The Game Monetization Summit that took place recently in San Francisco provides some really interesting insight into the monetisation of games, but perhaps the most impressive statistic quoted is that from Greg Richardson, CEO of Rumble Entertainment. GamesIndsutry has Richardson down as saying that while $50 billion was spent on games last year, worldwide, less than 10% of that was spent on casual content.
It's particularly fascinating because while we all know that casual games are a lot cheaper, and thus must each pull in less of a profit for their publishers, we also know that a lot of big companies are determined to break into the casual market. And people are constantly going on about smartphones taking over from more traditional video game consoles, suggesting that the latter are based on an unsustainable model and must inevitably die out. But it looks as though core gamers still hold a lot of worth.
However, casual games are doing well within themselves, even if they aren't quite taking over the entire market. Big Fish Games, for example, which publishes hundreds of casual titles that include things like hidden object games and time management games, plans to launch around 250 games next year, and its CEO says most of those will have a positive return on PC. If you're interested in the reasoning behind some of the monetisation models that are floating around these days, like free-to-play, then go and have a read.
