Scoping online gaming communities v1.0

1.  X? ?
X?? ?- ?
Are you game?
Reaching the online gaming community

2. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Background
•There a number of online gaming platforms:
–Console
–Handheld
–PC
•…with a range of gaming types:
–MMOG (Massive multiplayer online games)- World of Warcraft, Second Life
–Multiplayer online games- Halo, Half-Life
–Single or group based gaming - Hearts, Pogo
Not online gambling games!

3. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Background
•There are two primary game genres:
–Competitive gaming
•Generally console operated
•Structured around gaming content
•Usually action and fantasy type genres
–Social gaming
•Generally Internet based
•Casual gaming; role playing; educational
•Gaming sits within a wider virtual community
•Free access
Minimal
above the line
marketing

4. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Gamer community profile
Four-fifths
are aged
15-44
16-24 year
olds in a
culture of
‘connected
cocooning’
Over two-
fifths of
players are
female
Just over half
are in social
grade ABC1
Average
gaming time is
45 minutes per
day, on a daily
basis
Over 1/3 of GB
internet users
15+ play online
*Research based on findings from
BMRB and SPILL GROUP

5. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
The market is segmented by game types…
Entertainment Software Association, 2005

6. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
User groups vary across game types
•Competitive
–An online survey for Everquest* showed 81% of online players were male
–Mean age was 27 years old
–18-35 year-old male demographic
•Social
–Over 50% of non-competitive gamers are women**
–Older user base
–Average UK woman gamer is between 30 and 35 years old and plays for around seven hours
each week
–On PCs, female adults are almost twice as likely to spend more than 20 hours per week gaming
compared to men (free to access)
*Nottingham Trent University, 2006
**Elspa

7. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
The market
•The online console game market is likely to triple from mid 2006 to end
2007 to over 40 million players worldwide
•There are 82.5m players subscribed to the casual gaming sector
•In 2005 the market was worth $3.5 bn and is predicted to rise to $13bn by
2011
–Not huge compared to traditional platforms (the UK TV ad sector is worth £3.2bn) but growing
•It is taken sufficiently seriously that Nielsen/NetRatings provide rating
metrics
•In Europe, the number of online video gamers is expected to grow to 28.7
million, by 2009, matching that of the US.
•Example: Xbox Live
–Over 2 million subscribers worldwide (spanning 24 countries)
–Today, the average Live member has 20 ‘friends’, this is up 44% from the average number of
‘friends’ a year ago, which was 14.
–There are more than 40 million friend "connections" on Xbox Live
*IDC
*Xbox Live

8. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Multiplayer online games
•Gaming
•Community forums
•Review pages
•Avatars
•In-game economies

9. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Gaming
•Multiplayer competitive genres
Played on the internet, capable of hosting thousands of players
simultaneously in a persistent world
–Players can interact with each other at any given time
• Huge potential for viral communication and in-game marketing
–Leader boards creating sustainable engagement of users
–Communities form around virtual teams, societies or ‘tribes’
•Strong virtual association leads to real world communities that are easily targeted
and highly engaged
–Multimedia channels
•Video clips, music, TV (site and user generated)
•‘Passive’ and ‘active’ advertising

10. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Examples

11. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Gaming (2)
•Social gaming
–Multiplayer, often with fewer players but still in a persistent world
–Role playing offers tailored gaming environments populated by real world
actions
–User generated environments from branded materials
–Greater movement between gaming and non-gaming areas of the
community
–Large potential for user generated promotion

12. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Examples

13. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Large communities form around games
•Game led communities are an important part of in-game activities
•Information and advice
–FRANK association with Habbo Hotel
•Online chat rooms to offer advice about drugs
•Community events; User hosting educational quizzes, discussions; Competitions and viral
marketing
•Review sites
–User led opinion forming e.g. other games; music; films; posted content
•Guilds
–Membership built around common interests. Identifiable segments and forum for
messages to be received and disseminated
–Include own online radio stations, newspapers, and photo albums

14. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Avatars
•Avatars allow personal identities to be used
•They are central to the user navigation of games
•Strong user investment in creating virtual identities
•Users build up powerful avatars which can be successfully traded
•Characters can be created to function in a highly interactive way
–Interactive online identities
–Customised. Possibilities of strong brand associations
–Virtual citizens performing real tasks and gaining real information
•Shopping, reviewing, asking for advice etc.
–Education through role playing sometimes complex scenarios in virtual societies e.g.
property buying/ selling, political leadership, event hosting

15. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Avatars are people too!...
“If I were to launch a Web 2.0 business today, I wouldn’t rely on
advertising or subscriptions…I wouldn’t worry about technology at
all, in fact. I’d become a personal avatar consultant, helping
nervous people construct and manage their menagerie of online
selves. Or I’d become a psychotherapist specialising in avatar
issues, maybe even renting an office in Second Life with a little
virtual couch. I would, in short, find a way to capitalise on what
promises to be a lucrative epidemic of avatar anxiety.”
Nicholas Carr, author, Does IT Matter?

16. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
World of WarCraftGaia Online

17. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
In-game economies
•Virtual market places
–Credits bought with real money
–‘Money’ is earned by completing tasks or in virtual businesses
•Purchase of avatar accessories, home furnishings, houses, games
•Trading
–Digital items are sold on eBay for real money
–Online earnings converted to real money through in-game currency exchanges
–Possibilities for brand and message engagement
•Earn discounts on real goods by gaining digital credits- engage with products
•Promote brands in game stores which people can test, review, purchase and promote
•A virtual avatar operating with real world consequences
•Send gifts to online friends- promotion and revenue generation (music; videos; mobile
content)

18. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
In-game economies (2)
•Market segments
–Established profiles allow individual users and user segments to be easily identified and targeted
–Through online communities, guilds and gaming groups you can:
•Avatar consumers, wearing, eating and discussing branded digital goods
and services
–Online promotion leading to real world purchase
–Virtual personalities consuming messages applied in the real world and fed back to online
communities
Promote messages and brands
Embed advertising tailored to users
Create forums or marketplaces to promote
brands and signpost real world products

19. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Messages move across multiple pathways and
are self-perpetuating
Positive online
feedback
• In game chat
• Review sites
• Product placement
User generated
promotion
• In game use
• On profile pages
• Discussion forums
Online message
consumption
• Advertising
• Branded digital goods
• Virtual shop
On/ off line real
world consumption
• Application of messages
to the real world
• Referral

20. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Case Study:
•Social genre MMOG developed by Linden Lab
•A virtual world built and sustained by its residents
•Applications:
–Virtual business ventures and services where money (Linden Dollars) is exchanged
and converted to real world money
–Users control IP rights of their creations
–Promotion events in virtual space e.g. Radio One gig; album launches
–Virtual clothing products available for residents to dress their avatars
–Sponsorship of virtual events
“Thousands of residents are making part or all of their real life income from
their Second Life Businesses”

21. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Conclusions
•Consumers place more trust in messages on gaming sites than
other online environments
•Brand advertising can actually add to the gaming experience
•Key selling points:
–A large and rapidly growing market
–Hugely compelling for key audience groups, especially young males, but also females
–A ready-made hugely imaginative and creative world lending itself to creative
communications
–Communicating in a ‘trusted’ world, created by the user
* Research based on a BMRB survey

22. Commercial in Confidence19 July 2006
Next steps…
Potential applications for Digital Public clients…?