OGDC write-ups

 Posted by (Visited 5950 times)  Game talk
May 152007
 

I missed OGDC, but Brandon Reinhart has write-ups.

Among the tidbits in there is a wealth of great info about Asian development and business practices in the gaming world.

He provided a case study of the power of pushing a standard game in Korea into the online market. EA was selling FIFA soccor in Korea for several years as an off the shelf boxed product…the kind of thing you’d pick up at Gamestop. Throughout the title’s pre-online lifespan, it garnered an estimated 2 million exposures…90% of which were piracy. Yo fucking ho ho ho. A mere $15 million in revenue…probably making back a fraction if any of the marketing and localization costs for the FIFA titles.

EA contracted Neowiz to adapt the game into “FIFA Online.” This was apparently something like a six month development process. Since launch, FIFA Online has had 40 million exposures with no piracy (you can’t pirate it in the traditional sense…it isn’t a boxed product). It has generated $100 million in a very short amount of time. And it’s free to play!!! You might think monetizing soccer would be hard, but Neowiz is providing all sorts of customizations options for your characters to sell you as you play.

Sounds pretty much like “single-player gaming is doomed” huh? Interesting to contrast this with the negative reaction that Hellgate:London is getting in some quarters with its pricing model.

  2 Responses to “OGDC write-ups”

  1. mind•haven says:
    May 22, 2007 at 2:38 pm

    RSS Reads [IMG RSS] OGDC write-upsRaph’s Website Superfast Maya videocore77.com’s design blog Illosaurus – illustration resourcesDrawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog 40 Years of GamesComputerlove – Connecting Creative Talents NOTCOT.ORG *4318NOTCOT.ORG

  2. Joe Ludwig says:
    May 15, 2007 at 5:23 pm

    I went to OGDC too. See the full write-up for details, but it was an excellent conference over all. And I could sleep in my own bed! 🙂

  3. Calvin Rien says:
    May 15, 2007 at 10:26 pm

    What I thought was odd about Hellgate’s premium subscription announcement was this game seemed like a perfect candidate for “free to play” + “item mall.”

    Just about everything they’re offering to the premium ($9.95) subscription people is something that could be sold piecemeal in an item mall. Wouldn’t it be nice to let everyone who bought a $0.50 ticket ride the “vip transports?”

    Seems like major publishers aren’t ready or willing to try out item mall RPG gaming even though Korean devs have proved it’s sustainable.

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