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Europe 2014Video Coverage

Rik Haandrikman: Enticing Players to Connect | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

Asynchronous multi-player is a genre that is big in the app stores and has proven to be very sticky. Yet, according to Rik Haandrikman, there can never be enough attention to the topic. At Casual Connect USA 2013, he presented a session on the genre, but felt that it needed a wider point of view than just his own. So he approached Casual Connect about presenting a panel on multi-player gaming for Casual Connect Europe 2014. The panel combined the knowledge of Phil Mansell (Jagex), Micha van der Meer (Exit Games), Jan-Michel Saaksmeier (BigPoint), Alfonso Villar (Playspace) and Haandrikman with the guidance of Paul Heydon, (Avista Partners) as host. Haandrikman believes the panel greatly outstripped anything he could have brought on his own. He hopes this panel will become a recurring part of the conference with more multi-player game developers participating in the discussion.

Rik Haandrikman, Director of Business Development at GamePoint, attributes his success in this career to “dumb luck.” He began doing community management at GamePoint, but was becoming restless within a couple of months. The opportunity to move up in the company came and, as he says, “I grabbed it with both hands.” His team’s responsibilities range from user acquisition to analyzing game metrics to improving every facet of the business. Most of his time is involved with growth strategy and operations.

He is ambitious for himself and for the company, insisting, “I want GamePoint to conquer the world, and I want to be there to lead the charge.”

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Attendees having fun at GamePoint’s Gold! Party at Casual Connect Europe 2014

“Market Research”

Of course, not all his time is involved in his career; he loves spending time with his family, claiming every minute he spends with his two-year-old daughter is a minute well spent. He also manages to find time for the gym. And he spends a lot of time doing ‘market research’, his name for his gaming habit.

Currently, Haandrikman’s ‘market research’ has him using his iPhone to play 99 Bricks, a game by the Dutch indie, Weirdbeard. He finds the game both addictive and challenging, using the strengths of iPhone perfectly, and he is excited to see what it will do after its international launch.

Open Days
Open days at the office, where players are invited to come and talk to GamePoint

For his mobile gaming, he prefers iOS to Android, although he recognizes that Android has become a sizeable economic opportunity in the last two years, and Gamepoint is definitely developing for it. But he prefers the more curated experience iOS provides and finds the UI preferable to what most Android devices offer.

Haandrikman tells us the most interesting place he has played mobile games was in the Banda Islands, a tiny group of Indonesian islands with no real connection to any of the larger islands. They also have no TV, no internet, and lights out when the sun goes down. When he and his girlfriend passed their time in the evenings playing Civilization Revolution on their iPhones, they suddenly became very popular and the center of considerable excitement.

Even with the amount of mobile gaming he has “researched,” his favorite platform continues to be PC. Some of his favorite titles can only be properly played on PC. The title he plays most intensely is Civilization, having logged many hours on every version of the game.

His console gaming is fairly limited; he is still satisfied using his Xbox 360 and PS3. But his daughter’s desire to play Dora the Explorer usually trumps his plan for GTA V. He does plan to get Xbox One when it comes out in the Netherlands, considering it a family-friendly option.

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GamePoint is involved in more than just digital games, they also have a beach volleyball team

Intersection of Creativity and Business

Haandrikman tells us what he enjoys most about the game industry is the intersection of creativity and business. He says, “We create things that bring joy to millions and get paid while doing it.” And wearing a Star Wars t-shirt to work is an added bonus.

Gamepoint is a good example of this at work. “We don’t simply build multi-player games, we sculpt an experience that entices players to connect,” Haandrikman says. “When you play one of our games, our aim is to have you enjoy that game, obviously, but more important, we aim to have you form relationships with other players. My proudest moments have been when I got to meet people for whom those relationships have been life-changing.”

Some of the Business Development Team at GamePoint
Some of the Business Development Team at GamePoint

As an example, he points to a family with two children who wouldn’t exist without the game that helped their parents to meet, saying it puts everything GamePoint does into perspective. He spends much of his time looking at data: seeing what the players do within the games, how much they chat and how many buddies they add. But he insists, “Seeing that data turn into actual people and change actual lives is amazing.”

Haandrikman has been in the game industry for seven years, and in that time he has learned it is impossible to predict what is around the next corner. So it is critical to be as agile as possible and always be ready to respond as soon as a trend emerges. GamePoint answer to this situation is investing heavily in research on new platforms, new concepts and new audiences.  As he says, “When they pop up, we’ll be ready.”

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Jan Wagner: Striving for Depth on a Mobile Device | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

At Casual Connect Europe, Jan Wagner stated that Cliffhanger is ready to bring the core to mobile gaming with their AERENA game. It is now in Alpha, but they believe they have found a way to mix deep game play with short sessions in a way that will satisfy core gamers.

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Jan Wagner, Co-Founder, Executive Producer and Creative Director, Cliffhanger Productions

Jan Wagner is Co-Founder, Executive Producer, and Creative Director of Cliffhanger Productions. He is responsible for business development and the vision for Cliffhanger games, yet he claims never to have learned anything useful (like coding or art). Previously, he has worked as QA, designer, producer, project manager, and brand manager, all of which have given him skills useful in his present work. Having worked as a publisher is especially important because it allows him to see a more complete picture beyond development.

Wagner recalls the excitement of playing their first game on a tablet and thinking, “Wow, this plays like a real game, and it does not take forever to finish!” Now Cliffhanger takes that excitement and uses it to strive for quality and depth without ever forgetting they live on a mobile device.

Down to the Wire on Kickstarter

The happiest time Wagner remembers in his career was when they finished their Shadowrun Online Kickstarter campaign six hours before the period ended although no one believed they could do it. He says, “We labored night and day and learned a lot from our community, making us question all our assumptions. But we adapted and persevered.”

As a father of two, Wagner has little free time, but when he does, he enjoys role playing games, he says, “Like actual tabletop, with real people.”

Free-to-Play Stifling Innovation?

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He appreciates free-to-play for the disruptive force it brought to the established game industry and the opportunities it offered.

Wagner admits he still prefers playing on PC, although he says mobile is getting closer. The games he enjoys are usually turn-based RPGs and card games, for research, or so he tells his wife. He doesn’t own either PS4 or Xbox One, saying he doesn’t have time to play on them, so he will wait until they are less expensive and do a decent free-to-play model. He appreciates free-to-play for the disruptive force it brought to the established game industry and the opportunities it offered. But now he feels it has stifled innovation, leading to polished games that are, unfortunately, less interesting.

Diversify!

The most important trend Wagner sees coming in the game industry is diversification, claiming platforms, game genres, and business models will all diversify. He insists, “Once the mobile market is thoroughly overheated, most companies will have a hard time finding a viable model to sustain themselves with rising acquisition costs and reduced user lifetimes and low ARPU. The future is less about which platform but which game a user wants to play, which is why we aim for a core gamer audience and a full cross-platform approach. I don’t think in terms of ‘this is a mobile game, this is a core PC game.’ To us, it is just a game’””

AERENA is now in Alpha mode
AERENA is now in Alpha mode

 

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Sagi Schliesser’s on TabTale and Crazy Labs | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

Sagi Schliesser is Co-Founder and CEO of TabTale, a company that creates interactive books, games, and educational apps that are equally loved by children and their parents. The company now has over 250 app releases and more than 300 million downloads worldwide. During Casual Connect Europe, Schliesser shared the insights gained from TabTale’s experience. He also discussed the ten traits that make games fun for children while they are also beneficial and educationally important.

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Announcing Crazy Labs!

At Casual Connect, Schliesser announced Crazy Labs, TabTale’s publishing arm. TabTale is planning to make use of its proprietary platform for rapid development of high quality content for smart devices. Crazy Labs will be the means of doing this for a broader audience. Their focus will be on casual mobile devices rather than concentrating on the children’s market, but they will benefit from TabTale’s user base of 25 million monthly active users. Crazy Labs will also have the advantage of TabTale’s expertise in mobile gaming, marketing, monetization and QA infrastructure across iOS, Google Play, Amazon, and Windows 8.

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The first game Crazy Labs is releasing is Disky,

Fast and Fun

The first game Crazy Labs is releasing is Disky, the fastest party game in the app store. It is a digital version of the European arcade game Table a Elastique, similar to Air Hockey. The goal of the game is to slingshot colored discs into the opponent’s court. But Disky has a twist; a multi-colored laser will block discs that don’t match its color. Although it may sound simple, like Table a Elastique, it requires tactics, masterful skills and persistence. The game can be played either against the Disky robot or with friends as opponents.

Disky, developed by independent studios Playful Shark and Plaid Games from Israel, was selected as the Best Mobile Game at Game Connection Europe 2012.

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Disky, developed by independent studios Playful Shark and Plaid Games from Israel

External Brands on Mobile

Schliesser says, “We’re very excited to be stepping into the role of not just a developer and creator, but that of a publisher that can help other developers make their dreams a reality. We have seen the tremendous demand for this service, and we are excited to work with the wide variety of people and companies that are interested in app development and publishing.”

TabTale also plans to release its first line of externally branded applications. TabTale is unique in having reached the top ten downloads on Apple’s iOS global publisher’s ranks without having used externally branded content. To help replicate this success for their partners, TabTale will be creating new branded applications by world-renowned brands in the first half of 2014.

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Robbert van Os: Focus on HTML5 | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

At Casual Connect Europe, Spil Games announced the Spil Games Platform. Robbert van Os states, “I am very excited about the monetization approach. Spil’s announcement can speed up the adoption of the HTML5 games market.”

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Robbert van Os, Developer Relations and HTML5 Advocate, Spil Games

Robbert van Os, Developer Relations and HTML5 Advocate at Spil Games, says his ten years at Spil Games have been an amazing experience, every day of the week. He has had too many moments of gratification to be able to single one out as the best, but the fact that Spil Games is serving over 180 million users every month is definitely a source of satisfaction.

Van Os started out at Spil Games as a developer and shortly after became team lead. Then he transitioned into being responsible for the global IT infrastructure and development. A few years ago, he reflected on his true motivation and, as a result, moved into a kick-starter role for several key strategic products within Spil Games. Among these were their social gaming platform, their mobile web portals, native game development and, more recently, the next generation advertising platform. Now his focus is on HTML5 game development, with external developers, community, and Spil Games internal teams.

Play Whenever, Wherever

The pivot to touch devices and the movement toward device agnosticism are the trends van Os sees most affecting his company in the next two to three years. He emphasizes, “People will play whenever, wherever and on every device that holds a browser.”

Spil Games is prepared for what is coming because feature-based design is the foundation of their platform, built from scratch with a focus on mobile first. Van Os emphasizes, “We are rapidly deploying the products built on this infrastructure.”

He also believes the biggest impact on the game industry as a whole will be coming from device agnostic content.

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Spil Games is prepared for what is coming because feature-based design is the foundation of their platform, built from scratch with a focus on mobile first.

Gaming with Kids

When van Os is not working, he is spending time with friends and family, and admits to being addicted to news and love-coding.

His gaming is frequently done with his children. These days, he is playing Mario Bros on Wii-U, saying it is perfect for the children to participate. For his personal gaming, he prefers to spend his time exploring casual game content, since it is readily available and free on his browser.

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Nick Berry: Growth Hacking | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“If you are not doing A/B testing, go directly to jail! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200,” Nick Berry told his audience at Casual Connect Europe.

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Nick Berry is a Data Scientist at Facebook. He describes Facebook as the company that defines the concept of “big data.” He spends much of his time “boiling the digital ocean of data looking for statistical significances, trends and patterns.” Being asked to give a TED talk in 2013 is an experience he considers one of the highlights of his career.

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Nick Berry at TED in 2013

Keeping It Fun

Nick Berry, Data Scientist, Facebook
Nick Berry, Data Scientist, Facebook

Berry ends up spending a lot of his time in front of a PC, and the people he gets to interact with at conferences are what he enjoys most about being involved with the game industry. With a young family, although his free time is very limited, he still manages some time for game play. His laptop is always available whether he is at work, at home, or on a plane, so this is his most used gaming device. His next most used device is his iPad, followed by his (Android) phone. He doesn’t have much time for playing console games so he doesn’t own either a PS4 or an Xbox One yet, but his children use an Xbox 360 at home

Being Visible

The problem of visibility is the greatest challenge in the game industry today, according to Berry. Because there are so many products in the app stores and online, it is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive to acquire customers. “Having a great game is just the starting point,” he says. “You need to have a great game, and make people aware of it!”

Creating awareness and marketing your product efficiently is going to make the difference between success and failure, according to Berry. The art and science of cultivating users quickly, on a small budget, is given the title “Growth Hacking”. This was the topic of Berry’s Casual Connect presentation this year.

Berry says, “Facebook is also pilot launching a publishing platform to help developers get over this distribution ‘energy barrier’. You deliver great games; we deliver qualified users in great quantities, and we can proportionally share the revenue and benefits.”

Facebook

Tech Gets Better and Better

Tablets and smartphones are getting more and more powerful, according to Berry. He notes that new mobile devices already have more power than the previous generation of consoles. At the pace that new models are coming on the market, they may soon overtake consoles even in the core gaming genre.

He doesn’t expect to see another new generation of dedicated consoles on the market within the next five-ten years, possibly not ever. However, he maintains that PC gaming market is not dead or even dying; as long as there are computers on desks, people will want to play games on them.

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Social connectivity will be baked into all games.

Berry also believes there will be increasing use of cross-compilers, allowing games to be simultaneously developed and released on multiple platforms. And, of course, social connectivity will be baked into all games. He emphasizes, “There is no such thing as a disconnected device these days. All devices can be connected to the internet, and all successful games will leverage this.”

Keeping Up

Berry is also an active blogger, and you can read his regular posts about gaming, data science, privacy, and general geekery here: http://www.datagenetics.com/blog.html

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Richard Bartle: Are Games All Reaching the Same Bland Temperature? | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“Stick 30 people in an MMO and the first thing that they will try to do is kill each other,” Richard Bartle said at Casual Connect Europe.

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University of Essex

Richard Bartle, who divides his time between consulting for the games industry and teaching at the University of Essex, must have developed a unique perspective on games, especially since he has discovered that the games industry people treat him as if he is only an academic, and the academics act as if he is only a games person. But his long experience in his particular area of expertise, massively multiplayer online games, must be of great value in both his incarnations.

When Bartle is not working, he is playing—games, naturally. Usually six hours a day. He claims, “Purely for professional reasons, of course.”

Touch = Smears

His favorite platform to play on is the PC. He appreciates its open architecture, the big screen that he doesn’t have to touch and cover with smears, the keyboard that allows him to use with all the fingers of both hands, and the large range of software.

Bartle owns neither Xbox One nor PS4, mainly because they don’t run MMOs. As well, he says, “As an old-time hacker, I’m philosophically opposed to closed architectures, so the only time I ever own a console is when someone gives me one.”

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Richard Bartle

Free < > Paying

He does play free-to-play games but does not make purchases, insisting if he did, these games wouldn’t be free. However, he admits that subscribing to games gets him currency which can be used for in-game purchases. The most expensive item he has acquired this way was a frock for one of his characters in The Secret World.

Half Empty or Half Full?

As Bartle considers the future of the games industry, his analysis shows only downward trends. He states, “It’s as if games are in entropy and we’re heading for the heat death of the games universe as everything reaches the same bland temperate.” But he believes there is a new ‘big bang’ coming which will inject new energy into the system. He just isn’t sure which of the possibilities will trigger that new energy.

The next big impact on the games industry, according to Bartle, will come from the people who have been playing gateway games on mobile or social network platforms. Now, he tells us, “They will, in their hundreds of millions, be looking for actual games to play.”

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Kaj Nygren: Making the World More Fun | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“The most likely scenario is that you put your game out there and you will have a few users, but not that many, but then suddenly, something can happen and Boom!, you have tons of users, so how do you prepare for that?” said Kaj Nygren during Casual Connect Europe. He presented how MAG Interactive did it for Ruzzle.

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Kaj Nygren, CTO, MAG Interactive
Kaj Nygren, CTO, MAG Interactive

Kaj Nygren, CTO of MAG Interactive, has always had a soft spot for games, but for some years, his career took him in other directions. In 2011, they were a small company doing app consulting but wanted to try doing a game. They came up with the idea for Ruzzle, a fast-paced word game. It has since become immensely successful, and has been downloaded by over 50 million players, is played in 13 different languages, and has been a top ten word game in 148 countries on the App Store. Their second game, Quizcross, appears to be on the way to similar success, since it is already played in 9 different languages and has been a top ten trivia game in 50 countries on the App Store.

50 Million Strong

Nygren insists that this is the most fun job he has ever had, saying, “It is a really rewarding feeling to reach so many people with a product that they are so passionate about. I like to think we make the world a more fun place to live in.” The fact that they have been able to give a good gaming experience to over 50 million people is a source of great satisfaction to him. Amazingly, they get emails from all around the world telling of couples who have met and are now happily married through the games.

As Co-founder, Nygren has been a part of the company from the beginning. His responsibilities as CTO include heading up the platforms and server team, making sure that they make the right technological choices in providing stable platforms that scale, as well as making sure they can provide all the relevant business metrics.

The Mag Interactive Team
The Mag Interactive Team

The Mobile Family

Ruzzle on iPhone
Ruzzle on iPhone

In his free time, Nygren enjoys spending time with his family, as well as skiing, hiking and boating in the summer. His gaming is naturally focused on Ruzzle and Quizcross, but he also enjoys playing Clash of Clans and Hayday with his daughter. He prefers playing on iOS, but says this is largely a matter of habit, since he has had an iPhone since 2009 and is used to how it works. He does own a PS3, but admits it is very rarely used, since most games in his household are played on mobile.

Because MAG Interactive is focused on mobile games, Nygren has difficulty predicting what may happen in the next several years. He points out that mobile gaming is evolving at such a rapid pace that he expects the games world to look very different in two years or less.

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Juan Gril on Free-to-Play Perspective | Casual Connect Video

March 3, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

At Casual Connect Europe, Gril showed Fringo for Facebook. With Fringo already showing excellent results on other channels, Joju Games expect their social casino game will repeat its success on the global social networking powerhouse platform.

Nine years ago, Juan Gril founded Joju Games, and since then, they have made many excellent games. As Studio Manager, he wears a number of hats, but his main responsibility is working out the initial concepts for the games they develop and finding publishers for them.

Free to Play is Good!

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Juan Gril

Gril tell us he thinks free-to-play is great for the games industry. He analyzes it this way: “It’s not much different from the beginning of the games industry when people were playing for 25 cents per one play, which is one dollar adjusted for inflation, and is what it costs to get extra moves in Candy Crush Saga. Further, if we adjust for inflation, in 1980 when people were buying computer or Atari games, they were paying $160!” Based on this, Juan believes players are actually getting more game for less money, even considering that some players spend quite a bit on their free-to-play “habit”.

Paint it Black

A turning point for Joju Games came when they developed Bingo Blingo and were successful with it for two years. This success led to the development and self-publishing of Fringo. Juan insists, “We are putting every effort into making Fringo a successful game. Our results per user are great, and we are working with various partners to bring Fringo to as many people as possible.” These days, he can often be found playing games on his phone; his current favorites are Paint It Back and Help Me Fly. Besides his passion for games, Gril enjoys snowboarding and skateboarding. As a father of three, he finds himself seriously involved with their interests too - Legos, action figures, and fashion.

Coming Soon…

The next important trend in the games industry, as Gril sees it, will be the fragmentation of the audience. Not everyone will be playing the number one hit. There will always be winners and losers, but because of the accessibility of games on phones and tablets, it won’t be necessary to be number one to be successful financially. He believes, “This will allow for more risks and more innovation in casual games. And being 150th on the top grossing chart will be great in terms of revenue for a small studio.”

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Roland Arlt on Social Casino Games | Casual Connect Video

February 27, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

At Casual Connect Europe, Roland proudly announced the soft launch of their real money social casino, targeting the UK market.

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Roland Arlt is CEO of Ever Adventure, a social casino company he founded in 2012. This is his first venture into the game industry although he has a fifteen year career in senior executive roles in the technology industry. His roles have included VP APAC at Sensory Networks, Co-Founder and COO at Cloudmark, Inc., an award-winning provider of anti-spam solutions, and Co-Founder and COO of the software company, Blue Tiger Networks. He started Ever Adventure working out of the kitchen of a friend in Sweden in mid-2012, and feels his entrepreneurial and sales experience is what helps him most with this new company.

Ever Adventure's LEGEND OF THE FAIRIES
Ever Adventure’s Legend of the Fairies

Roland enjoys being a part of the game industry because it is such a dynamic industry full of fun people. If he were not in this industry, he would be doing something else in the Internet industry. The time of greatest satisfaction in his career came when founding his current company, building it one step at a time.

Free Time

For his personal gaming, Roland prefers using his iPhone and iPad, and is currently playing games like Candy Crush. He tells us he believes iOS is a superior platform in comparison to Android because it has a superior operating system for games. However, when not involved with work, his priority is spending time with his wife and two-year-old son.

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An important trend is casino games becoming more social and mobile, according to Arlt

Casino Going Social

The most important trend Roland sees coming in the game industry will be casino games becoming more social and mobile. At present, Ever Adventure is incorporating this trend into their plans by focusing on the social aspect of casino games. Later in 2014, they will begin putting more emphasis on mobile.

 

Europe 2014Video Coverage

Corey Rosemond: Bringing Value to Gamers

February 27, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

At Casual Connect Europe, Corey Rosemond announced that Plantronics Gaming believes in the power of voice-enabled gaming and they are available to support studios like Reactive Studios and their game Codename Cygnus. He says, “If you’re thinking about utilizing the power of voice or multiplayer communications, come work with us.”

Corey is the Business Development Director at Plantronics Gaming, where he is the liaison between the company and the gaming industry. Corey seeks out opportunities and partnerships that will be mutually beneficial to the company and partners.

An Unexpected Result

His tenure at Plantronics began with a conversation at GDC 2012, where he was asked by leadership how he believed he could add value to their growing gaming business. His response, industry knowledge, and experience led to an opportunity to join the company.

Corey’s gaming career began with an internship at Microsoft Corporation to get ID’s Doom to run on Windows 95. Among his many responsibilities, he found himself most interested in bringing value to gamers worldwide through business development. He continues to enjoy seeing the reactions of gamers who are passionate about a game, saying, “Gaming is where technology and entertainment collide, and the resulting value to gamers is immeasurable.” It is this appreciation of the gamers’ experience that continues to motivate him.

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Gaming is where technology and entertainment best interact, and the resulting value to gamers is magical. The RIG, a combination of the enhanced functionalty of a dual-use headset with a mixer at a reasonable price, is once such technology.

Changing Perceptions

The most exciting time in Rosemond’s career came when he was a part of the team tasked with turning around the perception of Windows as a gaming platform. He admits that being responsible for the Windows 7 launch strategy for gaming was a challenge, however, he was able to work with the right partners to validate that Windows 7 was in fact great for gaming. He says, “We significantly exceeded our goals to get people to upgrade from Windows XP and Windows Vista”.

He clearly values all that he has accomplished in his career, emphasizing that he always tries to learn from his experience. He says, “Wisdom is as valuable an asset as all-out brilliance.”

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Plantronics Gaming believes in the power of voice-enabled gaming and they are available to support studios like Reactive Studios and their game Codename Cygnus.

Time for a Bit of Fun

An avid gamer, Rosemond spends his free time playing everything from console games to mobile and tablet games. He enjoys travel, specifically the opportunity to engage with other gamers from around the world. He continues to game while on the road, saying, “I love how gaming can be a bridge between cultures.” He also enjoys snowboarding, but still manages to gets in a quick run of Pocket Trains or Clash of Clans while going up the lift.

The game Rosemond is currently playing the most is Hearthstone from Blizzard Entertainment. He believes, “It’s going to be a great mobile and PC title with a healthy eSports and community component.” His favorite platform is iOS, mainly because of its availability. These days, he is also equally enjoying the next generation of consoles from Xbox and PlayStation, which he got to be on the leading edge of digital entertainment at home and for work-related research.

Social Meta-Gaming

Rosemond predicts the next big trend in the game industry will be the continued integration of social experiences combined with meta-gaming fueled by eSports. He is currently working with a number of leaders in the eSports and free-to-play space and points out, “I included the free-to-play space because they are obligated by their business model to build out these enhanced social and meta-gaming experiences.”

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