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Monday 24 March 2014

GUEST BLOG: The Ugly Side of Freemium

I'm a big supporter of the freemium business model. The removal of the initial financial barrier to entry, alongside the simplicity of many freemium titles has opened the door for masses of new consumers to get into playing games; something which is undoubtedly a fantastic thing for our industry.


If we look back to the 80s, there are parallels we can draw.



Lots of relatively small indie games were released which are comparable to the level of simplicity we see in many mobile titles today; as technology and gamers desire for more complex experiences grew, so did the games produced, ultimately leading to the more mature console gaming demographic we have today - something I very much hope will be repeated in the mobile arena. Which is precisely why, when I see implementations of freemium mechanics such as those presented in Dungeon Keeper, I get quite infuriated.



Back then we also had a comparable level of saturated content as we’re now seeing in the mobile space. Many publishers were pushing out poor quality titles and failing to respect their consumers, which ultimately led to the game industry crash of 1983.



And in 2014, my big worry is that we're at risk of repeating that very same mistake.



Take Dungeon Keeper for example - without wishing to pick on it - I find that it’s just one of an increasing number of titles whose implementation of freemium mechanics comes across as somewhat dismissive of those unwilling to pay.



While it's apparent that it’s still generating significant revenue (as is clear from the games featuring in the top grossing charts) I worry that it's an example of prioritising short-term gains over long-term benefit for the industry. When it can take up to 24 hours to remove a single 'square' of map, I’d argue that it makes the experience beyond simply an 'inconvenience' for non-paying customers; it makes it largely un-playable.



The undoubtedly high percentage of customers unwilling to pay are ultimately left with a sour taste in their mouth; and for many, it risks degrading their views of freemium titles as a whole. In turn, damaging potential future uptake of games utilising this model.



This becomes all the more apparent when reading some of the games reviews; users are not simply complaining about the game, They’re complaining about the industry, the model and are frequently stating (in no uncertain terms) that it’s putting them off freemium as a whole.

 
Freemium titles should intrinsically be accessible for all consumers – paying or non-paying.



There have been some great examples of freemium done right. Games like League of Legends, where consumers can play frustration-free for as long as they like; but are encouraged to purchase through offering compelling additional content. Users who don't pay are respected, even valued, on account of the competitive, viral and social benefits their involvement brings to the experience for everyone playing.



So, as an industry let’s not allow our desire to make more money in the short term take precedence over the potential alienation of our customers. Paying or otherwise, we must respect our users. If we fail to do so, we run the very real risk of losing them in the long term.



Put simply, we need to learn from our historical mistakes. It is our responsibility to do better.



Adam Green is MD of Assyria Games and chairs the judging panel for the Indie Dev Showcase at the Develop Conference. This year’s Showcase submissions open on 2 April 2014.




Monday 17 March 2014

GUEST BLOG: The ‘Made in Creative UK’ Campaign

I’d like to use this blog piece to tell developers about the ‘Made in Creative UK’ campaign that aims to raise the profile of UK game developers.  The seed of this idea for the campaign started when I attended the launch presentation of The Livingstone Hope report (also known as the Next Gen. report) commissioned by the government in February 2011.
One observation made in the report was that so few of the public in the UK (or anywhere else in the world) know that the UK is responsible for many high profile video games. This means that students in the UK are less inspired to learn the skills required for careers in the games industry. Sadly IT (Information Technology) is seen by the brightest students as the worse subject on the curriculum.
I spoke to Ian Livingstone and Ed Vaizey about this at the reception afterwards and proposed that the government issue a ‘Made in UK’ logo that developers could use. I believed that developers would be keen to display this on their games and websites for the greater good of the UK games industry. They both said that would support such a campaign.
Unfortunately, after many meetings, I was unable to find government department that would launch and administer the campaign, so I decided to do it myself. I designed a logo, created the website and then starting contacting many friends in the industry to join the campaign.
The campaign has very clear goals:-
·
 Inspire students to learn important skills for the digital economy in the UK
·
 Raise the profile of the UK Games Industry across the world to promote global partnerships
·
 Raise the profile of an important 21st century industry with the general public
The campaign has the endorsement of government officials, trade bodies and leading industry supporters, including: -  Ed Vaizey (Culture Minister), Ian Livingstone (Industry Spokesman), Dr Richard Wilson (CEO - TIGA), Dr Jo Twist (CEO - UKie CEO), Karen Price OBE (Chief Executive - e-Skills UK), Hasan Bakhshi (Director of Creative Industries, NESTA). Caroline Norbury (CEO - Creative England), Kate O'Connor ( Deputy CEO - Creative Skillset), Kelly Smith (BAFTA) and recently Nick Baird (CEO - UKTI)

I’d like to see British developers promoting the origin of their game. The world is very aware of many British pop stars, film and TV stars, and creations like James Bond and Harry Potter, but the origins of video games are largely unknown.
I’d like students and their parents, studying new computer science lessons to appreciate that there are game developers all around them, hence the developer map on the website, and that there are great jobs full of challenge and creativity. Making games is a very real and very rewarding career in the 21st century.
I’m delighted by the fast and overwhelming response I’ve had by UK developers embracing this important campaign, it started with Game developers, as it’s my background, but I see all creative digital content creators joining in, as the UK is world leading in all fields of digital media and we rarely get the recognition we deserve.
See the website www.MadeInCreativeUK.com and if you make games in the UK and would like to support the campaign, contact me, Philip Oliver - Philip@MadeinCreativeUK.com

 This blog was written by Philip Oliver, Co-founder of Radiant Worlds and long time supporter of Develop in Brighton - www.developconference.com