Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Casual Games Now Have Serious Budgets

Posted by Zonk on from the hardcore-money dept.

eldavojohn writes "CNN is running a story on the increasingly-lucrative market for casual gaming. The article mentions that the latest PopCap game 'Bookworm Adventures' cost $700,000 to create. At $30 a pop for the title, PopCap is almost certain to make a profit." From the article: "Casual gamers play to relax -- the same reason people play solitaire, dominoes or mahjong. The games can be played for 5 minutes -- while the baby is sleeping or between office meetings -- or for hours at a stretch in a Zen-like trance. Big Fish Games Inc. released its most expensive title -- 'Travelogue 360: Paris' -- earlier this month. The Seattle-based company spent $300,000, hired seasoned illustrators and photographers, and bought the rights to images of historic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. Players scour Paris for souvenirs as they are interviewed for an article in a travel magazine."

7 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Burger King by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What about Burger King's new games? $4 for something that actually doesn't look too bad; probably Xbox-age graphics, but still playable no doubt.

    1. Re:Burger King by twistedsymphony · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm quite fond of the Burger King games... the value meal I had to buy to get them was the first time I set foot in a Burger King in a LONG time but it was worth it for the cheap entertainment those games have provided. Sneak King is entertaining on concept alone, but Pocketbike Racer is entertaining for it's multiplayer capabilities (both online and off).

      I'm curious how much those games actually cost to make, and if the development costs were just seen as an advertising budget to get people to buy more burgers or if they're actually turning a profit on these games and the advertising/burgers is just a happy side effect.

      --
      Collector's Edition
    2. Re:Burger King by JFMulder · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I can't point to a source but I remember reading that the games were written off as marketing, not a product they expect to make a profit on, but I think they will nonetheless. I have the 3 games at home, I bought all of them with my lunch (hadn't been to BK for a couple of months) the day they came out but I haven't unwrapped them yet, I'm still stuck on Gears Of War on the 360 and Final Fantasy 3 and Elite Beat Agents on the DS.

      But I hear that they are great value. Can't wait to unlock those achievements. :)

  2. Re:Too low for development... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Steps to become a profitable Game company.

    Step 1 - beat the hell out of the CEO and other executives and kick them out the door WITHOUT a golden parachute. Executives are nothing but dead weight on a company anyways.

    Step 2 - make a fun game that is scalable and fast to play. If you can make it playable and fun on cellphones, you will get rich overnight.

    Step 3 reinvest - but DO NOT hire any typical executives. Make their job based on comission or performance if the company profits, so do they. IF the company tanks, SO DO THEY!.

    Modern executives are assholes that are simply doing nothing valuable for the company and spending the money like water for their lavish lifestyle. No Executive should have a salary ABOVE 50K, everything else they make needs to be attached to profits, if they work hard and make the company very profitable, they benefit and get lots of money.

    but that's honest work, and we all know that Executives dont like the honest work.

  3. Re:Wrong price! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think you nailed the point of the article. There are two markets:

    One for the regular gamer, who demands any or all of the following:

    - a storyline
    - 30 or 40 hours of solo gameplay
    - online capablity (so the game doesn't "lose" value when s/he finishes the solo gameplay)

    These people will pay $30 to $50 per game with the above attributes and feel that they got their money's worth, and that their intelligence wasn't insulted by pushing something like Pac-Man for $50.

    The second market is for casual gamers, who demand any or all of the following:

    - Doesn't take long to master
    - Doesn't get old or boring quickly
    - Can be played in short bursts (no complicated storylines here)
    - Has unlimited replay value.

    These people will pay $20 or $30 per game with the above attributes and also feel that they got their money's worth. They don't feel ripped off because they are getting exactly what they wanted.

    I fall into the latter category. I picked up a DS Lite about a month ago with three games, and played nothing but Tetris for the first three weeks (maybe a an hour was spent on the two other games). $150 to play a single game might look retarded from the average gamer's point of view, but I couldn't be happier with my purchase. By the look of this news item, I'm not the only one willing to spend a high amount on a single game.

    [For the record, I've started playing the two other games and now I'm addicted to Advance Wars: Dual Strike.]

  4. Re:Wrong price! by kalirion · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I loved the Zuma Deluxe (another PopCap title) trial, and when months later I noticed it for $9.99 at Best Buy, I bought it without a second thought. I'm not sure how many hours I spent playing and enjoying the game, but it was more than enough to justify that particular price. I don't think I would've bought it for $20, but in hindsight it still would have been a good deal. $30 would've been too expensive though.

    I still come back to it once in a while to try to finish the last level, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do so.

  5. Big Fish Games at Lowtide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is funny that Big Fish Games can spend over $300,000 on a game but in another turn laying off a people to "streamline" the company (aka people who couldn't play the politics, so we got rid of them).

    You can read it here at Seattle Post Intelligencer site: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archive s/107586.asp

    The comments in this blog are fasinating.