From Concept to Market:

1

• From Concept to Market
• The Digital Games Business
• Dr. Aphra Kerr
• Research Fellow
• STeM, DCU,
• Ireland.
• DigiPlay Experience and Consequences of
  Technologies of Leisure,14-15th January 2004.

2
A little history

• Degree in Communications Studies
• MA by research The use of ICTs and potential
  use of ISDN by cultural industries
• PhD Innovation in Multimedia Companies
• Post-Doc The production and consumption of
  digital games

3
Which techs and focus

• Focus is on ICTs (tech content)
• Focus is on macro trends and how they play out at
  meso and micro levels
• Focus is on critically interpreting the available
  data reports, internet
• Collecting primary data through interviews

4
Background of this paper

• Post-doc primary and secondary research
  2000/2001..interviews in Irish and UK companies,
  trade conferences, reports
• 2002 STeM working paper
• Manchester MIT 2002 conf. papers
• 2003 Convergence paper and draft book chapter

5
Approach in this paper

• Political economy..
• the study of social relations, particularly the
  power relations, that mutually constitute the
  production, distribution and consumption of
  resources Mosco 1996.
• Holistic, historical, concerned with
  public/private balance, engages with moral and
  ethical Qs Hesmondhalgh 2002

6
Summary of Global Sales
7
Total US Sales by Media, 2002
8
Market Split by Platform
9
The Value Chain
10
Major Business Segments

• Seg 1 - Console Handheld
• Oligopoly and monopoly, licenses,
• Prop. tech., money made on software..
• dev. 18 months, 12-20 people, 3-5 million
• Retail through shops
• Seg 2 PC (not MMOGS)
• Numerous players, Common stnds, open archit.
• dev. 15 months, 12-15 people, 1.5-3 m,
• Retail shops and some online elements

11
Cont./

• Seg. 3 MMOGs
• Oligopoly?
• Open platform
• Very expensive to dev. and ongoing costs (?)
• Retail though shops subs
• Seg. 4 Mini/Casual games
• Numerous players and competing techs
• Small teams, 3 months dev.
• Competing revenue models..pay per play, subs,
  advertising,

12
Trends - Vertical and Horizontal integration

• Console segment
• oligopoly in hardware..comps involved in all
  stages of the production cycle
• Independent publishers
• between 10 and 20 globally, acquiring
  distribution channels and buying into developers
• Economies of scale scope

13
Licensing Sequels..

• Trying to reduce risk and uncertainty of demand
• Pre-sold properties Schatz 1993
• Real world, TV, film,
• In 2001 45 of all format games in UK licensed..
• Growing the market or limiting innovation
  reducing overall diversity??

14
..Final thoughts..

• Focus on commerical production of games in US/UK
  primarily..not the full story
• Size/scale increasingly nb at all stages although
  resistance at developer stage
• Impacts on
• diversity of titles,
• price of product,
• viability of independent developers and rate of
  start-ups

15

• More info..
• www.comms.dcu.ie/kerra
• www.stem.dcu.ie
• www.gamedevelopers.ie