USA 2014Video Coverage

Alexander Krug is a Driving Force in HTML5 | Casual Connect Video

August 19, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

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USA 2014Video Coverage

Alexander Krug is a Driving Force in HTML5 | Casual Connect Video

August 19, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“Users who are actually accessing your portal are expecting to play immediately a game,” Alexander Krug said during a panel at Casual Connect USA 2014. “That’s the good thing with HTML5. People are not forced to enter any ids or passwords, they can just start immediately playing and they are still connected to your brand.”




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Alexander Krug is the CEO and founder of SOFTGAMES, the company that operates the world’s largest HTML5 platform, with more than 250 high quality cross-platform HTML5 games. Before founding SOFTGAMES, Krug worked for Yahoo!, where he was responsible for re-launching the entire gaming portal.




Krug became involved in the games industry years ago when he was creating a distribution website for independent game developers for windows, while working on an international school project. This was the start of his passion for working with game developers and partners.

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Alexander Krug, CEO and Founder, SOFTGAMES

Creating The Spark With A Partnership

The spark that ignited SOFTGAMES’ success was cooperation with an open source app store as the official launch partner. This allowed them to demonstrate their portfolio and created a massive chain effect for the roll out of their affiliate program and, most importantly, for their own gaming destination. Today, it has more than 10 million monthly unique users.

Every day at SOFTGAMES brings Krug new challenges to be solved and new ideas to discuss. Tracking and evaluating new trends at the right time, even if it means being a first mover, are huge parts of his responsibilities. The key aspects to handling his challenges and responsibilities, he emphasizes, are communication, knowledge, experience, and being open to advanced solutions.

Polishing the Product

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Today, SOFTGAMES casual HTML5 games cannot be differentiated from casual native or flash games; something which brings great pride to the entire team.

He considers that his greatest career achievement has been creating a platform with over ten million monthly active users in less than one year. And his next goal is to reach 100 million monthly active users within the next year. As well, today SOFTGAMES casual HTML5 games cannot be differentiated from casual native or flash games; something which brings great pride to the entire team.

Krug is, naturally, a strong proponent of HTML. He admits that, although HTML5 had a tremendous start when it was first introduced, it was dumped just as quickly because it did not meet expectations. But in the last six months, as the technology has been optimized, there has been a great improvement in the quality of the games. He is certain that within the next 12 months, it will be the major platform for most developers of cross-platform mobile games, citing these reasons:




First, publishers are actively looking for and approaching developers to satisfy their audience demand for high quality HTML5 games. And SOFTGAMES knows that demand for a broad set of great casual games is intense; they are now releasing a new cross-platform game every work day.

Second, casual games are dominating right now, so there is great benefit for developers to start with a simple, well-polished project and expand from there. Instead of investing large amounts of money on a long-term basis, HTML5 technology allows developers to realize well-developed games within a month or two.

Third, the HTML5 games market offers tremendous opportunities when compared with the clones and app look-alikes native developers are currently facing. Krug notes that although the SOFTGAMES portfolio has over 250 games, Mahjong, Solitaire, and Zuma types of games are not yet available there, although the demand is great. Fast moving developers can benefit in these market game gaps, which do not exist in the app stores.

Finally, today the main revenue for HTML5 games comes from in-game advertising. The freemium model is not yet in use because of low payment aggregator payouts and a missing global payment infrastructure. Krug does not see this as a disadvantage for developers because they can quickly develop a game, sell it, and move on to make better titles. There is no need to allocate a large amount of resources after a release to optimize, maintain, and update a game without any guarantee of success.

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There is no need to allocate a large amount of resources after a release to optimize, maintain, and update a game without any guarantee of success.

SOFTGAMES is able to offer two options to developers. Either they sell developed games to SOFTGAMES via exclusive or non-exclusive sponsorships, or they agree on a share of the generated in-game advertising revenue. Non-exclusive sponsorships may be sold multiple times to different publishers. SOFTGAMES pays between $500 and $5,000 for a non-exclusive game, so developers can easily generate a few thousand dollars with a high-quality HTML5 game developed in a few weeks. Krug emphasizes, “This is projectable success through SOFTGAMES!”




The Benefits of HTML5

He feels HTML5 should be considered an excellent alternative to native development. Instead of hoping for the next big hit, simply through luck, developers can effectively schedule their next games and income as a result of the huge demand on the publisher site for high quality games made in HTML5. Krug points out that SOFTGAMES, with more than ten years of experience in the mobile gaming industry, had already decided three years ago to focus completely on its HTML5 platform.  He insists, “Developers should join the gold rush as well – before it’s too late!”

Besides the tremendous growth of the HTML5 platform, Krug also sees impressive growth of the Android platform and believes the focus of developers will gradually shift from the predominate iOS to Android. And he has noticed an ongoing shift from paid to hybrid premium and ad-featured content as the dominant method of earning money in mobile games. SOFTGAMES is prepared for the future of these trends, since their early focus on HTML5 allowed them to build a strong active partner and user base.

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SOFTGAMES is prepared for the future of these trends, since their early focus on HTML5 allowed them to build a strong active partner and user base.

The gaming technology that excites Krug the most is, of course, HTML5. He emphasizes, “Entertainment should be accessible without downloads, installations, or special equipment. Play anywhere, anytime, no matter what device you use.” And he believes the next technology evolution in HTML5 will be true 3D gaming and full sound support.

Time Away

When Krug is not working, he likes to take long runs to clear his mind and stay fit. He also reads a lot to broaden his horizons and, when he has time, he loves to travel to exotic places and get to know different cultures.

Although he used to spend hours playing DOS games such as Warlords or Heimdall, these days he prefers quick gaming sessions and spends about 30 minutes a day on one of the SOFTGAMES titles on HTML5. He loves casual level-up games such as Royal Knight, Bombs and Zombies, and Animal Link because he can easily access and play them. He especially enjoys being able to play the same game on his iPhone, Android tablet, smart TV, and even his desktop browser.

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Krug enjoys being able to play the same game on his iPhone, Android tablet, smart TV, and even his desktop browser.

Learned Lessons

Krug advises those in the games industry who want to innovate and move beyond established ideas to “Work extremely hard, expect lots of drawbacks, and get up stronger every time you fall.” He recognizes that it is not easy to be a pioneer, especially when you believe in a young technology. However, at SOFTGAMES, he had enough early success to put his focus on HTML5 and in the end, he was proven right.

He has discovered mistakes are important; they will happen, but that’s okay. What matters is that when you fail, you learn from it, and do not make the same mistake again.

He does not believe in taking risks, since this is just a chance with an uncertain outcome. Rather, he emphasizes the importance of being visionary, well-informed, and connected. When he focused on HTM5, he was certain that it would become huge and that at some point the isolated app stores would break open. While to outsiders this may look like taking risks, for Krug, it is simply part of his daily routine as CEO.

 

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Catherine Quinton

Catherine Quinton

Catherine Quinton is a staff writer for www.gamesauce.org. Catherine loves her hobby farm, long walks in the country and reading great novels.

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