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Asia 2014 Video Coverage

Shawn Bonham: Advantages of Consolidation | Casual Connect Video

June 6, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“We are moving into a period of increased consolidation right now in the gaming industry,” Shawn Bonham said at Casual Connect Asia 2014. “As we move into this phase, it’s really important to identify the key components of the business back to scale. Just like that perfect black jacket or black dress that you can wear clubbing or you can wear to a wedding, figure out what your core components of your tech stack are, what the core components of your business are, and then you can really scale them as you build out your business across multiple dev teams, or as you work as a single developer with multiple publishers.”

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Shawn_Bonham_Headshot (1) — Shawn Bonham, Senior Managing Director, APAC, Upsight

Shawn Bonham is the senior managing director, APAC at Upsight, a company that delivers actionable analytics and marketing to mobile games. Upsight resulted from the merger of Kontagent and PlayHaven last December and has now launched its freemium platform. They offer unlimited access to core acquisition, engagement, and revenue metrics, as well as tools for performing in-app marketing and targeted push-notification. They will also offer multiple upgrade paths to allow developers to choose the right features and capacity at the right time. The merger makes it possible for them to offer value through a mobile’s tech-stack, as all of the components for deep analytics, in-game marketing, and push are connected together in a unified system.

Bonham also announces that Upsight continues to improve its product localization and have added Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Korean tool tips to its dashboard; more localized documentation will be coming soon.

At Upsight, Bonham manages operations and strategy for APAC and consults with mobile companies throughout the region on best practices in actionable data analytics. Previously, he held management positions at Havok and NVIDIA, working with publishers and developers to identify the business case for new technologies and to realize tangible ROI from their implementation. At Havok, he started the APAC team and helped to expand the adoption reusable console middleware in Japan in the PS2 era. At NVIDIA, he worked on many partnerships with mobile developers to create mid-core mobile games that reach the core gamer audience.

our_customers — Upsight provides analytics and marketing for many companies

Energized By Innovation

Most of his career has been in the APAC region, including China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Southeast Asia; he is always energized by the speed of innovation and business in this area. He says, “It’s not about figuring out the right answer tomorrow, it’s about figuring it out today!” He emphasizes that each country is vastly different in language, business culture, business models, and game preferences. It is valuable to understand each in order to find the best business fit for various technologies and to consult with partners as they expand to the West and to other APAC regions.

Middleware Explosion

Bonham has seen mobile games become increasingly complex in their mechanics and budgets for development; operations have expanded accordingly. There has also been an explosion of middleware in the mobile space in the last few years to meet the needs of publishers and developers. As a result, developers must implement a vast array of SDKs and, on the operations side, view information on multiple independent dashboards to manage and optimize an F2P game’s performance. In response to these trends, he expects both developers and publishers will consolidate to mitigate development risk. And he expects to see consolidation in the middleware space to leverage multiple technologies through a single SKD. He believes platform will be a major theme in the next few years.

He claims, “The merger of Kontagent and PlayHaven is a great example of the consolidation trend. We’ve been able to really empower developer while simultaneously making their lives easier by putting the tools for deep analytics, in-app marketing, and push together in a single, unified dashboard and SDK.

Wearable Technology

He also believes wearables will be an interesting disruption over the next few years, saying, “I look forward to seeing how game mechanics and business models will be tweaked for these new technologies. All of this is going to require a great deal of trial and error, for which concrete metrics and solid use of analytics to gauge progress will be key.”

When not involved with work, Bonham enjoys playing tennis and basketball with friends and working out, especially Olympic-style weightlifting. He appreciates the terrific live music and DJ scene in Tokyo, so he goes to shows whenever he has time. And he is a big gamer, making an effort to try out all the major releases on PC, console, and mobile.

Bonham used to be a huge console gamer and a fan of Japanese RPGs and action games. But these days, he rarely has time to finish epic games, so he now turns toward short-burst competitive PC and mobile titles, such as Clash of Clans, Hearthstone, DATA and many others. And, as a fan of American football, he occasionally plays the Madden series on consoles.

F2P Challenges

He sees F2P as a two-edged sword depending on the interaction between in-app purchases and game mechanics. A play-to-win mechanic can cause large problems in multiplayer games and in the single player genres. If a player feels manipulated into purchasing an item or power-up just to finish a level in a reasonable time or to collect an achievement, then it will leave a bad impression and negatively affect retention.

Upsight_SEGA-Case-study-Image — Here is an example of how SEGA used Upsight

However, if the micro-transaction can be successfully decoupled from in-game success, then F2P makes it economically feasible for a developer to focus on perfecting game balance and adding iterative improvements and content to a title while maintaining an F2P revenue stream, without worrying about adding potentially unnecessary mechanics and features to justify another full-priced premium package purchase to the consumer. Bonham believes the key to succeeding with F2P is making users feel they don’t need an in-app purchase, but just really want it.

As a longtime console gamer, Bonham owns both PS4 and Xbox One. He plays more on the PS4 because he prefers the clean interface and finds Playstation Plus a fantastic value. He is curious to see how this generation of consoles will evolve. He believes we are beginning to see hybrid games combining some free-to-play business models and game mechanics inside traditional packaged console games, and is excited to see how this will develop.

Asia 2014 Video Coverage

Gwen Guo: Sound Decisions in the Game Development Pipeline| Casual Connect Video

May 21, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

“When you want to hire a sound designer, look out for portfolios that specifically talk about sound design,” Gwen Guo advises her audience at Casual Connect Asia 2014. “A composer will be able to have a portfolio that illustrates good music composition, but they may not necessarily have the portfolio that illustrates good sound design, so make sure there is that distinction when you go on looking for people to hire.”

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“IMBA Interactive just turned one!” Co-Founder Gwen Guo proudly announces. IMBA began when Guo and Co-Founders Sharon Kho and Jeremy Goh came out of the research program, Singapore-MIT Gambit Gamelab, where they had been prototyping and developing games based on research topics. They were inspired by how the audio designers were involved with the development team from the start of pre-production, and they wanted to bring this culture to Singapore. The three of them decided to form a company to provide high quality audio at reasonable rates. Guo states, “When you’re a company, you are in a better position to educate clients about how important audio is.” They also began forming a community of audio freelancers to share knowledge and open full-time jobs, since they prefer collaboration over competition.

1st Birthday — IMBA celebrating their first birthday

Beauty of Collaboration

Guo is proud to be a part of the indie community and is inspired by the positivity it spreads, especially in Singapore, where competition is rampant. She feels encouraged to see developers and creatives beginning to recognize the beauty and merits of collaboration rather than rivalry.

There are two emerging trends that Guo believes will significantly impact the games industry in the near future. The first is the increasing accessibility of audio middleware to indie developers. Wwise and FMOD, two of the most widely used audio implementation tools, recently changed their licenses favorably for indies. Now, if your total game development budget is USD $100,000 or less, FMOD is available to license at no cost. Wwise has a free license if there are fewer than 200 audio assets in the project. Guo believes this change will give rise to greater experimentation with audio implementation in a way that was not previously possible due to time and manpower constraints. She says, “Indies now have the power to push the boundaries of game audio.”

Since middleware is relatively new to Asia, IMBA must educate clients that value can be added to the game with compelling, well-executed audio. Eventually, Guo expects that developers will think about audio early in the production process rather than leaving it to the end.

Guo taking a group pic with Inzen Studio, the team behind Amazing Studly Strikes, which got Best in Sound and Music for Indie Prize CCAsia 2013 — Guo with Inzen Studio, the team behind Amazing Studly Strikes, which got Best in Sound and Music for Indie Prize CCAsia 2013

The second trend she sees results from better cloud storage and version control. Guo claims, “Service providers like ourselves can now work remotely while maintaining a solid working pipeline.” This is more efficient for the client because the service provider goes to them, rather than the reverse; equally important, companies could be visiting three different clients in a day using either a laptop or their desktop, and still communicate with the programmer who is physically present. Guo believes the increased contact will allow a more personal relationship with a client, adding to the positive work experience.

Rise of the Indies

Guo feels the biggest impact on the games industry as a whole will come from the rise of indie studios, with the possible decline of AAA studios. Indies now have tools, at a reasonable cost, to make great games. New ways to raise funds for the development of indie games, such as crowdfunding, are also available. Massive promotions from platforms, such as Steam’s Greenlight and the Humble Bundle, have led to the popularity of many indie games. For example, the complementary sale or gift of game soundtracks alongside the games themselves have proven popular and effective in boosting market exposure for indie games.

IMBA2 — IMBA posing in front of artwork from Witching Hour Studio’s upcoming game, Romans in My Carpet, a project they worked on.

When not at work, Guo’s activities are still closely connected to the games industry. Most often, she can be found gaming, sound recording, checking out electronic musicians, and reading about feminism, especially female/LGBTQ representation in games.

Having Fun

She prefers playing on PC, since this is what she grew up with. She enjoys the process of completely customizing it to best suit the games she plays, feeling this gives her a close connection that she can’t get on console.

For the past 12 years, she has been playing Team Fortress, ever since it was TFC; now she plays TF2, and, for a short time, played it competitively. She likes MMO games which have a social aspect, such as Lord of the Rings Online and Guild Wars 2, which she has been playing recently. She suggests, “The whole ecosystem of successful guilds brings out the best in people; for example, you craft items for newbies, expecting nothing in return.” As a self-described Tolkien geek, she admits that some of the side stories woven into the lore of Lord of the Rings Online have her completely hooked.

Development Exclusive Interviews Industry Online

Simon Mack: The Advantages of Developing for Mobile

May 5, 2014 — by Catherine Quinton

Simon Mack Photo — Simon Mack, CTO of NaturalMotion

Simon Mack, CTO of NaturalMotion, knew at an early age that he wanted a career in software development but, although he grew up playing games, he never considered the possibility of working in the games industry. While he was studying at his university, a friend introduced him to a company called MathEngine and the physics simulation middleware they were making. He says, “I was blown away—this was unlike anything I had seen before and more advanced than I had thought possible. I got an internship there and was hooked.”

Inspired by Technology

During Mack’s work on physics engines, he met Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion, and was inspired by the breakthrough technology his team was creating. He has now worked for the company for almost 11 years.

Today, NaturalMotion focuses on advancing its middleware technology with state-of-the-art character animation that scales across consoles and PC, as well as for their own mobile games. They also focus on growing and sustaining their mobile games such as Clumsy Ninja and their CSR franchise, while developing new breakthrough mobile games in new content categories. Emphasizing product value and customer experience is what allows NaturalMotion to build experiences thought to be impossible on mobile. And, they are always interested in hiring the best people to help take the company to the next level.

CSRRacingScreenshot5 — NaturalMotion is growing and sustaining their mobile games such as Clumsy Ninja and their CSR franchise.

No two days at NaturalMotion are the same; Mack claims it’s hard to imagine a “normal” day. Because they use agile, collaborative processes across all projects, usually they begin the day with scrums with various teams. The rest of the day includes such things as product reviews, tech planning, and helping teams resolve technical issues efficiently. Mack especially enjoys the sprint reviews where he sees the progress on each project. He points out, “With so many teams working across technology and games sections, there’s always something we’re working on together to raise the bar for incredible consumer experiences.”

When not hard at work, Mack does manage to fit in a bit of mobile gaming. These days, Mack’s mobile gaming includes Threes! and Boom Beach. He also admits to playing a lot of Zynga’s recent launch, Farmville 2 Country Escape; he enjoys the game’s visually rich design and depth of gameplay.

Succeeding on Your Own Merits

Clumsy Ninja Trampoline — In the games industry, Mack finds “a fantastic blend of genuinely cutting edge technology and artistic creativity, something that is found in very few places.”

In the games industry, Mack finds “a fantastic blend of genuinely cutting edge technology and artistic creativity, something that is found in very few places.” He enjoys the constant change and the inspiring talent the industry attracts, as well as the fact that it generally allows people to succeed on their own merits.

Mack has had considerable involvement with recruiting talent and offers this advice to people starting out in the games industry: “Build a portfolio that showcases your art or what kind of code you can write. I always enjoy interviews where the candidate shows off a personal project.”

Great Growth and Consumer Experience Opportunities

During the time Mack has been in the games industry, he has seen amazing technical progress in the console space as well as a change in the scale of games, development teams and budget growth. The results have been richer visuals and deeper AAA games with great content, causing a great deal of consolidation in the industry.

And, he notes that the past few years have seen amazing growth in mobile gaming. “Mobile games have enabled smaller teams to create high quality games more quickly, revitalizing the industry with massive opportunities for growth,” Mack says. “Millions of people who have never played traditional video games now play social games on mobile devices every day. Casual consumers benefit from far greater accessibility, social experiences, and lower costs, whilst hardcore consumers have better console-quality experiences than ever before and an increasing number of category options on mobile.”

CSR Classics Screenshot 2 — “Mobile games have enabled smaller teams to create high quality games more quickly, revitalizing the industry with massive opportunities for growth.”

But Mack sees possible mis-steps made by developers new to the industry, including determining the right level of innovation in technology. Some resist using middleware, preferring to develop their own solutions. So, as they re-invent the wheel, they have less efficient development time and miss the opportunity to use best-in-class technology.

Clumsy Ninja AppStore Icon — Simon Mack will be talking about Clumsy Ninja and the character animation system used to create their game during Casual Connect Asia 2014.

He also sees the opposite scenario: it is becoming more common for development teams to pick an off-the-shelf engine solution and simply add content. He believes this lack of technical innovation can lead to games that lack the ‘wow’ factor they need to stand out. At NaturalMotion, they emphasize constant innovation in technology while remaining as efficient as possible by using best practices and reusing existing systems when it makes sense.

Mack is excited to see how mobile technology will evolve over the next few years. He says, “We’re nearing the possibility of real console-quality on mobile devices, and it will be interesting to see how that is best leveraged in making games that appeal to both the mainstream market and the more hardcore player.”

Simon Mack will be talking about Clumsy Ninja and the character animation system used to create their game during Casual Connect Asia 2014. Find out more about his session here.