Mobile game publisher GREE International Entertainment (GIE) has added a new game to its portfolio, acquiring developer PerBlu’s DragonSoul mobile franchise. The humorous role-playing game has over nine million players and has been a critical hit with over 50,000 five-star reviews on iOS and Android. The game joins existing GIE franchises like Knights & Dragons and Modern War.
Andrew Sheppard, CEO of GIE, told [a]listdaily the company’s product and marketing strategy is focused on differentiated itself in the market space.
“A lot of folks are leaning into existing franchises or licensed IP,” Sheppard said. “Having previously built licensed IP when I was at Kabam, it wasn’t right for where the market is today. Our approach is to focus on producing original IP. It’s the most difficult challenge, but it’s an approach that’s important for us to pursue.”
Shawn Conly, vice president of marketing at GIE, saidDragonSoul has a strong brand center because it’s a very tongue-in-cheek game with playful humor and memorable characters.
“Those are great marketing points in broadcast and other media,” Conly said. “There’s a huge opportunity in the video space for us to further leverage the work the developer has done, especially in Europe and other markets across the globe.”
The biggest market today for DragonSoul is the US, but Conly said the game has a lot of room to grow. He said GIE is taking great care of current customers, while enhancing the live operations of the game to provide more entertainment experiences.
Conly said television commercials are a big focus for GIE today, since the market for user acquisition (UA) ads has increased by two-to-four times depending on which network a company uses.
“It’s challenging to get cost-effective installs through UA ads alone,” Conly said. “TV allows us to reach people who aren’t responsive to mobile ads, but they also help lift the brand and make those UA ads more effective when the two are running in conjunction. Television is also a great reminder medium, which can connect with players who may have left and get them back in the game.”
Conly said GIE tested this coupled approach with Knights and Dragons, a three-year-old game, in Europe and saw positive effects.
“We’re expecting with a current game like DragonSoul for it to be more effective,” Conly said.
GIE is also expanding its reach with YouTube and Twitch influencers. The company recently worked with Clash Royale YouTuber Chief Pat, Gaming with Molt and Godson to promote its game, League of War. They brought these influencers in and gave them a tour of the studio and previewed the game so they could get excited about it.
“We’ve also worked with agents, since a lot of YouTubers are aggregated with agents and you can put together a network of people that way,” Conly said.
Conly sees a huge growth potential for Twitch, which traditionally hasn’t been focused on the mobile space but has been changing rapidly.
“We like to be early to the curb with these types of things,” Conly said. “We’re thinking about how to approach the Twitch influencer market.”
Conly, who previously served as vice president of global advertising and branding at Electronic Arts, said EA was an early adopter of community marketing. They’d find the biggest players of a game and give them the VIP treatment.
“We’re taking a page out of that book,” Conly said. “It’s fairly new for the mobile gaming space.”
DragonSoul also opened up the ability to play on the game’s humor.
“In the mobile space, gameplay on a Youtube video can look similar from one game to another, so this brand’s tone and humor can differentiate the product,” Conly said. “Humor is hard to do well, but DragonSoul does that wonderfully. If you can latch onto that and get people to smile while they’re seeing great gameplay content, that’s a win-win.”
This week, we take a look at advertising across social media channels, times of day and what not to do when trying to attract new customers.
Mobile Game Madness
According to Newzoo, global app revenues will reach $44.8 billion in 2016 and grow to $80.6 billion by 2020. There are three billion smartphone and tablet devices actively used across the world, according to the report, and Apple is the global leader with a market share of 34.8 percent. Samsung is the second-most popular device at 23.2 percent. Chinese brands account for seven of the top ten global brands, a testament to the sheer size of the Chinese market, which accounts for 30 percent of the actively used mobile devices worldwide.
Tweet Up And Take My Money
Twitter has released some interesting data to encourage brands to respond to their customers on the social media platform. Research found that when a customer Tweets at a business and receives a response, they are willing to spend 3 to 20 percent more on an average-priced item from that business in the future. Twitter users are also 44 percent more likely to share their experience with others and 30 percent more likely to recommend that brand.
23 Percent Of Mobile Purchasers Buy On Mobile Devices Every Week
A new study by IAB found that mobile users are not only buying, but discovering their purchases through advertising. The study, which surveyed mobile users in 19 countries, found that 76 percent of mobile purchasers had engaged with a mobile ad in the last six months. Thirty-three percent clicked on the ad to find out more information, while 28 percent clicked to visit the advertisers’ websites, and 21 percent clicked to purchase. The highest levels of clicking to purchase originated from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the UK and the US.
The Best Part Of Waking Up Is . . .
According to a recent study by YooMe, internet viewers are more open to viewing ad content and making purchases in the morning than other times of day. Fifty-nine percent of respondents were more receptive to viewing ads in the morning versus 45 percent in the evening. The same goes for making purchases—purchase intent is highest at 11 percent from 3:00 a.m. to 11:59 a.m., followed by the night from 9:00 p.m. to 2:59 a.m. at 5 percent, and trailed by the afternoon from 12 p.m. to 4:59 p.m. and evening from 5 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. at 4 percent each.
Instagram Is Sportier Than You Think
Teenagers may be staring at their phones all day, but a lot of them are interested in sports, according to Instagram. In fact, 30 percent of the top 100 accounts teens follow on the social platform are sports-related. During New York Advertising Week, James Quarles, Instagram’s vice president and general manager of monetization said that one out of every three Instagram users follows a sports account—about 165 million accounts.
Programmatic Is Where It’s At
According to eMarketer, programmatic advertising (buying ads through a computer program) will account for 73 percent of all US digital display ad spending in 2016, and 21 percent of that will go to YouTube. Programmatic’s share of US digital display ad spending will continue to climb over the next couple of years, reaching 82 percent or $37.8 billion by 2018.
Social Marketing: Good Buy Versus Goodbye
A study by Sprout Social asked more than 1,000 social media users across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see what makes them want to click “buy” versus “unfollow.” With 85 percent of those surveyed following brands on social, over 75 percent said that they made purchases because of something they saw on social media. Don’t be too pushy or try too hard to be “hip to the youngsters,” though, because 46 percent named “too many promotional messages” as the number one reason for unfollowing a brand. 29.9 percent named the use of slang or jargon that doesn’t fit the brand as another major turn off. Discretion is totes, bae.
Does The Bell Toll For Pre-Roll?
The latest Ooyala Video Index, “The Rise Of The Mid-Roll,” found that mid-roll ads had a 90 percent average completion rate, compared to 78 percent for pre-roll and 65 percent for post-roll. The success of mid-roll completion rates may be attributed to the viewer already being invested in the video content they are watching, and therefore more willing to watch the entire ad. Another explanation offered by Ooyala is that mid-roll ads look and feel like watching TV where people are already accustomed to breaks in the video content they’re watching.
Technology And Refreshment Rule The World
Interbrand has released its 2016 Best Global Brands report identifying the world’s 100 most valuable brands. Apple and Google hold the top two spots for the fourth year in a row, with Coca-Cola coming in at number three, and Microsoft at number four. Overall, the most valuable global brands are dominated by the automotive and technology industries with a few newcomers. Tesla and Dior entered the top 100 brands this year at number 89 and number 100, respectively.
Advertisers Get More Social (And Influential)
Gartner’s 2016 Digital Marketing Channel Survey revealed that 80 percent of social marketers have or will have social advertising programs, and 28 percent will have employee and/or customer advocacy (influencer) programs in place within 12 months. “Influencer marketing programs that identify, engage and provide a value exchange between brands, industry thought leaders, content creators, celebrities and media outlets are a prime way to scale advocacy in social,” said Jay Wilson, research director at Gartner, in a statement. “These programs are also on the rise as a hedge against declining reach of brand posts.”
When you think of eSports, games like Call of Duty or League of Legends probably come to mind, but what about mobile bowling? Skillz is a company that allows any mobile game developer to integrate competition into its business model, allowing gamers to compete for real money at any skill level. With eSports on the rise and poised to reach $493 million in 2016, non-traditional brands are encouraging competition among their communities and reaching that lucrative gamer market.
Can you be the world champion in crushing candy? Turns out that casual gamers are really into competition. In a report released Thursday, Skillz announced that its developer partners are generating $0.92 in average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU), which is over eight times the industry average of $0.11. The ARPDAU of top games using the Skillz platform is as high as $1.59, the company reports.
You can be an eSports champion in shooting bubbles, and that’s great news for developer Ilyon Dynamics. “From a developer standpoint, we’ve seen that implementing eSports tournaments is one of the most powerful tools for increasing engagement, retention and revenue,” said Yonatan Erez, CEO and founder of Ilyon Dynamics (Bubble Shooter).
Using the Skillz platform, Erez reports an increase in day-one user retention by 21 percent and day 30 retention by 19 percent, which has led to a “thriving and immersed community.”
In addition to revenue, Skillz also reports that adding eSports to an app results in longer time spend in-game. Skillz players spend an average of 58 minutes a day competing in tournaments, the company said, adding that this figure is nearly double the 33-minute casual mobile gaming industry average.
“eSports are often associated with first-person shooters and multiplayer online battle arenas, but the industry is evolving beyond its initial genres,” said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz. “We built Skillz to bring eSports to the 2.1 billion mobile gamers worldwide, and enable all developers to create sustainable businesses while providing players with more meaningful competitions. Multiplayer competitions are the next evolution of mobile gaming, and seeing our game developer partners reach new heights using Skillz technology validates the power of mobile eSports to build the future of gaming.”
So, what makes a game fun to play competitively? “There are three key elements that make an eSport: multiplayer, tournaments and streaming,” Skillz told [a]listdaily. “Virtually any game genre could work well with an added eSports element, or some combination of the three.”
Adding eSports to a mobile game is a proven method that’s growing in popularity worldwide. Over Fourth of July weekend, Tencent created a tournament for Clash Royale that resulted in more than one million additional gamedownloads and more than $1.5 million in additional revenue.
While this was a temporary tournament, Skillz offers mobile eSports year-round and is poised to become a $4 billion business by 2018.
Following Google’s big Pixel and Daydream View reveal on Tuesday, Oculus Connect currently underway, and press reviews pouring in for the Playstation VR, virtual reality markets are poised to attract holiday shoppers in a big way. When it comes to a rising technology like virtual, augmented and mixed reality, however, there is a need to play “the long game,” appealing to multiple markets and industries for many years and innovations to come. Thanks to gamers, virtual reality might actually take hold.
A new Juniper Research study predicts that hardware revenues from VR headsets, peripherals and 360-degree cameras will reach over $50 billion by 2021, up tenfold from an estimated $5 billion in sales this year. This rapid growth, Juniper predicts, will arise from a widespread adoption of VR by smartphone users as well as high prices for VR headsets. While the cost for “holder” headsets (used for smartphone VR), estimated to remain low, more sophisticated platforms like Google Daydream are projected to produce more moderate revenues in the short term.
SuperData Research estimates Google Daydream sales to reach $450,000 by the end of the year and continue on an upward track to $14 million by the end of 2020. As a whole, the company forecasts a total market for virtual, augmented and mixed reality gaming to reach $8.8 billion globally, which will lead to applications in other fields. In fact, the non-gaming market for this technology is estimated to far exceed that of gaming by the tune of $31 billion. The fashion industry, for example, has adopted the use of VR and 360-degree video for years and will no doubt find new ways to implement the technology as it becomes more sophisticated. The New York Times offers a variety of documentaries and reporting in VR, as well, a practice that may soon become commonplace.
While the use of virtual, augmented and mixed reality is limited only to the imagination (and technological advancement), being new and exciting is never a guarantee of long term success. SuperData noted the importance of variety in where and how consumers can experience the technology.
“Critical during this initial adoption phase will be the ability to establish a rich ecosystem of content providers that in turn will bear the fruit of VR and deliver on its promise,” SuperData said in a statement. “Because of that we expect a seasoned participant like Sony to do well during this initial stage, reaching an install base of around 2.6 million units by year’s end. The strategy of both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift to pursue the high-end VR market is a longer game, especially considering the initial issues Oculus suffered during its retail rollout.”
Could the market really jump that high in a relatively short amount of time? When you think about the market for cell phones just a few years ago, it’s easy to understand the explosive power of technology that advances in a short amount of time. If VR becomes an integrated part of everyday life, it’s perfectly reasonable to predict growth of this magnitude. After all, who ever imagined that pagers would cease to be cool? Trust me, we were cool.
For football fans and fervent video gamers of America’s favorite gridiron sport, it’s either Madden or bust. Such is the culture in 2016 for the preeminent football title that outlasted the likes of Tecmo Bowl, NFL Blitz and the 2K-produced football games of the early 2000’s.
But not all games have to be best enjoyed on a console or become the next best eSports phenomenon. That’s where bite-sized mobile experiences like Football Heroes Pro 2017 come in. The arcade-simulation game, an NFL Players Association-backed project, plan on bringing fans back to the glory days of gaming.
But instead of Bo Jackson running circles around the competition as if it were a car race, gamers can still enjoy a throwback experience with the contemporary likes of every current active player in the league thanks to the NFLPA licensed edition.
Michael A. Marzola, president and creative director at independent developer Run Games, joined [a]listdaily to explain how he plans to run his arcade-style football game straight into the chests of the competition.
What kind of a game and experience can we expect with Football Heroes Pro 2017?
The game features NFL Players and is very much inspired by classic arcade styled games such as Tecmo Bowl and NFL Blitz. We wanted to bring that fast-paced, over-the-top action from old school football games to mobile devices, although we wanted to make the controls simple enough so you could play the entire game with one finger. We created something that has depth but something any football fan can just pick up and play. And we did not stop there. We added lots of cool super moves like ‘rocket shoes,’ which sends your player rocketing down the field, and ‘flaming pass,’ where the ball catches on fire and increases the speed of the pass and accuracy, as well as ‘fumble tackle,’ where a certain hard, if landed, guarantees a fumble. These moves along with 50 others allow players to perform incredible acts to increase the excitement and allow players to turn their favorite NFL players into super heroes.
Many mobile games are designed for short experiences. Does Football Heroes Pro 2017 follow that trend?
We have definitely shortened our game length through iteration. At first we resisted, we wanted to bring a console-like gaming experience to mobile, but as we played the game and integrated the game into our real lives, we realized that shorter game sessions were better for the game. Sure, it’s less simulation, but it makes the game more fun—and fun should always win.
What kind of feedback have you been getting throughout the early stages of the launch?
The feedback has been incredible. We have had over nine million games played in the first week. I mean, those numbers are just staggering for a small developer like us. We have addressed a lot of issues that players have had with the previous games, so mostly its small notes about player stats, or ‘why this player is better than this other player.’ So those are good problems to have. I’m just really proud of the response Football Heroes Pro 2017 is truly the best game we have released as a studio.
How did you work with the NFL Player’s Association to secure the deal? What is the hardest part about procuring a partner of their magnitude?
We entered into the NFLPA Mobile Madness Challenge and won the competition. We had to fight pretty hard to win that contest as we were competing with some biggest names in the sports game space. Fundamentally, we won because the NFLPA liked our previous game: Football Heroes 2015. I have no issues saying there are only two simulation football worth playing: Football Heroes Pro 2017 or Madden Mobile. We’re proud to outperform publicly traded companies in the sports genre both in quality, and revenues. And we feel incredibly grateful that the NFLPA decided to go with a smaller independent developer like us and it has paid off handsomely for both the NFLPA and Run Games.
The NFL has a plethora of marketable players. How did you choose your core group of perennial Pro Bowlers? How does the rights work?
As major football fans, it was too hard to choose—so we just put every player in the game! We have over 2,300 NFL players in Football Heroes Pro 2017. So, if they suit up on Sunday, they are in our game.
How do you plan on growing your core consumer base?
We have a very active and vocal community and we are constantly interacting with them and iterating based on their feedback. We believe that retaining and keeping your player engaged is the number one thing you should be doing if you’re making a game that is a live service. We have cut major features from the game that we liked and even some features that were monetizing well because it upset our players. Players who spend money and players who do not spend money should have a good time playing your game. And our players are key to growing our business so we will do everything we can to keep them happy. We also do some light Chartboost and Facebook user acquisition via interstitial ads and use Chartboost to cross-promote our apps.
How are you standing out from an increasingly crowded mobile market?
We just focus on quality and building games that we want to play. I previously worked for Activision and EA, and I started my own studio in Run Games to build games and experiences that I was passionate about. For us to stand out, it’s about having a clear voice and executing. If enough other people want something, you can carve out a space that is not overcrowded and you should be successful and slowly build an audience. To date, we have nearly five million players in the Run Games platform based mostly on viral, word-of-mouth and being featured by the platform holders.
InMobi is one of the world’s largest entertainment ad platforms. It does a significant amount of work globally in the US, China, India and seventeen other markets, reaching 1.6 billion users worldwide—including over 200 million Americans—and about 50 percent of that relates to video games. The company’s goal is to find ways to enable users to discover more of what they want, whether it be digital content, services or products.
KC Srinivas, vice president and general manager for gaming at InMobi recently spoke with [a]listdaily to discuss the company’s philosophy toward mobile game marketing and how to engage a large global audience.
Three Steps To Success
KC Srinivas, InMobi VP and general manager of gaming
InMobi’s approach to mobile game marketing breaks down into three parts starting with user acquisition. “User acquisition has become extremely expensive, especially when it comes to high quality user acquisition,” said Srinivas. Also, once you acquire a user, even a quality one, there’s no assurance that they’ll pay for content. “All the game developers know that no more than 3 to 5 percent of users end up paying for in-app purchases.”
Srinivas further explained that “InMobi’s philosophy is of an end-to-end marketing automation. We don’t look at just one part of the overall chain. We want to ensure that a game developer who works with us sees us as partner across every part of their user life cycle.”
InMobi finds potentially high spending users based on a deep targeting demographic, psychographic, targeting mechanics. A lot depends on game mechanics and game genre, but additional some additional factors include what other games users play, what days and times they play, the user’s demographic and income, and more. “Take all these signals and put them into a package that allows for a game developer to target users that are very likely going to be what they would call ‘whales.’”
The second phase is community buildout. Not only do developers need users that will spend money, they need ones that will build a community. “Most games today that market themselves aggressively are social games.” You’re either playing in a community in PvP (player-versus-player) or forming teams, like the different teams Pokémon GO offers. “The community element is humongous,” said Srinivas. Part of InMobi’s goal is to build a significant community of users who may not spend any money, but they love the game and will help keep it going.
The third phase is more opportunistic and asks: when do you want to be top of charts? “Back to school is a great time to be top of charts,” said Srinivas. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Labor Day weekend and other holidays are also good times to be listed in the US top 20, and “gives a significant organic bump that they (apps) are otherwise unlikely to find.” Organic bumps for good games can range anywhere from 8-20x for paying users, according to Srinivas.
Getting into the top 20 on Google Play or Apple’s App Store comprises of whole gamut of factors, but InMobi understands the dynamics needed to make it happen. One strategy is using influencers to review the game and reach out to users through Twitter and YouTube among other channels.
After those steps, there’s a remarketing platform that’s geared toward players that complete a few levels but don’t engage with the most exciting parts of the game, where they are most likely to make a purchase. “It’s similar to retargeting in the desktop world, but more customized for app developers in an app environment.” The aim is to engage users who have already installed and played the game. A developer can bring them back for more engagement for longer session times and a higher number of sessions per day in the hopes of turning them into loyal users.
InMobi sees itself as a primary partner across these three elements, in addition to retargeting users for a larger scale. For example, Srinivas discussed a successful campaign where InMobi worked on both user acquisition and ad monetization. The company used its location and demographic targeting tools to narrow down an audience of tens of millions of users to a few million, which then became the core user base. Then they were repeatedly shown different propositions from the game. This led to a very high install rate, and the game continues to appear on top 20 rankings on a monthly basis. When it came to ad monetization, InMobi worked with the developer to build a native experience that worked well with the gameplay, and Srinivas describes the title as one of the most well ad monetized games in the world.
Being Heard Above The Noise
When asked about the issue of discovery on the crowded mobile market, Srinivas explained that “the App Store is noisy; extremely noisy. Not only do you have the same set of names that area always in the top 10, but you also notice that some of the bigger companies with a lot of muscle are able to always be in the top 10.” Meanwhile small and mid-sized companies may occasionally break into the top 10, but are generally more focused on building a strong user base.
“To remove noise from the App Store, a user has to choose what he or she wants to see,” said Srinivas. “As a user, I’m aware of exactly what kinds of apps I’m likely to play, or at least likely to explore.” However, none of the app stores allow users to choose what kinds of apps interest them, although Srinivas states that Google’s recommendations based on past purchases is a good starting point but very few users go to app stores to explore new things. More often, they discover apps offline, then go to the stores to download them.
So, the problem that companies like InMobi set out to solve is “how do we make sure the user is a player in the entire process of the app marketing business?” To help solve this issue, the company uses a set of tools to analyze user acquisition campaigns, where users select ads from a carousel and provide feedback about whether or not they like an ad and if they’re likely to install a game. “Philosophically, we believe that the choice of what ads the users wants to see has to be with the user. Since the platforms—iOS and Android—aren’t doing that, inMobi has taken a step to give users an opportunity to see certain types of ads.”
Srinivas said that users know that seeing ads is inescapable, since they keep games free-to-play, but inMobi helps the experience by giving them a choice of what to see. “Give the choice back to the user, knowing that they will have no choice but to see a few ads every day on the free games that they play, and then present opportunities for them to discover not one but a number of different apps they may be interested in.”
When asked if there as a different approach toward promoting iOS games compared to Android games, Srinivas said “Broadly, no.” Android users are generally very similar to iOS users. However, the mechanics of marketing are different, since iOS does not allow incentivisation. You can’t market to iOS users by offering an incentive to install a game, as it is considered a rigging of the ranking system. InMobi agrees with this approach and does not participate in any incentivized ad buying, even though Android allows it. “The App Store ranking has to be organic. It has to be run by IP, not by incentivisation of users.”
Other differences include how the average revenue per daily active is significantly higher on iOS, and the Android user base suffers from heavy fragmentation, making it more difficult to determine where IAP revenues will come from. Additionally, ad monetization is significantly better on iOS compared to Android, because clicking on an ad link automatically takes users to the App Store, while Android users are presented with a choice of opening the link in a browser, Google Play, or some other program. For most users, this extra step interrupts the action and at least half of them drop off at that stage.
VR Isn’t For Casual Gaming
With the new generation of mobile devices on the horizon, particularly ones that support Google Daydream, we asked Srinivas how he thought VR would impact mobile game marketing. He explained the differences in delivering messaging, and how some things are best conveyed in a short tweet, while others may be best suited for a blog post. Movies are a prime example of an industry that was changed with the introduction of 3D technology.
“Fundamentally, 3D brings a new angle, and I think that’s what VR does,” said Srinivas. “VR delivers some experiences that you simply cannot have in any other form.” Examples include live events such as sports and concerts, where VR can give users the perfect view. The next level is experiences, such as skydiving.
“VR content will occupy spaces that mobile gaming cannot fill,” Srinivas said. “Therefore, a lot of what you see today as HD gaming will very likely move into VR gaming in the future. HD is basically catering to a need where the definition is not good enough. People want to be in a world.” However, he follows by saying “what you’re not going to find is VR being very big on casual gaming. Fundamentally, casual games are best for different settings. VR is for more immersive settings, and it’s not necessarily the best medium for that kind of gaming.”
Although InMobi is seeing an increase in VR ad networks and ad-tech platforms, Srinivas doesn’t personally believe in them. “VR is not going to be an ad monetized freemium business for a long time to come. It is a premium business where users will buy content that they want to consume in VR format. Therefore, we may not see any kind of ad platform catering to VR content for a very long time.
“I do foresee that VR gaming will be more similar to PC desktop and console gaming than anything else. Since I don’t believe VR will have a strong component of casual gaming, we’re not going to find a lot of VR advertising or ad monetized titles. Things change, and I may change my opinion, but that’s where I stand today.”
During its Tuesday event keynote, Google unveiled a new line of products designed to be “AI First”—a term the company used to describe the current age of technology use, particularly on mobile. Google recently found that 87 percent of survey participants turned to search functions first when looking for information. The natural progression, the company feels, is a personal AI assistant to take searches even further.
“Okay Google”
As a company whose name is synonymous with internet searching, creating an AI assistant is the next step in Google’s business model. Rather than attempt to copy Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana, however, Google intends to set the standard with the knowledge base its known for. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai revealed that the company has 70 billion facts in its knowledge graph to date and Google Assistant is learning from each experience. For example, the company’s machine learning software can analyze and caption images with 93.9 percent accuracy today, compared to 89.6 percent in 2014. The program can now count objects as well as recognize colors, adding additional depth to its automated descriptions.
Text-to-speech has also improved, especially in the realm of language translation. Pichai described the company’s neural machine that analyzes sentences rather than phrases so that translations are closer to how a human would speak or write. The improved functionality is available beginning Tuesday for translating Chinese to English.
Google Assistant can be accessed by either saying, “okay, Google” or pressing the home button. For marketers, this is good news because Google specifically mentioned the ability for the new AI to pull recommended information from businesses and partners. The AI will even bring in outside messenger apps for assistance, as demonstrated by using Uber.
Pixel And Pixel XL
As expected, Google unveiled its first phone, built from the ground up by the company: the Pixel. Pixel phones are the first to come equipped with Google Assistant so that users can access the AI immediately. In addition to Assistant, Pixel phones feature:
5″ screen / 5.5″ XL
4K resolution camera
Unlimited storage for up to 4K photography and videos on Google Photos
Android Nougat 7.1
VR capability with Daydream
2,770mAh battery / 3,450mAh battery XL that reportedly charges up to 7 hours worth of battery time in just 15 minutes
24/7 chat or phone support
Google Duo, a video chat program that works across Android or iOS
3 colors: Quite Black, Very Silver and Really Blue
Retail price: $649
Google has partnered exclusively with Verizon to offer data coverage, but the phone will be available for purchase from a variety of retailers, including Best Buy and on the Google Store, the latter of which offering payment plans of $27 per month.
Daydream View
The new VR headset by Google is designed for comfort and convenience, as it’s constructed from fabric and is 30 percent lighter than comparable headsets. The Daydream View fits over glasses, as well—a problem that most other headsets do not address. Daydream View comes with a remote that doubles as a game controller, as demonstrated by the exclusive Harry Potter-themed VR title, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (based on the upcoming movie), in which the user’s controller becomes a magic wand. By the end of the year, Google anticipates programs from over 50 partners, with “hundreds more” to follow in the near future. The remote itself stores inside the headset to prevent loss.
Google Wifi
Google unveiled portable Wi-Fi units designed to handle the needs of a small home or a large family, mobile and accessible throughout the home. The system is designed to customize placement based on where you need Wi-Fi the most and lets users control access. Google Wifi will be available in November for $129 each or in a 3-pack for $299.
“Okay, Google, when was the last time I washed these sweat pants?” Ok, so maybe Google Assistant isn’t quite ready to handle our busy lifestyles just yet, but it can handle a variety of wireless tasks such as playing music, answering questions and even dimming the lights, controlling the thermostat, etc. Google Home is voice-activated and linked to a number of partners such as YouTube Music, Google Music, Pandora and of course, the internet. Users can obtain answers, access music and even flip a coin, as demonstrated during the keynote.
Google Home, which uses Google Assistant, is integrated with Chromecast, so users will be able to cast photos, video and other compatible services to their TVs with a simple voice command. With Google’s upcoming Chromecast Ultra, users will be able to cast in 4k starting in November. Google Home will retail for $129, with 6 months of free access to YouTube Red. Chromecast Ultra will retail for $69.
Takeaways
We may not have flying cars, but technology is definitely moving toward a world of artificially intelligent technology. As the technology giant attempts to create a “personal Google” for each user, brands will be no doubt have access to even more ways to connect with their user base on a personal level. Bringing true virtual reality to the mobile user is a big step in making it accessible to the masses, who are more likely to invest in a headset for a phone they’re already using as opposed to a headset and a new console and a new high-end PC. SuperData Research estimates Google Daydream sales to reach $450,000 by the end of the year and continue on an upward track to $14 million by the end of 2020.
HTC has launched a new virtual reality portal to promote and market content for its Vive VR platform. Viveport is a global virtual reality app store that allows users to create their own VR spaces to hang out in while exploring exclusive content across art, creativity tools, design, education, fashion, music, sports, travel and 360-degree video that will debut there first.
Available in over 30 countries, Viveport serves as a first window into virtual reality with a wide variety of content. The portal will open new opportunities for brands to connect with VR users right out of the gate. Additionally, there’s a community feature for VR fans, influencers and enthusiasts to gather.
Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport, explains how this app store has been designed to cater to the growing global VR audience in this exclusive interview.
What role do you see this new Viveport hub playing across video game and entertainment content for Vive?
We believe Viveport is the place where people will start their journey into new virtual reality experiences. Fans globally will join us on a fantastic voyage as they get to experience amazing VR apps published by the best content creators in the industry.
Building on the fast growth and success of great VR games, Viveport features immersive experiences across additional categories where you can explore new worlds, create things, connect with friends and experience stories in new immersive ways. Our mission is to democratize access to the world’s most diverse selection of immersive experiences by empowering all content creators to reach and engage the fast-growing global VR audience.
How deep a library of entertainment is available at launch and how are you selecting what kind of content to feature on Viveport?
On the Vive platform, there are over 500 titles available today, almost all games. On Viveport we will launch with over 60 titles, of which over a dozen are titles that have never been published before outside of Asia. We are also introducing Viveport Premieres, which consist of content launching first on Viveport. During our launch week Everest VR, Google Spotlight Story: Pearl, Lifeliqe, Stonehenge, Music Room, an all-new edition of theBlu, and many more experiences will be available. Developers want to launch with Viveport first because they get good featuring and marketing from us. We do not do exclusive deals with developers.
How has Valve been involved with Viveport and how does it integrate with SteamVR?
From the start, we worked very closely with Valve and even have a “Steam Games We Love” section on Viveport. Viveport is totally integrated into Steam VR and people can discover and buy new content both on the web store.
How much customization is there for the personal space in Vive Home?
We are just getting started, but today you can customize the 3D surroundings, add virtual objects and widgets. The video player and web browser widgets that enable people to watch streaming videos, news or sports in an IMAX-size format will be initial use cases. We are looking to make the space social and more interactive in the coming months.
What opportunities does Vive Home open up for everything from sports teams to brands?
Fans can customize their Home Space with the colors of their favorite teams, and enjoy video, social and sports statistics in a completely new way. Soon you will be teleporting yourself to front row seats; this is just the beginning.
What streaming VR services are you offering through Vive Home?
We are open to all streaming services today as long as they can provide people with a good user experience – you can find 360-video content from sports, travel, music, news and more.
How are you using social media to connect with Vive owners?
Social, connecting and sharing with friends is a key element in all VR experiences. We see both dedicated experiences like Alt Space and Surreal, as well as social features in many of the VR applications launching today.
What type of content can they unlock for free on this store?
Everything imaginable and unimaginable. There are many free apps on Viveport today and more is coming.
What opportunities does Viveport open up as a gateway to the new types of branded content created in 360-degree video and virtual reality?
Virtual reality is perfect for branded content. VR is the most immersive, memorable and interactive experience, and a perfect way to experience branded content. 360-degree video will soon become high-quality interactive experiences. The linear stories today are only the beginning of what it will become available in the coming year.
What has Vive opened up to enterprise industries?
Today, we are working with many retail brands like the leading car manufacturers that enable people to build and drive their future cars in VR. This will extend to travel, housing, fashion, and as a Swede, I cannot wait to buy my IKEA furniture in VR.
What role do you see having HTC Vive and VR games in arcades and entertainment centers playing in getting people interested in this platform?
Experiencing VR in public spaces will be a huge market, especially in China. We are already looking to help developers reach a massive audience in VR arcades this year. VR arcades will for many people be the first way they test true high-end VR experiences like the Vive.
Yahoo has launched three live shows covering various aspects of the PC eSports landscape. Late Night League is a weekly half-hour show hosted by Mark Zimmerman focusing on the most popular eSport title in the world: Riot Games’ League of Legends. Tilted is a half-hour show that features a rotating panel of eSports experts discussing the top PC eSports games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. And Rivals is a brand new show that’s focusing on the rivalries that develop across competitive gaming.
Lisa Utzschneider, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, said that the media company was attracted to the overall growth of the eSports industry. She said the approach the company is taking with eSports is consistent with how Yahoo has led in sports and fantasy sports coverage.
“We wanted to deliver 24/7 first-class media coverage around the personalities of the industry,” Zachary John, product team manager at Yahoo ESports, said. “It’s critical to define unique video content franchises like the Yahoo ESports Live Show, where our personalities can interact with leaders in the industry in an informal setting and share the stories behind the stories about the personalities showcased in the industry.”
Yahoo partnered with a League of Legends university team to bring the first quarterly season of Rivalries to life.
“The goal for this first season is to bring common sports rivalries that Yahoo connects with through its collegiate coverage to eSports,” John said. “Fans can vote on their favorite college eSports rivalries online and watch in real-time as the community decides which five rivalries we’ll highlight.”
Yahoo will send its editorial and video team to each of the 10 schools that make the top five rivalries list this fall. Yahoo and Riot previously worked with key universities that have established rivalries across traditional sports, as well as eSports teams and clubs, to create the list of 12 rivalries for fans to vote on. Over 20,000 votes have been cast already.
Beginning November 4, eSports teams will compete in League of Legends for bragging rights at livestreamed events that will feature live college audiences. The series will run for five straight weeks.
John said eSports fans want to be part of the conversation with these shows, so Yahoo is asking them what they want to see through online voting and real-time social media interactions.
“A lot of the big eSports events like the League of Legends Worlds in Los Angeles and ESL One in New York City aren’t accessible to a lot of fans,” John said. “Rivalries is a way to create a framework for fans to decide who’s playing, where they’re playing and what they’re playing for. And it allows us to bring eSports to the audience at colleges across the country.” John said the series has been established so that Yahoo can focus on other games in the next season, and continue with college competition or invite pro gamers into the mix.
Utzschneider said there’s an opportunity to work with advertisers to potentially provide scholarships in future seasons, or even cash prizing if professional teams are added to the mix.
“A lot of our audience is engaged on mobile devices or on a desktop and they want to have an interactive element,” John said. “This allows us to bring ad messages through media through things like polling back-and-forth with experts. Our user is already online, so we’re taking advantage of being an only-screen experience, rather than a second-screen experience.”
Utzschneider said brands love being able to engage directly with this audience online. General Mills committed to a year of sponsorship for Yahoo ESports Live as well as select ESL coverage, including the ESL One New York, which took place on October 1-2. ESL will run some of Yahoo’s coverage on its own ESL TV online network.
“General Mills has been a long-standing partner for many years and they’re excited to partner in this new initiative and reach this young demographic,” Utzschneider said. “Both with eSports and live video in general, we’re receiving strong demand and interest from ad partners. It’s still early days for us in eSports.”
Yahoo kicked off ad week in New York last week with its eSports plans and Utzschneider said she’s received great feedback from ad partners who are very interested in this space and interested in connecting with this young consumer demographic.
“We’re fully aware that this audience has incredibly high expectations from a user experience and brand perspective, and we’re taking extra steps to ensure any brand integration feels right for the audience and will be well received by the audience,” Utzschneider said. “We’re making sure that brands that do sign up resonate with this audience. General Mills’ Reese’s Puffs is a perfect fit for this younger millennial audience.”
For now, Yahoo is focused on the big games. John said that the site consistently receives a large amount of traffic from League of Legends, and games like CS:GO and Dota 2 receive big spikes around major events. Overwatch has been a consistent traffic generator since Blizzard launched it earlier this year.
“We’re also seeing a strong draw for Street Fighter and Super Smash Bros. because there’s not as much content for those games,” John said. “We haven’t focused a lot on console games to date. We need to be credible, and we’re always looking for experts in each game.”
SuperData has just released its digital video game revenue data for the month of August. Sales are up, there’s success “in the cards” for publishers and a change in Chinese spending habits offers new revelations for pay-to-play MMOs.
August 2016: Digital Video Game Sales
It was a strong month for the global video game market, grossing $6.1 billion in August—an 11 percent increase year-over-year. This growth was fueled by successful releases across console, PC and mobile platforms although the charts were topped by existing games, League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Pokémon GO. While premium PC, console, digital revenue and mobile sales all experienced growth in August, pay-to-play MMOs and social games saw a modest decline over last year.
On PC, League of Legends topped the charts, no doubt thanks to a major sale on champions and skins in August. Meanwhile, World of Warcraft‘s Legion expansion drove the popular title to the number two spot, followed by Crossfire and Dungeon Fighter Online.Overwatch held its position at number five. Although PC digital sales grew 21 percent to $401 million, pay-to-play MMO sales declined 4 percent to $226 million.
Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky came in at number six for PC, generating $78 million in digital sales in its opening month across platforms. While the much-anticipated (although highly-criticized) open world title also earned the second spot on the console charts, controversy over marketing vs. finished product may paint a different picture come September. Black Ops III held secured the perimeter around its number one spot, while Grand Theft Auto V stole the number three spot for console, dropping FIFA 16 down to number four. Madden NFL 17, which launched near the end of August, came in at number five but September sales may paint a different picture.
As for mobile, Pokémon GO and Monster Strike hold firm at number one and two respectively, followed by Mobile Strike and Clash of Clans. A month after its July release, Pokémon GO, earning a whopping $204 million still managed to push the mobile market to $3.04 billion in revenue, 16 percent higher than the same month last year. Nintendo is expected to continue its strong push onto mobile with Super Mario Run.
Collectible Card Games Prove To Be A Strong Spin-Off Opportunity
As MOBA and shooter titles have begun to saturate the industry, publishers are turning to franchise spin-offs to generate additional income. Collectible card games are a $1.3 billion market and one of the fastest-growing segments among free-to-play. Total market size is expected to increase by 8 percent in the next two years, SuperData estimates. Fueled by the success of Hearthstone, publishers are tapping into their IPs to create collectible card games of their own.
Upcoming titles in this lucrative genre include The Elder Scrolls Legends by Bethesda Softworks and GWENT, a spinoff of The Witcher 3 by CD Projekt Red. “The genre’s potential has also prompted some very unconventional experiments,” notes SuperData CEO, Joost van Dreunen in the report. “For example, Electronic Arts recently announced plans to create a mobile card game based on their first-person shooter franchise Titanfall.”
Chinese Spending Habits Take A Surprising Turn
It has often been thought that Chinese gamers, who typically pay for MMOs by the hour, would not be willing to pay for a video game upfront. That outlook is about to change, thanks to Activision Blizzard titles, Overwatch and World of Warcraft‘s Legion expansion. Up to 40 percent of full game downloads of Overwatch in August can be attributed to Chinese sales, SuperData reported.
“Overwatch and World of Warcraft show shifting Chinese spending habits,” explains van Druenen. “China’s games market may be dominated by free-to-play MMO and mobile titles, but Overwatch’s success indicates the potential for premium games in the country is growing.” NetEase, who sells these titles in the Chinese market, generated $382 million, excluding royalties to Activision Blizzard. NetEase changed their payment policy for World of Warcraft with the roll out of the title’s new Legion expansion. Players are now required to pay upfront for full monthly subscriptions, rather than by the hour, and as a result NetEase-processed revenue up to $37 million in August compared to $8 million in July.
“The success of both titles goes against the assumption that Chinese gamers will never warm up to paying for games upfront, and provides evidence that it is possible to convince Chinese consumers to purchase high-quality, full-priced games,” van Druenen concluded. “Whether this will fundamentally change the market remains to be seen, as local gaming behemoth and NetEase rival, Tencent is still sticking to free-to-play.”
In addition to revenue, Skillz also reports that adding eSports to an app results in longer time spend in-game. Skillz players spend an average of 58 minutes a day competing in tournaments, the company said, adding that this figure is nearly double the 33-minute casual mobile gaming industry average.
On PC, League of Legends topped the charts, no doubt thanks to a major sale on champions and skins in August. Meanwhile, World of Warcraft‘s Legion expansion drove the popular title to the number two spot, followed by Crossfire and Dungeon Fighter Online. Overwatch held its position at number five. Although PC digital sales grew 21 percent to $401 million, pay-to-play MMO sales declined 4 percent to $226 million.
