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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."

10 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Too low for development... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Funny

    For one game company I worked at, $700,000 wouldn't cover the CEO's salary and his NYC penthouse apartment for a year.

    1. Re:Too low for development... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Off the top of my head, I think NWN2 was the only game they came out with for this year.

  2. Wrong price! by LoudMusic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At $30 a pop for the title, PopCap is almost certain to make a profit.

    $30? I wouldn't pay that for a package of 5 of their games. And furthermore, $30 isn't the correct price.

    Buy Bookworm Deluxe today! Get unlimited play when you register and unlock your Deluxe game! Only $19.95.

    Or a bunch of games at $5.29 / game.

    Get 17 games for only $89.95. Save over 70% with the PopCap Platinum Pack

    I'd like to where I got the information from but I used the one in the main post.

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    1. 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.]

    2. 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.

    3. Re:Wrong price! by blueZhift · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Definitely too high. A $30 game is not going to move much with the casual crowd. Part of the reason for the success of the casual segment are the low, impulse buy range, prices of which $19.99 is usually the upper limit. Once you get out of that range, it's no longer a casual purchase. So I'd question the strategy of going to bigger budgets if it means the retail price of the games goes to more than $20.

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  3. 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.

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    Collector's Edition
  4. 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. :)

  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.

  6. Re:Burger King by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm guessing the cost of the game was to offset the publisher manufacturing fee and the entire budget was probably written off, so they weren't expecting to make a dime. (Generally MS, Sony & Nintendo charge upwards of %25 of a title in fees). I doubt though that it mattered much considering the advertising budget for playing all those commercials dwarfed the cost of the actual game. And seeing as the post above got someone to walk into a Burger King who hadn't been there in years I'd say they did the job.