Interactive TV Games. Games for Everyone Dan Chronnell

Transcription

1 Interactive TV Games Dan Chronnell

2 The games people play What s your game? Everybody has a favourite game Super Mario or Scrabble, Millionaire or Monopoly, Tetris or Tombraider, Badminton or Backgammon, Prappa the Rapper or Petanque

3 What to play? Modern attitudes to games In 2004 a large proportion of the population are electronic games literate What game to play? A rainy winter weekend indoors the latest console release Work lunch breaks internet games On the train - mobile games In between watching TV programmes interactive TV games People no longer differentiate between one medium and another - they choose games that fit the situation

4 Interactive TV games Back to basics gaming Sky Gamestar is used in TV downtime also a destination in it s own right Large community of players over 1.2 million viewers a week (BARB) Low barrier to entry in terms of ease of use and also financially It is gaming back to basics with a mainstream audience playing simple games

5 Proposition and demographic The what and the who What is it? 25 games always available to Sky Digital customers Pay 2 Play via premium rate telephony 60p (~95 cent) per games session Day Pass 1.50 for 12 games all day (~2.5 euro) Who are they? High proportion of female players approx 50% Also large numbers of children 35% particularly young children (under 9) High propensity to play games in general Likely to also play other electronic games including console games A wide gaming audience regularly pay for and enjoy TV games

6 Patterns of play Where do TV games fit in When do they play? Players play at times when they have the TV on Game play is driven by audience availability However peak TV viewing is a factor fewer play when the TV is at it s best How do they play? Adults are habitual players Children explore and experiment with new games As content is consumed new games are always required

7 Games development process Sky Gamestar acts as publisher and distributor Choosing the games to be developed Assisting developers to customise games for TV Good content is key to success

8 Using Brands The key to conversion Established games brands deliver recognisable quality and proven gameplay Entertainment Brands provide an emotional connection with the viewer Brands are vital to assist conversion in a pay to play environment

9 The genres Aiming for target audience groups For children (and the young at heart) Action and Arcade games For adults Sports, Quizzes, and Word Games Puzzles and Board games for the whole family Good targeting increases revenues

10 Content development A Checklist Accessible and simple pick up and play Different every time you play Include progression and episodes Target at a broad TV audience Use recognised brands But all content needs effective promotion in order to prosper

11 Portal promotion Creating a schedule A media rich menu system Content Day Parted to suit audience profile A new game every two weeks plus competitions and promotions Transaction activity is maximised if there is always something going on

12 Liveplay - Peer to peer games Driving frequency Peer to peer gaming against players from across the nation Turn based games e.g. Connect 4 and Pool, Draughts and Battleship Well over 100k registered players since launch in June 04 Repeat play rate very high as players try to increase their player rating

13 Livechat It s good to talk Players profiles mean you know who they are playing Chat is extensively used in the games Communication is very human in nature and adds greatly to the experience

14 Conclusions What have we learned Games publishers and developers are currently suffering Sky Gamestar provides a lesson in developing for the mainstream A proliferation of portable devices containing games content Sky Gamestar provides a model for the development for these platforms As the portability of games between platforms increases The natural home for games for everyone is on the Television

15 The Future Next steps on Sky Gamestar Extending Liveplay Extend to multi player games (2+) Cross platform Gaming Set top vs Mobile Developing games with persistent elements Developing the Channel Sky Gamestar becomes more like a TV channel The boundary between playing a game and watching TV becomes blurred