Global video games market Essay

?Introduction The global video game market, or the so called interactive entertainment industry, is the economic sector which focuses on the development, marketing and sales of video games. The worldwide video game sector includes video game console hardware and software, online, mobile and PC games and has reached $ 93 billion in 2013, up from $ 79 billion in 2012. Currently, the video game industry is a massive source of development; profit still stimulates technological advancement which is then applied by other industry sectors. Though not the main driving force, casual and independent games proceed having a considerable incidence on the industry, with sales of some of these titles such as Minecraft exceeding millions of dollars and over a million users. While outgrowth for consoles and PCs is not inert, development of mobile games is still active. As of 2014, newer game companies arose that vertically incorporate live procedures and publishing, rather than relying on a traditional publishers, and some of these have increased to significant size. The computer and video game industries have expand from small-scale markets to mainstream. They took in about US$9. 5 billion in the US in 2007, 11. 7 billion in 2008, and 25. 1 billion in 2010 (ESA annual report). The video game industry settled in 1971 with the launching of the arcade game. The insertion of video games to the domestic market with the release of the early video game console was effective the following year. Nevertheless, the video game crash of 1977 was the result of a one game domination and a market’s saturation, sparking a renascence for the video game industry and paving the way for the golden age of video arcade games. The game’s success influenced arcade machines to become widespread in mainstream locations such as shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants and convenience stores†¦ By the end of the 1970s, the personal computer game industry initiated designing from a hobby culture, when personal computers just set out to become broadly available. The industry augmented along with the headway of computing technology, and often drove that progress. Modern personal computers owe many advancements and innovations to the game industry: sound cards, graphics cards and 3D graphic accelerators, faster CPUs, and dedicated co-processors like Physx are a few of the more notable improvements. Sound cards were promoted in addition of digital-quality sound to games and only later mended for music and audiophiles. Since the beginning, graphics cards were displayed for more colors. Subsequently, graphics cards were valorized for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and games; GUIs drove the necessity for high resolution, and games led off using 3D acceleration. They also are one of the only pieces of hardware to enable numerous hookups (such as with SLI or CrossFire graphics cards). CD- and DVD-ROMs were instituted overall for mass distribution of media, notwithstanding the capability to store more data on inexpensive readily distributable media was instrumental in driving their ever higher speeds. Modern games are amongst the most demanding of applications on PC resources. Many of the high-powered personal computers are purchased by gamers who seek the rapidest equipment to power the latest cutting-edge games. Thereby, the inertness of CPU improvement is due partially to this industry whose games require faster processors than business or personal applications. The first part of the decade acknowledged the lift of home computing, and home-made games, particularly in Europe and Asia. This time also saw the uprise of video game journalism, which was later expanded to include covermounted cassettes and CDs. In 1983, the North American sector crashed due to the output of too many gravely marketed games (quantity over quality), resulting in the drop of the North American industry. The industry would ultimately be regenerated by the launching of the Nintendo Entertainment System, which resulted in the home console market being overpowered by Japanese companies whereas a professional European computer game industry also began materializing with great sized companies. Segmentation The global video games’ market can be divided into several parts according to several criteria. Technical factor-different platforms: Table 1: global video game sector revenue (Data source: GLOBAL GAMES INVESTMENT REVIEW 2014). The platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware which, in conjunction with software, allows a video game to operate. 1 Based on this technical factor, we can separate the whole market specifically. The global video game has 4 types. It follows console games, online games, mobile games and PC games. Currently, the console games is prominent in the market because of higher revenue. In every subset market, the competition is very fierce among international and domestic corporations. Geographic factor: Table 2 : regional video game market revenue. (Data source: GLOBAL GAMES INVESTMENT REVIEW 2014) Regarding the geographic location, generally in business and administration, lots of global corporations tend to segment the market into four parts: North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. From the view of market revenue, we can see that video game market in Asia Pacific has increased significantly. It is also a huge potential market to develop. World video game market Key Success Factors The video game industry is balanced with an important growth, but many sectors have already matured. Video games are a vast and expanding market. Our goal is to highlight the major sectors, which are interesting for reasons including significant technological evolution, high growth rates, new products’ development. The core hardware and game software markets are quite mature. The best markets for investment are those that supply valuable goods and services to game developers, publishers and gamers themselves. These are the areas that will build out the industry as it undergoes significant growth. Key success factors of Console games: Brand: It’s a tautology, but the brand is important. 10 years ago, before the advent of the Playstation, we can say that Nintendo and SEGA were synonyms of â€Å"console videogames†. When Sony decided to â€Å"attack† the console market, they pushed on marketing, on brand valorization, on advertising. They made a lot of investments to become popular in this market too. And they were successful. The same did Microsoft 5 years ago, with their first XBOX. Nintendo strategy was different and the result was that both the XBOX and the Playstation brand became really popular. Nintendo lost some of their popularity, but thanks to the portable console segment they were able to â€Å"survive†. Now, these 3 competitors can count on greats and strong brands, which make really unlikely the arrival of new comers. Costs: Costs are critical. Even if we are talking about big companies, this aspect should be taken into consideration not to transform a well-done strategy into a failure. Nintendo kept the productive costs low, so to make revenues from each console sold and at the same time being aggressive on the price. Microsoft did a long-time strategy. Their console cost more, but they took advantage from being the first in the market. Unfortunately their hardware is not reliable, obliging the company to spend a lot in free assistance. Sony did the worst: they produced an expensive console, with expensive components. Exclusive games: Each company has its own game and it makes difference to the other. For example, Nintendo can benefit from their own games (maybe the best in terms of gameplay). Plus a set of exclusives like the RE: Umbrella Chronicles and Monster Hunter 3 by Capcom, Microsoft worked hard on exclusives. Apart from halo3 or Mass Effect or Bioshock, Microsoft was able to steal a lot of titles to Sony: Devil May Cry 3, Ace Combat 6. Sony is losing advantage, and this is mainly due to Microsoft efforts. But the game is not over: Little Big planet, Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4 are titles that no real gamer should miss. Innovation: There are a lot of ways to innovate: game play, graphic, audio, online†¦ Microsoft and Sony focused on the last 3 aspects, while Nintendo made the game play the basis of their strategy (and the result was Wii and its incredible Wii remote). Online features: No console can be considered successful without an online platform. Even Nintendo had to admit it. Microsoft has the lead, with its Xbox live service. Sony is trying to reach Microsoft, with a free service (Playstation Network) but still to be improved. Nintendo is only tasting the market, with a light. Price: Value for money or Premium price? Nintendo chose to sell hardware less powerful, but at low cost. Sony did the opposite. And Microsoft positioned their product in the middle, thanks to the modularity of the Core and Pro versions of their console (†¦WI-FI only optional†¦). Technology: It’s clear: games must be more and more beautiful to see. However, with the Wii, Nintendo demonstrated that this is â€Å"only one key success factor†, not â€Å"the only one†. And everything depends on the market segment to be covered. For example, Sony and Microsoft focused on hardcore gamers. Timing: Timing is fundamental. Microsoft was the first this time, and they benefited from that. Imagine what could have happened if Sony had been able to be in the market during the same time, with a console more expensive, ok, but reliable. We can say that Microsoft were both good and lucky. There would be a lot to say about â€Å"timing†. Key success factors of mobile games : Compatibility: Playing a mobile game as an activity might meet the needs of a specific consumer group, including commuters with time to spare. Facilitating conditions: Payment options impact adoption, billing conditions and support options might impact on users’ willingness to adopt. Trialability: Mobile gaming has a level of â€Å"addictiveness†. Free trial might lead to addiction and subsequent adoption. Self-efficacy: Due to device limitations, a large group of potential â€Å"aged† gamers might not be able to play and also, technical serviced need to match the requirements need of different customer segments. Complexity: The ease of use of an entertainment application is of utmost importance as it is expected to be an enjoyable experience. In mobile game playing clear navigation influences response time and might have implications for the decision to play. Trust: Perceived fear of privacy invasion and/or lack of security might influence consumer choice. Relative advantage: The ubiquity and accessibility of mobile entertainment may satisfy the demand for a â€Å"killing time† and relaxing â€Å"fun† service. A technology based advantage is the offer of interactive multi-player games. Observability/ communicability: Refers to the ability to communicate with a peer group; to be observed playing which might be of social importance. Image: The personalized use of a mobile phone might lend its owner status-related features. Normative beliefs: Playing the same game as one? s friends might facilitate social acceptance; social pressures influence customer perceptions and decision making and facilitate building a critical mass. High-speed networks conjugated with the technological capabilities of smartphones (delivery of data). Key success factors of PC games: Sociable: The PC games enable to socialize with some friends for cybernetics with a combination of fun. Accessible: It is more common for people to have a pc at home that a console and almost everyone has at least one computer in their home. Low cost: Only need to buy the game to play, however, to play with console the cost increases because you have to buy the console and games separately. PC games make it so real that people feel they belong to play to that reality, for example, when playing car race people also feel that adrenaline you feel when driving a real car. Key success factors of online games: Ability to quickly adopt new technology: Being online can make any changes or updates directly Aggressive marketing/franchising: Now everyone remain constantly connected which is easier and faster to get to them to publicize products or services. Also, when you are playing you can go to receive more information or upgrade without having to resort to a place Accessible and cheaper: You can buy and purchase the game wherever you are, because you only need to be logged in and you don’t have to go to a specific place to buy the game and the machine. Safe time: Since you only need to be logged in, you save time to find a store where they sell and then go there to buy it. Massively Multiplayer Onlie Games (MMOGs) allow players to participate in all worlds’ areas. The derivatives’ sales (â€Å"advergaming†) represent a vast part of the market through advertising that encourage primary gamers to buy products related to the reality of each game. Geographic factors: Key success factor of video game in Asia: IP, part one: Major licenses may be easier but be aware of the localization and culturalization challenges. Major brands do carry significant weight in Asia, but not all western brands will succeed there. IP, part two: Original IP needs great design and technology. Using proven engines and middleware would be an option worth considering. Experienced development teams: If you’re not from Asia, then allow Asian companies and players to be involved in early testing. Listen and understand their comments. Funding: You must allow enough money for changes to the game later on. Incorporating Asian MMO traits will make the game ultimately better for the western markets too. Great Asian contacts: Look for contacts across multiple markets. There are different elements and requirements to be learned from each major market. Partnering in Asia: Find companies you can have shared goals with and trust. The ongoing support of the market partner for beta testing, updates and specific changes is absolutely critical. Support and listen to them. Openness and local help: The ability to communicate across different languages and cultures is critical. Unlike single player games, you do not walk away from them after launch. The development and support needs to be market focused and ongoing. Time: Unfortunately funding can direct launch timing. As with most games there is no second chance. Developers use various technologies to ensure faster and cheaper conception of online games: there is real opportunity to explore new kinds and methods of gameplay. Key success factor of video game in Latin America and North America: In the mid 1990s when Latin America privatized its telecommunications industry and saw the return of important flows of investment into the region for that specific area (Inter-American Development Bank Annual Report 2000). Significant amounts of capital were allocated to telecommunications, media and computing sectors, especially in Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Argentina. Latin America is today one of the fastest growing regions in the world, even though is still a marginal market in comparison to the US, Europe and Asia. Latin America is interested in developing manufacturing lines and infrastructures to satisfy the local market, since US high-tech companies are interested in both the current potential of the local market and the future use of Latin America as a platform to export to the US and Canada. Latin America not only lies with the market itself, but also with the unrealistic perception of the region as a possible platform for exporting and improving global sales. Latin America could respond more to its potential as a low-cost producer and exporter rather than to its potential as a consumer-market like North America. Latin America has important social disparities of income from one social stratum to the other, â€Å"the patterns of consumption are very similar to the developed world. † (Euromonitor International, 1999) Latin America has knowledge, technology and a manufacturing capability to develop hardware. The model of the Maquila has been operating since the 1970s and takes advantage of the potential of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which not only facilitates access to cheap labour, but also provides exporting facilities based on a substantial reduction of tariffs to the US market. Evidence suggests that companies such as Microsoft and Nintendo are investing in Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil in order to develop low-cost production centers capable of exporting to the US market using the opportunities that NAFTA and other inter-regional agreements provide. Key success factors of video games in EMEA: The production costs of video games are growing, as is increasingly required greater technical and visual quality. Despite this, note that the cost of sequel is significantly lower due to the reuse of components and technological developments of the previous versions. Merger of companies: For example, buying video game developer Activision by the French company Vivendi to merge with its subsidiary video game Blizzard, becoming the largest game development company in the world or the merger of Parmenion and solutions group. Low cost: Its production is technically simpler and therefore cheaper, also can be produced in large quantities allowing entry into this sector to smaller companies. Have casual games that are simple, both in game play and developing and easy to learn. Launched innovative product, targeting new demographics (adult female audience†¦). French Foreign Ministry created an internet portal called FRANCE GAME which aims to promote French videogame industry abroad. Competitive System Matrix Console games Mobile games PC games Online games Brand Compatibility Sociable Quickly adopt new technology Cost Facilitating conditions Accessible Aggressive marketing/franchising Exclusive games Trialability Low cost Accessible and cheaper Innovation Self-efficacy Real effects Safe time Online features Complexity Price Trust Technology Relative advantage Timing Observability/ Communicability Image Normative beliefs Competitive system analysis: †¢ Console games: – Relatively strong differentiation(Brand,Cost,Exclusive games,Innovation,Technology) – Strong advantage †¢ Mobile games: – Strong differentiation (Compatibility, Facilitating conditions,Complexity, Device advantage, Observability/ Communicability) – Relatively strong competitive advantage (As mobile devices continue to grow, mobile game category will show the biggest growth) †¢ PC games: – Relatively weak differentiation (sociable and accessible, technology) – Relatively weak competitive advantage (more common for people to have a PC than console at home) †¢ Online games: – Relatively strong differentiation (quickly adopt new technology and Aggressive marketing/franchising) – Relatively strong differentiation (â€Å"online revenues set to reach US$30bn in 2017, consumers are merely shifting from pay to own to pay to play†). Conclusion Nowadays, the video game industry has a considerable incidence on the economy through the sales of significant and complex systems and games. Over the next five years, video games will extend at a CAGR of 6. 5% to attain US$86. 9bn in 2017, up from US$63. 4bn in 2012. Consumers’ spending on console games will increase by a CAGR of 5% from US$24.9bn in 2012 to US$31. 2bn in 2017 as Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s rumored new Xbox console revive appeal in console gaming. That development will lead to North America surpassing Western Europe to regain in 2014 its number one position in console sales. â€Å"In many entertainment and media segments, China will overtake Japan in terms of size by 2017; in some cases, it has already. This is not the case in video gaming, however, because Japan will retain its position as the world’s second-largest market, at US$13. 7bn in 2017, behind the US at US$18. 2bn but ahead of China at US$11. 4bn. Although PC revenues remain stagnant, consumers are not abandoning the platform. With online revenues set to reach US$30bn in 2017, consumers are merely shifting from pay to own to pay to play. Online spending will increase by an average of 8% per year over the next five years. By 2017, the online platform will have almost reached parity with consoles; and US$97 will be spent on online games for every US$100 spent on console games. Driven by strong mobile gaming and video game consoles and software sales, the market is forecast to reach $ 111 billion by 2015, it added. The research firm said mobile games are the fastest growing segment of the (gaming) market, with revenue set to nearly double between 2013 and 2015 from $ 13. 2 billion to $ 22 billion. As mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) continue to grow, mobile game category will show the biggest growth due to the entertainment value provided by games compared with other app categories. This growth is fuelled by healthy sales of premium mobile devices globally and consumers’ desire to play games on these multi-function devices that are capable of displaying increasingly sophisticated game content, he added. 2013 was an important year for the game industry as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are releasing their next generation video game consoles to a market that may be moving in another direction due to the popularity of mobile devices†(quotation, see the bibliography). Sony and Microsoft have released their game consoles in November 2013 and a repressed demand for them has caused a temporary reduction in console hardware sales during the last year. But, the augmentation will restart in 2014 and sales of existing console hardware are foreseen to increase from $ 15. 9 billion today to $ 22. 7 billion in 2015. Video game industry customs are comparable to those of other entertainment sectors (e. g. , the music recording industry), but the video game industry in particular has been charged of handling its development predisposition poorly. This promotes independent development, as developers leave to establish new companies and projects. In some notable cases, these ingoing companies grow extensive and impersonal, having endorsed the business habits of their forebears, and ultimately perpetuate the cycle. However, unlike the music industry, where modern technology has permitted a wholly professional yield to be scheduled exceedingly inexpensively by an independent musician, modern games necessitate crescent amounts of manpower and equipment. This dynamic makes publishers, who fund the developers, much more important than in the music industry. The industry insists on software piracy being a proper issue, and implement repressive measures to struggle against this widespread phenomenon. Nonetheless, digital rights management and other restraints have proved to be obviously unpopular among gamesters. Bibliography http://www. pwc. com/gx/en/global-entertainment-media-outlook/segment-insights/video-games. jhtml http://www. gartner. com/newsroom/id/2614915 http://www. wikinvest. com/industry/Video_Games http://www. theesa. com/games-improving-what-matters/families. asp http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Video_game_industry Gretz, R. T. 2010. Hardware quality vs. network size in the home video game industry, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Palmer, R. a. and Millier, Segmentation: Identification, intuition, and implementation, Industrial Marketing Management T. N. S.and Project, M. B. A. F. The Video Game Industry: an Industry Analysis, from a VC Perspective, Online Smith, Product differentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies, Journal Of Marketing http://www. wepromite. com/2007/10/14/strategy-analysis-of-the-console-market-%E2%80%93-part-1-key-success-factors/ http://www. irma-international. org/viewtitle/32750/ http://www. gamasutra. com/view/feature/132098/a_path_to_western_online_games_. php? print=1 http://www. gamestudies. org/0202/lugo/ http://www. pymesonline. com/uploads/tx_icticontent/R02403_lbvideojuegos. pdf.