I’ve been in the game industry since 1997, but first attended GDC in 2006. At the conference, I was lucky enough to see a sign advertising the Microsoft Women in Games soiree. I attended the event that year (and every year since). It was at that MS party in 2006 where I first approached representatives from Women in Games International looking to start a community for women working in the video game industry.
I had just attended the second WIGI event ever, a conference in San Francisco, about three weeks before GDC 2006. Event though at that time I had been working in video games for nine years and would always see old friends in the halls at E3, I didn’t recognize a single face at the WIGI conference. I thought about it and realized the likely reason was most of the attendees were women, and most of my colleagues in nine years had been men.
I thought to myself, “Wow, it can be really isolating to be a women working in games. If you’re working at a small developer, it could be just you and the receptionist!”
So a thought percolated in my head for a couple of weeks. I approached the WIGI folks at the Microsoft Women in Games event and told them my idea of an online community for women in the game industry.
They said, “Go for it!” and a few months later I started the WIGI Linkedin group. In November of 2006, I held the first WIGI networking mixer in Los Angeles. Through 2007 I helped coordinators in other regions create their own mixers and held additional Los Angeles and San Diego events. I also volunteered at all WIGI conference events.
By 2008, I was the de facto leader of WIGI as the organization grew into more regional chapters and events, collaborated with the IGDA Women in Games special interest group to create GameMentorOnline and started our annual GDC and E3 events. WIGI grew the community and created D-L-C panel discussions and WAM—Women and Men networking events. We built a lively Facebook group and started a quarterly newsletter.
We’re continually adding new chapters and building new corporate partnerships with sponsors eager to support diversity, education and career building events and programs in the game industry. WIGI has also collaborated with the Girl Scouts at their Girltopia event in Los Angeles and to create a game design badge.
Since I started with WIGI in 2006, the organization has grown from about 300 members to over 4000 members. In 2009, WIGI formally incorporated with myself as CEO. I have been a key volunteer for all our efforts and the leader and chief motivator of the second largest professional organization in the game industry. And WIGI does all this with no paid stuff—all the work myself and other volunteers do is in service to our careers and our colleagues in the industry.
Through my work in WIGI, I have been honored to be the featured interview subject in several trade and national articles. I am also the only member of the Healthy Media Commission on positive images of women in girls in the media from the video game industry. People from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the British House of Commons, and C-level executives of major film, broadcast, online and print media populate the high-level lobbying organization.
I have also been asked to speak at several events including Casual Connect and the NAB show. In collaboration with the IGDA Los Angeles chapter, I was the intro speaker at an event called “Southern California Game Industry Initiatives: A Conversation Between Business & Government.” This event talked about creating business incentives for the game industry and included members of city of Glendale government and game industry leaders.
WIGI also has been working for a year on a joint project with the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles to create a groundbreaking workshop. The October 2011 event was the kick-off of an academic study of the game industry with the intention of learning concrete ways to improve diversity in the industry. We have academics from UCLA, USC, Simon Fraser University, the University of Toronto and other prestigious schools currently creating the study instrument and doing background research.
I’m very proud of the service WIGI provides to the game industry and feel lucky that my background in volunteering, leadership of non-profits and consensus building has given me the skills needed to lead the organization. I’m also very thankful that my entrepreneurship has given me the support time the group needs. We also have several regional volunteers and a Los Angeles-based Executive Team that leads the international efforts of WIGI.
WIGI is always looking for new volunteers. We need regional Chapter Leads and Associates, assistants at our conference events, speakers at our WAM and D-L-C meetings and corporate sponsors of all our programs. Contact info@getwigi.com if you have a bright idea for improving diversity in the game industry, want to help with existing WIGI projects or have sponsor leads. We need folks like you to step up, get involved and let us know how we’re doing! See you at our GDC party Wednesday night in San Francisco. Please introduce yourself if you get a chance!
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Women in Games International has had the busiest summer and fall seasons in the organization’s history! We’re very proud of the new partnerships we have made, the new programs implemented and the re-launch of a vital game industry service. We’ve seen a significant expansion of WIGI’s reach into the game industry as a whole and we’re making strong efforts to affect the industry of the future.
Events and Media Partners
WIGI formed media partnerships with lots of old friends and some new partners. We offered a discount to the New York Games Conferencefrom our old friends at Digital Media Wire. Once again, we were privileged to partner with the Indiecade festival and even had several WIGI principals in attendance at the conference.
For the third year in a row, WIGI has partnered with The Guildhall at SMU for a networking party at GDC Online. We’ve been joined this year by additional sponsors Electronic Arts and Xaviant for our fourth annual event.
For the first time this year, we’re partnering with Digital Hollywood and Kissappgames to create an Indie Games Soiree associated with the conference. The event on October 19th is open to all, not just conference participants.
WIGI’s media partnership program is on of the awesome ways we provide benefits in the form of information and discounts to major industry conferences while getting the WIGI name and opportunities to an even larger audience. Thanks so much to our media partners! Stay tuned for even more partnerships and discounts and an expanded WIGI reach in 2012.
GameMentorOnline—Re-Launch!
WIGI is outrageously proud to announce the re-launch of the groundbreaking GameMentorOnline program. Please see the article in the Fall 2011 Edition of the WIGI newsletter from program founder Karen Clark for more details.
In a nutshell, GameMentorOnline is open to every professional and student in the game industry. It’s a free online portal that connects experienced mentors with protégés and offers suggestions for goal setting and progress analysis for mentoring pairs.
I myself wasn’t planning on participating as a mentor in GMO (because I’m completely swamped with WIGI’s growth and myriad programs as well as my own work at GameDocs…), but I signed up as the first test mentor as we were testing the system. Since then, I have been approached by a protégé who’s interested in me because of my skills and experience, and I’m excited about the relationship because she has a lot to offer to me as well! She’s got plans in place in areas where I want to grow my career. Her goals and objectives are things that’ll expand my own knowledge and abilities through just talking out what I already know and seeing how it can apply to alternate but similar business models and growth plans.
WIGI is very proud of our association with GMO and the return of founder Karen Clark. This is a valuable, vital service for the game industry and will help move our business forward into a more mature form of collaborative career building and help create relationships between senior and junior folks that are beneficial to both—and therefore the industry as a whole going forward.
GameMentorOnline is proudly sponsored by 3DVIA.
Alliance with the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles
WIGI has partnered with the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles for a groundbreaking workshop with participants from both the Canadian and U.S. game industry and academia. The workshop will look at the role of women in the game industry, specifically demographics, quality of life issues and other key factors.
The workshop will be a day-long event on October 20 at the Official Residence of the Consul General of Canada in Los Angeles with U.S. and Canadian industry and thought leaders, academics and researchers. This workshop is intended to be the first step in a process that will generate a study on statistical and demographic information on women in the game industry workforce.
Some key outcomes of the workshop will be partnerships between Canadian and U.S. industry representatives and researchers resulting in a study to generate hard data on where the industry is going, why the current workforce imbalances exist and how they can be corrected.
We hope the results of this event will provide long-lasting information to the game industry, academia and others to strengthen the work methods, hiring standards, higher education opportunities and economic strength for a powerful future of interactive media. Stay tuned for news on the results of the event!
This workshop is proudly sponsored by the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles, Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment America.
We have an awesome lineup of professionals and academics:
Canada:
- Judith Beauregard, Executive Producer, ODD1 Studios, Montreal
- Suzanne de Castell, Simon Fraser University
- Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch, CEO, Silicon Sisters/Past Chair, Women in Games International, Vancouver/Faculty Great Northern Way Campus
- Professor Jennifer Jensen, University of Toronto
- Mare Shepherd, Principal, Metanet Software, Toronto
- Professor Emma Westecott, Games Design, Digital Futures Initiative, OCAD University
United States (Academics):
- Tracy Fullerton, Director, USC Games Innovation Lab, Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment
- Jeremy R. Gibson, Faculty USC Interactive Media Division
- Dr. Noelle Griffin, Assistant Director, CRESST/UCLA National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing
- Jacki Morie, Project Leader, USC Institute for Creative Technologies
- Tom Sloper, Games Instructor, USC (veteran games designer)
- Dr. Richard Wainess, Senior Researcher, CRESST/UCLA
United States (Industry)
- Belinda Van Sickle, CEO Women in Games International/GameDocs, Inc.
- Amy Allison, Vice President, Women in Games International
- Lina Evans, Recruiting Manager, EA
- Ginger Graham, Global Diversity Manager, EA
- Erin Hoffman, Lead Designer, Zynga
- Robin Hunicke, Producer, thatgamecompany
- Jeannie Novak, Game Industry Entrepreneur and Author
- Nanea Reeves, Chief Product Officer, Gaikai
- Shirin Salemnia, Founder and CEO, PlayWerks Inc
- Shannon Studstill, Studio Director, Sony Santa Monica
- Careen Yapp, Vice President, Konami Digital Entertainment
Others:
- David Fransen, Consul General
- Nadia Scipio del Campo, Consul
- Pam Johnson, Cultural/Academic Officer
- Tom Palamides, International Business Development Officer
- Melissa Isom, Québec Delegation in Los Angeles
Partnership with the Girl Scouts at Girltopia
WIGI is also partnering with the Girls Scouts Los Angeles Conference at their annual extravaganza at the Los Angeles Convention Center,Girltopia! THQ has contributed a very generous sponsorship for the event. WIGI will be hosting a game design workshop as well as the use of the uDraw Game Tablet to get girls’ input on the design of a game design badge for Girl Scouts International created in conjunction with WIGI. Check out the article on Girltopia in the Fall 2011 Edition of the WIGI newsletter by program initiator Amy Allison for more details.
Next WIGI Los Angeles Chapter D-L-C
WIGI’s Los Angeles chapter is planning our next D-L-C—Drinks-Lectures-Community event on the subject of Cloud Computing. Stay tuned for details.
New WIGI Chapters and Revitalization of Existing Chapters
WIGI has been rounding up lots of new Chapter Coordinators in cities near you and there are lots of WAM—Women And Men networking events in the works. Our Seattle chapter is going again with regular networking and educational events. We have a new year-round Austin chapter with regular events planned and several other cities are in the planning stages. Contact info@getwigi.com if you’re interested in starting a chapter in your area.
GDC 2012
Plans are already in the works for GDC 2012. WIGI is planning our fifth annual event and our third event at the wonderful California Historical Society Museum. Save the date! We’ll see you Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.
We need sponsors for this executive networking party. If you’re interested in becoming involved with WIGI at GDC 2012, please contact info@getwigi.com .
Contents of The Fall 2011 Edition of the WIGI Newsletter
WIGI News
GameMentorOnline: The First-of-its-Kind Mentoring Program in the Gaming Industry Returns
WIGI to Participate in Girl Scouts’ GIRLTOPIA
A Brave New (Anti-Consumer) World: Updated Sony TOS Reflect Supreme Court’s Pro-Corporation View of Arbitration Law
Indie by Default
On Finding Women Speakers for New Game: Your Input
WIGI at E3 2011
LeVar Burton Creating Reading Rainbow iPad App
Creating a Shared Gaming Experience: Fingerprint to Launch Mobile Learning and Play Network for Kids and Grown-Ups
Sponsor News
Develop AND Publish Online 3D Games Affordably…Really
WIGI Events
Indie Games Soiree October 19th
Upcoming WIGI Events: WIGI WAM (Women And Men)
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Congratulations to Women in Games International and Blacks in Gaming for a fabulous showing at E3 this year!
WIGI kicked off the week on Monday with a special E3 edition WAM—Women and Men networking mixer at Busby’s in Santa Monica. Our Los Angeles WAM sponsor, TriplePoint, teamed up with Nyco and others to provide ten raffle goodie bags with special Nyco Wii controllers.
The event had a great mix of regulars, locals and folks in town just for E3 meeting, greeting and playing Skee Ball and Galaga in the arcade room.
WIGI’s Los Angeles WAM meets the first Monday of every month from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. In July, we’ll postpone the event to the second Monday, July 11th, in observance of the 4th of July holiday. See you then!
On Wednesday night, WIGI partnered with Blacks in Gaming for the Third Annual WIGI/BIG E3 party. My biggest thanks go to Amy Allison and mOcean for their great work and invaluable support of the event!
Amy is a member of the WIGI Executive Team and suggested the fabulous idea of adding women’s Roller Derby to the E3 party at a planning meeting for the event. I kinda blinked, thought about saying, “No way, we can’t make it happen,” and then realized it was WIGI, BIG, Amy and the team and said, “Let’s go for it!”
Amy’s crew, the Angel City Roller Girls, teamed up with us to create a one-of-a-kind E3 party that will not be forgotten! http://www.angelcityderbygirls.com/
A giant posse of women on skates took over the dance floor at high end downtown nightclub Exchange LA for some fabulous video game-themed tricks, stunts and skits. Check out the photos and see if you can find Ms. PacMan and other famous characters. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.223403917683792.64461.149024965121688
Women in Games International and Blacks in Gaming are non-profit orgs that depend on sponsor contributions for all events and programs. The E3 party was sponsored by mOcean, the Art Institutes of California, the Los Angeles Film School, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Frozen Codebase, GameSalad, Konami and Ubisoft. Each one of these supporters provided cash to pay for the venue, food, drinks and incidentals to make the party happen. If you get a chance, thank them for supporting diversity in the video game industry. They’re awesome!
We had fabulous event staff including DJ Voomz on the turntables (so to speak…;-), Emcee Dumptruck announcing the Roller Derby antics and Christopher Seguin on still camera. Check them out at these links:
http://voomz.net/
http://about.me/Dumptruck
http://christopherseguinphotography.com/
I’d also like to thank event volunteers Dominique Grinnell for organizing the door staff and Heather Decker, Louise Nemschoff, Jenni Petot, Beverly Reyes, Anne Toole and Paul Trowe for working the door.
Thanks to everyone who attended the party and special thanks to our sponsors and the Angel City Roller Girls. Stay tuned for more fabulous stuff from Women in Games International!
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What a fantastic GDC! I must say I was less tired, more enthusiastic and attended events that were more important and more inspiring than ever. It was a good year.
Women in Games International triumphed with our fourth annual GDC reception! Once again, WIGI has proven to provide quality networking events with high level people and great business opportunities.
We thank our sponsors for their generous support of the event including Gibney Anthony & Flaherty, 38 Studios, CCP Games, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, The Art Institutes, Future US, GNW Game Guard and Peanut Labs Media.
I’d like to call attention to the volunteers at the event including Denise Archer, Kelley Corten, Heather Decker, Sandy Leung, Adam Moore, Alyssa Reuter, Stephanie Spong, Trisha Stouffer, Kimberly Unger and Mary-Margaret Walker.
WIGI Executive staff attended other events that support women in games. On Tuesday there was a great dinner for industry thought leaders hosted by Casual Connect. We discussed ways to move ahead with education, career growth and access to resources for women.
On Thursday, the IGDA Women in Games special interest group held its annual roundtable meeting, which is always a great opportunity for status, inspiration and brainstorming to improve access and working conditions for everyone. After that, the third annual Microsoft Women in Games Awards luncheon was held. New categories were added this year and it’s always a fabulous event.
Stay tuned for news from WIGI on our E3 plans and more!
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/gdc-2011-women-in-gaming-awards
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2010 was a very exciting year at Women in Games International and we have lots of growth and improvement planned for 2011!
WIGI Executive Team WIGI has formalized our Executive Team. WIGI is managed by a team of five people including myself as president and CEO, Krissie Franco—CFO, Asra Rasheed—VP, Amy Allison and Jeannie Novak. The five of us work together to determine the direction of the international organization as well as the Los Angeles chapter.
Belinda Van Sickle—President/CEO I provide overall direction and leadership for the organization as well as serving as the Los Angeles WAM coordinator, organizing Women And Men events in Los Angeles. I also help WIGI chapters with organizing and promoting their own WAM events. I help lead our GDC and E3 programs and provide marketing and promotional materials for all WIGI events and programs.
Krissie Franco—CFO Krissie serves as the organization’s CFO as well as the Chapter Liaison, interfacing with each active WIGI chapter and helping new chapters to start. Krissie has also been instrumental in securing our not for profit status.
Asra Rasheed—VP of Organization Development Asra serves as our business development director, organizing WIGI’s sponsor generating efforts and helping to finance our programs and events. She is also active in organizing our parties at major conferences like GDC and E3.
Amy Allison—Executive Team Amy started the D-L-C program—Drinks-Lectures-Community. The program began in Los Angeles in 2009 and is expanding to San Francisco and beyond in 2011. Amy’s new idea for 2011 is Yes MAMs—WIGI’s meet and greet program. Executive team members will be meeting with representatives of major publishers and developers to learn how WIGI can better serve their employees and the game industry long term.
Jeannie Novak—Executive Team Jeannie is bringing her extensive event coordination and education experience to WIGI’s events and conferences. She is also helping to relaunch the GameMentorOnline program, the only mentorship program available in the video game industry.
WAMs—Women And Men Networking Mixers The Los Angeles chapter just changed its monthly Women and Men networking mixer event in February. We started the monthly mixers in March of 2010 and they have been a great place for industry folks to meet and greet on a regular basis. Our new location has a game demo area and a small arcade for extra fun after work. Come and join us at Busby’s in Santa Monica on the first Monday of the month from 7-9 pm.
The next WAM event in San Francisco is scheduled for February 24th at Jillian’s from 6 to 9 pm.
D-L-Cs—Drinks-Lectures-Community Our fabulous D-L-C program in Los Angeles is expanding to San Francisco and beyond in 2011. The mini-conference panels feature major game industry players talking about hot topics in their areas of expertise. We start the evenings with a moderated panel discussion and move to a nearby restaurant for drinks, appetizers and fellowship.
So far, Los Angeles events have covered topics like In-Game Marketing, Monetization in Social Gaming and How to Move Your Career Ahead (or switch areas) in Gaming. The next Los Angeles event focusing on Developer/Publisher Relations will be announced soon!
The first SF event is planned for summer 2011. We expect to see events in Seattle, Vancouver, Austin and beyond coming soon. If you’d like to be a part of WIGI’s DLC program, let us know!
WIGI Local Chapters Our chapters have been expanding and growing in 2010, with the biggest growth in the San Francisco chapter. Bay area game industry folks have been meeting at WAM events since the fall and we have a dedicated and active team of volunteers. WAM events will continue and we expect to have our first D-L-C in San Francisco this summer.
Our Seattle and Vancouver chapters are actively meeting and we’ve had an annual event at GDC Austin for several years. We want to foster strong growth and community in chapters across the US and throughout the world. We need dedicated volunteers to lead local WIGI chapters. Contact chapters@getwigi.com to get involved!
WIGI Quarterly Newsletter Fall 2010 was the launch date of the first Women in Games International quarterly newsletter. This is the second edition. The newsletter gives info about current WIGI programs and events and offers a forum for articles of interest to game industry folks. Please email info@getwigi.com if you’d like to contribute to the next edition of the newsletter.
We’re also looking for dedicated volunteers to find articles, arrange interviews and create the document three times a year—once before GDC San Francisco, once before E3 and once in the fall. Please contact us if you’d like to be a part of the newsletter team.
New WIGI Website WIGI launched a brand new website in 2010. We thank Deadline for their sponsorship of site development. The new site allows members to find out what’s happening and learn how to get plugged in and stay connected. Check it out atgetwigi.com.
Advisory Board WIGI is planning to revamp our advisory board in 2011. We’d like to create a group staffed with industry veterans who meet twice a year to advise the direction and planning of WIGI programs and events. Our goal is to have the first meeting as a luncheon at E3 2011. We’re looking for people interested in contributing to WIGI on a macro level and we need a sponsor for the E3 lunch. Please contact info@getwigi.com if you’re interested.
Conferences WIGI is looking to expand our presence at major industry events and conferences. We have been a part of GDC, E3 and Casual Connect for years and would like to host networking mixers and/or panel discussions at more events in coming years. If you’d like to get involved with increasing WIGI’s conference presence, please let us know at info@getwigi.com
PR Women in Games International is searching for a pro bono PR firm to help us get the word out about our events and programs. Let us know at info@getwigi.com if you have a lead!
http://curvecheck.com/WIGI/GDC_2011_Edition/2011/02/ceos-corner%E2%80%94wigi-development-and-expansion-review/
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Facebook has hired Sean Ryan from News Corp. to manage the company’s partnerships with game content providers. At least half of Facebook users play games and publisher/developer relationships are vital to future success.
I’m happy to see that Facebook has hired a game industry professional to work with game developers. Positive developer relationships are good for everybody: the consumer gets better games created by happier teams; publishers and developers can put more money into their pockets instead of into the pockets of lawyers (when things go wrong).
Stay tuned! Women in Games International is organizing its next Los Angeles D-L-C (Drinks-Lecture-Community) on the subject of Developer Relations. The event is tentatively scheduled for the end of January/beginning of February and will be help at the Otis Art Institute. We’ll adjourn for drinks and appetizers afterward at the Custom Hotel. Watch this space for more info!
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/facebook-appoints-new-game-exec-to-manage-partnerships/
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[From the non-pofit incorporation documents for Women in Games International—Spring 2010]
Women in Games International has networking mixers in many cities to facilitate meetings and collaborations between professionals. WIGI has had events in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Austin and other cities. (20%)
WIGI has quarterly D-L-C events in Los Angeles that include a speaker panel and networking opportunities. We intend to expand this program to other cities. (10%)
WIGI partners with similar organizations—primarily organizations that cater to women, the game industry, technology and/or entertainment—to produce events, conferences and other networking and education programs for the game industry. (10%)
WIGI produces a quarterly newsletter providing information about the organization and the industry. (5%)
WIGI is part of the planning committee of the Leadership Development Forum every summer in Seattle in conjunction with the Casual Connect conference. (5%)
WIGI is a partner in GameMentorOnline, a service that matches people looking for guidance with willing vets of the game industry. (5%)
WIGI has sent speakers to many industry conferences. (5%)
WIGI has produced multiple day-long conferences that educate professionals about trends, opportunities and changes in the video game industry starting in 2005. There have been conferences in Austin, Texas, San Francisco, CA, Savannah Georgia and elsewhere. (20%)
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Women in Games International is hosting a panel tomorrow night at the Los Angeles Film school. The panel is called “Your Career in Gaming: How to stay competitive and how to transfer into other areas of the industry.”
Everyone seeks recognition and advancement in their chosen career. Learn how to take active steps toward moving up in your team or department or moving into a different sphere of the game industry.
This is a great opportunity to learn how to communicate with management about your abilities beyond just doing a good job. To move up in a competitive industry like video games, you need to convince the chain of command to consider you as a candidate. While the game industry is full of smart people who work hard, we’re not always the best advocates for ourselves.
Be sure to present yourself in a way that shows off the diversity of your abilities, not only including the main parts of your job description. To move up, you need to show the brass you’re a great communicator who can work well with not only your team, but with vendors and partners.
Quietly sitting in your cube kicking ass at your assignments does not necessarily translate into the best person for advancement. In fact, managers like to make their jobs easier, and having great team members is the best way. You need to show that the company will be better served by putting you into a higher position.
Confirmed Speakers:
Alana Chan
Lead Producer
Disney Interactive Media Group
Kamalina Evans
Global Talent Acquisition
EA Interactive
Mark Vulcano
Studio Animation Director
Heavy-Iron Studios
Paul Cunningham
Co-Founder / CEO
CreativeHeads.net
Shannon Henry
Manager, Talent Acquisition
Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
To RSVP for the event, click here: http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/XSAUXIECZAZQDARWZUFB/WIGIDLC3
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At the last Women in Games International D-L-C-Drinks-Lectures-Community in Los Angeles on February 4th, 2010, the topic was Monetization in Gaming in the casual and social gaming arenas.
An impressive panel of guests talked about traffic being one way to create income in casual and social games, but virtual goods are an especially engaging and productive form of commerce. Players enjoy purchasing virtual goods because it’s a fun way to interact with the game world.
In order to improve quality in casual and social games, which in turn increases revenue, integration is the key. Transactions, advertisements, surveys, etc. need to be firmly integrated into gameplay. An interstitial is just going to be ignored, but if players can continue to play while buying, they will. Make monetization opportunities as seamless a possible—part of gameplay, preferably—to maximize player retention. Publishers also need to continue to put out high quality content, because these games have a short lifespan—customers can be lost if content doesn’t stay fresh.
Convenient payment methods need to be embraced by the industry—convenient for everyone, not just a certain segment. Some players may do best as subscribers, while others want to pre-pay. Internationally, this is even more true, as many players in foreign territories don’t have credit cards, but can afford to pre-pay for play and goods. It’ll serve the industry well to standardize online payments for games, allowing players to use one pre-paid card in many game worlds as well as transfer credits among games from the same publisher.
A surprising fact that came up during the discussion is non-paying users are an important part of the marketing scheme. Viral marketing is a huge factor in online gaming, and non-paying users generate income by referring others to a game.
The panel talked about good ways to play-balance casual/social games—not just for the fun versus difficult factor, but for free versus pay. How big of a divide should there be between free and pay gameplay? Of course, paid play better be superior to free play, but often, the line can be thin. Many pay players are highly involved with the game universe and the fun factor is important to them, therefore they’ll pay to play a better game.
After the discussion, the 75 or so attendees headed over to a restaurant for drinks and networking. Please see the Facebook event for pics! (Scroll down the page to “Photos.”)
http://www.facebook.com/belinda.vansickle#!/event.php?eid=259200612503&ref=mf
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