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IP as budgets spiral multi-media games projects to guarantee their survival and make better properties
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closely manage its IP, and spread the backstory for its games across multiple mediums. (Indeed, it was fitting that both Blizzard and id’s fan-focused events QuakeCon and BlizzCon, took place in the weekends bookending GDC Europe). Yet while CCP is one of the first to create games in which share IP, users and data, it’s not the only one. French studio Ankama, responsible for the more casual and youth-oriented MMO Dofus, is currently growing its other IP, Wakfu through a mix of children’s TV, browser-based MMO plus trading cards and manga. Most unique is a spin-off Islands of Wakfu game for Xbox Live Arcade, commissioned by Microsoft. Ankama is, like CCP, a unique independent studio on the European games development scene. Its Wakfu TV show is one of France’s most popular kids TV shows, and when each episode ends content is unlocked in the counterpart browser game, driving player movement and engagement.
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“We are at the centre of the nexus in the cross-media experience,” said creative director David Calvo during a press event at Gamescom that detailed the depth and breadth of the gameworld Ankama is creating and the variety of media it will exist in.
We are at the centre of the nexus in crossmedia gaming experiences. David Calvo, Ankama English marketing manager Sergio Dos Santos added: “Each MMO has to find its own soul. People play an MMO because they want to be part of it. The biggest challenge is to find that one feature that will unite your community of players.” The games industry’s big fish are getting in on the act too – Ubisoft is making spinoff movies that support its Assassin’s Creed franchise, with the main aim being to
build the characters in its game IP, and also find new ways to fund it. “Budgets will continue to keep rising just because the potential of the consoles is huge – to use all their capacity is expensive. So we make bigger games and we invest more in each game,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot explained to Develop. “The movie industry is very good at creating characters, so why don’t we use that industry to help create characters for our games? Why don’t we use books or comic books to create backstories that allow for better experiences in the game?” Ultimately, however, the idea is not for the games industry to try its hand at multiple different mediums – but to learn from others as it expands. Added Guillemot: “The goal is not to try too many different media at once, but to make sure the interactive medium continues to grow – and a great way to to grow is to take some of the know-how that other industries have.”
Main image: CCP’s new console MMO shooter Dust 514 which connects to its PC game EVE Online Inset, clockwise from top left: CCP CEO Petursson, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, Ankama’s new Wakfu XBLA title
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SEPTEMBER 2009 | 07