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NEWS
Football MMO scores Premium retail release CYBERSPORTS has unveiled the boxed Premium edition of its upcoming sports MMO, Football Superstars. And the publisher is calling on retailers to help boost the online game by stocking the new SKU, which offers players exclusive added content and other incentives. “In our quest for global domination within the sports MMOG space, we are currently looking for the support of retailers and distributors Europe-wide,” said Cybersports’ head of business development Andy Law. “The Premium version of Football Superstars offers unrivalled consumer value and already enjoys a significant fanbase numbering in the hundreds of thousands.” Football Superstars is an MMO that allows players to create, customise and train up virtual footballers in a playermanaged club, facing off against other gamers’ teams from around the world. The Premium edition comes with three months’ free subscription and 40 FS Bonds, which can be converted into FS Dollars and spent on training points,
Timing
is everything In the first of a regular column, analyst Nick Parker discusses the waiting game...
LAW: Cybersports’ head of business is looking for retailers to stock the firm’s new SKU
clothes and fame for ingame footballers. There will also be a range of exclusive Puma-branded in-game equipment, including a training kit and speed boots, which will increase a character’s speed on the pitch – while one of four unique animated skills will give gamers an edge on the pitch. www.cybersportsworld.com
Testronic bolsters its international operations QA AND LOCALISATION specialist Testronic Labs has increased its presence in the US and Japan with new staff, MCV can reveal. The firm, which has offices in Pinewood UK, Belgium and Poland, has recruited Haru Takahashi of Interarrows as Japanese liaison director, with the intention of developing a presence in the Japanese market. Meanwhile in the US, the specialist has appointed Dan Chisholm as vice president of business development for games. “Geographically, we are rapidly expanding into the US and Japanese markets and are very positive about the opportunities to deliver real value to our customers,” explained business line manager for games Alastair Harsant.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
“We have received enthusiastic feedback from our research in these territories and have worked hard to define our offering before entering these markets. “Recently we appointed Dan Chisholm. This has opened up our US offering and foundations are in place for growth. “In Japan, we are now represented by Haru Takahashi of Interarrows. He was previously marketing and sales director at Eidos. Haru is supported by Tomoko Yamahatsu, our Japanese co-ordinator based in the UK, which enables us to offer a full service to the Japanese market. We believe that Japan will be of considerable significance to us over the coming months.” Testronic: 020 7593 2264
FOR THE FIRST of my new regular columns, I’m going to discuss timing. From stand-ups to chat-ups, to battle planning, to sport and to business, the most effective aspect of strategy is timing. The unattainable can become attainable and the unavailable, available. Have patience, wait it out, it’s all about timing. In our industry, timing is crucial, yet we see so many times the harm done by getting it wrong. Games pile up in the peak period with no means to raise their heads above the parapet unless marketing funds are disproportionally allocated to quality of product. Some of the best known and most successful titles have been launched during the nine months before the final quarter for a lot less expenditure – Resident Evil, Gran Turismo and GTA, for example. Optimising profit and loss accounts is therefore more trouble free when the timing is right. Sometimes we don’t always know when the timing will be right because we’re still unaware of when the stars will align to provide the best market or technological environment for our product. This will be the case for digital distribution. We are still guessing when the ‘iPod moment’ for games downloads and streaming will happen; not the experimental phase of the S curve we are now in, but the tipping point moment when consumers embrace wholeheartedly a new means to acquire games. In this case the stars required for alignment will be a) broadband proliferation to double digit megabit per second speeds and more everywhere; b) intuitive plug and play technology; c) quick catalogue discovery engines; d) much larger
hard drive storage on consoles and PC; and e) a fair retail price structure. When this happens, most likely before 2012/2013, it will change our value chain shape and management forever. PICK YOUR MOMENTS In the meantime, it is worthwhile progressing the experimental phase by developing downloadable/ streamed games or enhancements to existing titles and by building relationships with technology providers and online content aggregators. Clear communication to consumers and brand building for this new world can begin too. Achieving the exact timing will not be straightforward; going too early when there is no market could leave money on the table. Leave it too late and your brand could be playing catch-up for years to come. You win battles by knowing the enemy’s timing and using timing which the enemy does not expect. As Sony’s David Reeves once said: “Zig while others zag.” This will be relevant in the new distribution economy as well. However, as Gary Ryan Blair, a top strategic thinker, offered, you cannot always afford to wait for perfect conditions; goal setting is often a matter of balancing timing against available resources. Opportunities are easily lost while waiting for these perfect conditions. For digital distribution, the optimal point of bandwidth speed versus size of game in order to provide a reasonable access time (less than an hour) could be some time off, but there are means to reduce this if you acquire or marry up with the right technological solution. Start now.
You win battles by knowing your enemy and using timing that they don’t expect. As David Reeves once said: “Zig while others zag.”
Nick Parker is the founding partner of Parker Consulting Ltd, the industry’s foremost advisors in strategic planning, business intelligence and research. Contact nick@parkerconsulting.biz