At Casual Connect Europe, Spil Games announced the release of the Spil Games Platform, a new way for Indie developers to drive revenue and engagement. This platform will share the revenue generated from mid-role video ads. These ads capitalize on the global surge in 30-second video advertising and drive optimum engagement because they are strategically placed at cliffhanger moments within the games. Erik Goossens maintains, “The Spil Games Platform insures substantial earnings without taking away focus from making games and offers scalable revenue opportunities for developers who are struggling with the high costs and low return from app stores.”
Goossens, CEO of Spil Games, recognizes that Indie developers and monetization through advertising are two markets now morphing together, creating what he feels is one of the biggest opportunities the game industry has ever seen. Fortunately when he came to Spil Games in 2012, he already had years of experience in both these critical areas. Goossens’ career included co-founding well-known brands Zylom and Gynzy. One of the proudest moments of his career came when RNWK acquired Zylom. He states, “It recognized our position in Continental Europe at the time and really validated the casual games market for Indie developers around the world. It also represented a load of hard work accomplishing things that many folks told us would be impossible to accomplish.”
Two Key Trends
Goosens has noted two emerging trends that will directly affect Spil Games in the future. The first is the movement of advertising budgets from TV to Online as 30-second video ads. He realizes the 30-second ads need long form content for consumers to make the trade-off between free content and watching ads. Spil Games’ solution to this challenge is between level ads in game sessions lasting longer than 30 minutes.
The second trend is the adoption of HTML5 to truly develop cross-screen game experiences. Spil Games is responding by shifting most of its games creation and acquisition investments to games made in HTML5. They are also sharing knowledge and technology back to the Indie Developer Community to make for better games. Goossens is especially proud of one of their latest games, 1001 Arabian Nights, which he considers better than the flash version of the game.
A Solitary Gamer
For his own gaming, Goossens enjoys playing Magic Solitaire on desktop. He also joins his children in playing Disney Infinity on their Xbox 360. He sees no need to invest in either PS4 or Xbox One, since the children are happy with Xbox 360. Also, he believes they will soon be replaced by next generation tablets in combination with streaming capabilities to large screens and blue tooth connected controllers. As well, he states, “From a casual games audience perspective, I believe cross-platform browser gaming will yield the biggest opportunity for the second half of the decennium.”
Goossens’ time away from work is taken up with “trying to be the coolest Dad in the universe” by supporting his children’s hobbies and education. He shares a passion for cooking with his oldest daughter, so they spend many holidays and weekends involved with that. He tells us, “We do awesome BBQ lobster and usually create a mean bisque from the remaining parts of the lobsters.”
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