with regular content updates and virtual goods for sale as well. Blizzard has being having great success with Hearthstone, and does anyone really expect that Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch won’t be some version of free-to-play

The console game brands need to shift from thinking about the game design and marketing for the brand as “ship a box to retail stores every year” to “what can we provide players on a regular, long-term basis ” That’s the kind of question that Rumble Entertainment’s Greg Richardson is asking as he aims to build a company to succeed in the game industry as it is evolving. Mobile and online games get the idea that the struggle is to come up with games and implement them so as to create a dedicated audience of fans and keep them happy for years. Fans are already voting with their dollars that they don’t like being hit with a $60 charge to enjoy the latest version of their favorite brand every year. The up side is that really dedicated fans can spend hundreds of dollars on a single game, if you give them enough cool content that they want to buy.

Game players are getting used to being able to try out games for free, and having plenty of options on how and where to play — and what to spend money on. Free-to-play isn’t just one specific business model — the term encompasses a wide variety of models, and in some cases it’s very similar to the old practice of providing free demo versions of a game. The best-performing business models are the ones that are precisely adjusted to fit the nature of the game play, and in so doing deliver an exciting and satisfying experience that keeps players engaged for a long time. That’s what Activision and other traditional publishers are experimenting with now, even on the oldest franchises that seem wedded to the physical retail model. (Electronic Arts is trying out FIFA Online in Asia, it should be noted, and TakeTwo is no doubt learning plenty by running Grand Theft Auto Online.)

Changes in game design and business models are leading to massive changes in marketing as well. Users are a big part of the marketing strategy, and marketing efforts need to be designed for a long term rather than aiming at one big push to get box sales in November. Everything is changing, while people try to reassure partners that it will be business as usual. Make no mistake, though — Call of Duty Online is the nose of the dragon, and sooner or later the whole damn thing will be in the tent. If we’re smart, though, that tent will be expanding to make room for the dragon. The market will be bigger for all once console brands can make the transition to long-term, profitable engagement with a smoother revenue flow.

‘Call of Duty Online’ Launches In China

BY Robert Workman

January 12, 2015, 12:00AM

There’s no question that the Call of Duty franchise has made a huge mark in the U.S. gaming market, with billions of dollars in revenue in the franchise’s history. Now, the brand could be doing even more business in China, as Activision and Tencent have teamed up to bring Call of Duty Online to the masses. The main difference is that the game is free-to-play, rather than the pay-up-front model used in other parts of the world.

The two publishing giants have launched the game’s beta in China, providing millions of players the opportunity to take on single player missions, a survival mode (featuring cyborgs in place of the traditional zombies) and, of course, multiplayer. The beta is available for hundreds of millions of gamers, and should expand even further when the game finally launches, even though a date hasn’t been given yet.

“Millions of gamers in the West have come to appreciate that white-knuckled, epic thrill-ride that only Call of Duty delivers. And now an entire new audience of gamers will experience this for the first time. We believe Call of Duty Online is going to be a game-changer for Chinese gamers,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “We’ve worked closely with our partner at Tencent, and we’ve challenged one of our most trusted and talented development teams at Raven Software to create a true Call of Duty experience tailored for the Chinese market. Throughout testing, the community feedback has been tremendous. We couldn’t be more excited and we look forward to winning the hearts and minds of a new community in China.”

Steven Ma, senior vice president of Tencent, added, “Since announcing Call of Duty Online, we have gone through a series of alpha and closed beta tests, with each test generating incredibly positive results. Call of Duty Online is a top tier game developed by an elite team and we are honored to bring this highly anticipated title to the Chinese players.”

The gaming landscape in China has changed quite a bit over the past few years. A number of PC-based and mobile titles have stepped up in popularity, including Puzzle & Dragons and League of Legends. And with the recent announcement of the country’s removal of its ban on video game consoles, Microsoft and Sony have opted to make an impact with their own offerings as well.

But the spotlight remains firmly on the PC gaming scene for now, and the powerhouse teaming of Tencent and Activision will no doubt take a big chunk out of it, with millions of players expected to put the game through its paces while in its beta period.

There’s no question that both companies have put quite a promotional push behind the game. In fact, Activision produced a live-action trailer featuring plenty of Call of Duty action, as well as an appearance by Captain America himself, Chris Evans. You can view it below.

No word yet if Call of Duty Online will launch for other markets, but, at the moment, it isn’t likely. Fortunately, gamers still have the likes of Advanced Warfare and other titles to turn to.

25% Of Spotify Users Want Pay For Better Streaming

BY Robert Workman

January 12, 2015, 12:00AM

A couple of months back, Spotify had revealed that it had some impressive audience numbers, with 50 million users and 12.5 million paying subscribers. Going into 2015, however, it’s shown quite a bit of increase.

VentureBeat has reported that the popular music service has managed to gain 10 million active users since that time, rising up to 60 million users total. Meanwhile, out of that audience, 15 million actually provide payment for the service. This continues to remain consistent with the site’s general numbers, with a fourth of users choosing to subscribe.

Following the release of a free version of its service for mobile devices around this time last year, Spotify has been working to increase its subscriber base with more key features for the $9.99 monthly program. That said, while 15 million is certainly a healthy base, the company still has a ways to go when it comes to keeping up with other digital music titans, such as Apple and Google, as well as upstarts like Rdio and Deezer.

That said, the company may make changes to its formatting for 2015 in an effort to keep people from leaving. Spotify already suffered a brutal blow last year when artist Taylor Swift removed her music from its library, stating that she didn’t want to share her music based on an ad-supported tier. That said, the company’s CEO was still confident in its success, despite Swift’s decision.

Some questions have also arisen in regards to the company being purchased by a larger conglomerate in an effort to increase its own music subscription plans. There’s been talks that Google may be an ideal partner for this, in an effort to keep up with the likes of Apple and other competitors. As of now, though, the company remains independent, and is rumored to be preparing an IPO to increase its chances for success in 2015.

For now, it seems, the beat just goes on . . .

Microsoft Clarifies Rules On Content Streaming

BY Robert Workman

January 12, 2015, 12:00AM

It’s no surprise that game companies want to make more from the game streaming phenomenon, considering how massively popular streaming services like Twitch have become, with upwards of 55 million monthly viewers. There hasn’t been a clear legal basis for streaming someone else’s game or posting videos from it and deriving revenue from that, which is something that various game publishers are taking steps to clarify. Some have already taken a stance to partner with their young broadcasters, while others have set guidelines that could be beneficial to them down the road. Well, you can add Microsoft to that list.

The makers of the Xbox One game console have posted a series of new guidelines for users who post content from its games to YouTube and Twitch, as well as other venues. With these rules, the company has governed the use of its content for external purposes, but has also loosened some of the restrictions as a result, according to GamesIndustry International.

The rules, which can be found in full here, basically cover what users can and can’t use for footage as far as commercial moneymaking is concerned. The real big restriction is that content can’t be used in any form when it comes to paid applications, or those that would generate some form of ad money.

“Microsoft grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-sublicenseable, non-transferable, revocable, limited license for you to use and display Game Content and to create derivative works based upon Game Content, strictly for your personal, noncommercial (except as specifically provided below) use,” said the company’s statement.

There are also specifics when it comes to use agreement, as the rules state. “(Name of the Microsoft Game) @ Microsoft Corporation. (The title of your item) was created under Microsoft’s ‘Game Content Usage Rules’ using assets from (Name of the Microsoft Game) and it is not endorsed by or affiliated with Microsoft” must be posted with the content.

“We’re encouraging you to create and redistribute your items,” the company explained further. “You may post the items on your own site or you may link to a third-party site containing your items if you’d prefer to store them there, so long as the third-party site does not break any of these Rules.”

This is different from what Nintendo did last year with a similar stance, first cracking down on YouTube users making commercial gains off its content before eventually making a partnership deal where the revenue is split between Nintendo, the broadcaster and the video creators.

More details on Microsoft’s rules can be found here.

Indonesia: Fastest Growing SEA Gaming Market

BY Robert Workman

January 12, 2015, 12:00AM

The gaming market worldwide is quite healthy, and one of the factors to its success is Southeast Asia, where total revenues for the past year have managed to exceed $1.1 billion, with 99 percent of that amount coming from six key countries.

A new report from Newzoo, however, shows that, out of these six markets, there’s one that’s outpacing all the rest — and it’s Indonesia.

With assistance from such companies as Electronic Arts, Microsoft and Facebook, Newzoo was able to compile the information indicating Indonesia’s massive growth, according to Tech In Asia. It’s quite a bit of data to take in — the largest the company has done to date, resulting in a 75-page report — but the information is definitely something of interest to the publishers and developers interested in marketing games in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia, alongside Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has managed to generate an annual growth rate of 28.8 percent, with gaming revenues for the entire region expected to rise up to $2.2 billion within just three years’ time. That growth is calculated in the chart below, showing just how quickly the market has risen in just two years already, going from $806 million to $1.09 million. Indonesia, as you can see, plays a huge part in all of it.

With an estimated population of 626 million, not everyone takes part in gaming, since only a small percentage of the population has access to Internet. But these folks show quite an interest in games, with over 70 percent of those with access taking part in some form of gaming session. With the massive increases projected for smartphone and tablet sales in Asia, it’s clear the gaming market will continue to expand rapidly.

Out of the 126 million gamers estimated, almost half (60 million) actually spend money on games, spending an average of $18.40 on games a year. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, about $16 (or Rp 200,000) is spend annually on games, estimating for a good portion of that total.

Indeed, Southeast Asian gaming is on the rise. More specific stats can be found here.

Marketing Technology Expands

BY Robert Workman

January 12, 2015, 12:00AM

When it comes to the field of marketing technology, the landscape is changing rapidly. No, seriously — the picture you see below is a layout of all the companies involved in a variety of fields, counting into the hundreds, and even thousands.

The report, compiled by Mediapost, shows just how much the landscape is changing, and it’s getting to the point that even the experts in the field can’t keep up with all the companies that have popped up over the last few months.

Compiled by Scott Brinker, co-founder for ion, the chart shows a listing of 1,876 companies and open-sourced projects, spread across 43 different categories. These calculate to twice the numbers from the previous report posted in 2014, with 947 different companies split into the categories.

With the report, Brinker points out that broader marketing technology has become king, even overcoming some of the better-known companies in the ad tech industry.

Growth of these companies should continue onward, and the IDC is reporting that companies worldwide will spend a massive $22.6 billion on marketing software for the new year. It’s estimated to grow even further to $32.3 billion by 2018.

There aren’t many changes to the categories with this year’s report, although there are some inclusions like performance and attribution added to it. “I broke out from the social media category a separate category for influencer marketing,” explained Brinker. “We’re now seeing a set of companies specializing in managing relationship with influencers.”

With the overflowing chart above, Brinker believes that, while there will be growth with scale and scope of companies, there also needs to be management involved to keep things in balance.

Technology will continue to play a key part with these companies as well, with marketing tech picking up through the introduction of new products in the Internet of Things field, as well as new digital physical experiences (3D printers and other objects of the like) that will keep consumers interested in these companies.

More details on the report can be found here.