A word about the Polish gaming market

Last January, I was travelling in the European east. The main purpose of this trip was to finish my post-doctorate research about “Advergames: games as marketing tools” that I developed with Paneurópska vysoká škola at Bratislava (Slovakia). I presented the results and it was great (one more trophy achieved on the academic game).

After some days in Bratislava, I travelled to Kiev (Ukraine) and then to Krakow (Poland). In the last part of this trip, in Poland, I visited one awesome gaming studio named Moonlit. Knowing that the Polish land is a great market for games, I sent some e-mails trying to contact people from the local industry to share some ideas and discover new points of view. I talked to Mateusz Wanatowicz, PR and marketing specialist in Moonlit Games. Below, I surmised our conversation, sharing highlights of the polish gaming industry, Moonlit projects and an overview of polish gaming market.

1.Why do we need to pay attention to the Polish gaming market?

Well, it’s one very important market in the central Europe. According to the last Newzoo gaming research, the country (with a population of 34 million people) has profited around 500 million dollars with gaming products. In comparison to Brazil - a country with 210 million people and a profit of 1.3 billion dollars in the gaming market - it’s a very interesting emergent market to pay attention to.





2. About Moonlit Games studio

Moonlit is a gaming studio and a software house. In 2018, the company started to produce two authorial projects: Playerless - an arcade game where you need to fix bugs and the NPCs to run it correctly (PC); and Ignis - a battle arena game with wizards, sorcery and combats (PC and Xbox). Below, you can check some trailers and contents from both games.








3. Some aspects of the Polish gaming industry 

It is a promising industry as we saw in the first topic. According to Wanatowicz, the government of Poland sees this industry as a profitable area to invest money in and an entry door for many startups and small initiatives for new business. Wanatowicz highlighted that big events, games jams and young talents are receiving support from the government; and, another important point: careers in gaming area (coding, game designing, 3D art etc.) are also prominent in the academic area.

Another important thing to mention is the fact that the games from the series “The Witcher” were a way to present the Polish gaming industry to the whole world.

It is important to say that board games and card games have a main role in this context too. Local production of analogic games is growing year by year.

4.Polish gamers

Wanatowicz also said that Polish gamers, in a general way, support the local industry and they are proud of the national industry and gaming production.

5.A final message to the Gaming Conceptz audience

Mateusz Wanatowicz emphasizes that part of the success of a gaming industry is about how government, gamer community, studios/companies and universities can join powers to create a fertile ecosystem for different kinds of projects. Big initiatives as “The Witcher” series are fundamental, but supporting indie studios, small startups, events and clear marketing rules are also a key for a good gaming market.



Note: check Moonlit works in the official site and social media by clicking in the links!

#GoGamers

A Word About the Brazilian Gaming Market

(NOTE: this content is a teaser from my HCI's 2019 paper and the last post of this year)

The Brazilian gaming market is full of opportunities and peculiarities. The country is well-known abroad for being an emergent field where new game ideas can be explored, andalso for its high levels of piracy, unfortunately. In a certain way, the country is a unique “ecosystem” where different business models and creative processes can be explored, given the size and the diversity of its population, of almost 220 million people.

The gaming industry in Brazil is not consolidated though, and under many aspects it is still in an initial stage. As a first step into our discussion, we can highlight some attributes of the Brazilian gaming market, using as reference the data collected in an important survey named Game Brazil Research 2018 (Pesquisa Game Brasil 2018, in Portuguese), conducted by the company Sioux Games.



In its fifth edition, the research comprised interviews with 2853 people, in an attempt to investigate some demographic, consumption and behavioral aspects of the Brazilian gaming field. The first information we need to highlight is the fact that 75.5% of the Brazilian population plays games in a wide range of platforms, like smartphones, tablets, computers, consoles, portable consoles, etc.

According to this research, the gamer audience in Brazil is mainly cross-platform,with 74% of players experiencing games on more than one device. Smartphones lead the numbers as the most popular gaming platforms in Brazil (37.6%), while consoles occupy the second place (28.8%), followed by computers, in third place (26.4%).

Another interesting piece of information from Game Brazil Research 2018 concerns the self-image of the Brazilian gamer audience: only 6.1% of the respondents considered themselves to be “hardcore” gamers. Most of the interviewed people identified themselves as casual gamers.

It was also remarkable, in the research about mobile games, that 60.7% of respondents said they played while in transit (bus, subway or car).

Finally, it is noteworthy that 53.6% of Brazilian gamers are women, and among the female audience the favorite platform is mobile (59%), in which they spend an average of one to three hours a week playing games.

From these preliminary data, it is possible to understand that Brazil is a fertile ground for mobile games and a place with high potential for new gaming business in this field.

There are no massive game publishers in Brazil yet, and mobile platforms like App Store (Apple) and Play Store (Google) constitute interesting opportunities for game designers, indie studios and small gaming companies to showcase their work, in Brazil and abroad.

#GoGamers

Highlights from Brazilian gaming market & 10 facts about games and women in this scenario

The Brazilian gamer consolidates with a cross-platform profile - 74% play on more than one device. The smartphone remains the most popular (77.9%), followed by computers (66.4%) and consoles (49%). Despite all the popularity of the games, only 6.1% of the respondents consider themselves as "hardcore gamers". Most identify themselves as a casual consumer, who uses games only as a simple form of entertainment (54.1%).

The preferred device to play is the smartphone, chosen by 37.6% of gamers, followed by consoles (28.8%) and computer (26.4%).

Their favorite game category is Strategy (50.9%), followed by Adventure (45%). An interesting fact is that these two types of games are among the preferred for both sexes, however, Action, Racing and Sports games are only present in the top 5 of men, while Cards, MatchThree and Trivia games are those that Complete the women's Top 5.

There are several places where the consumer plays. With the smartphones mobility, 60.7% of respondents say they play when they are in transit (bus, subway or car). However, contrary to previous research, this was not consecrated as the moment of greater consumption of games, since 71% of gamers also said to use the smartphone to play at home.

Source: Pesquisa Game Brazil 2017 (English version)

• • •

Fact #1
53,6% of Brazilian gamers are women.

Fact #2
59% define themselves as “casual gamers”.

Fact #3
Their favorite categories are:
1. Strategy (48,9%)
2. Adventure (38,9%)
3. Cards (36,1%)
4. Match Three (35,4%)
5. Trivia (33,5%)

Fact #4
Features that like most in a game:
1. Several levels;
2. Strategy definition;
3. That is ‘light’;
4. Big challenges;
5. That is beautiful.

Fact #5
Favorite Platform:
Mobile (59%)

Fact #6
Where do you play on mobile?
Home (64%)
Traffic (64%)
Work (37%)
Friend’s house (35%)

Fact #7
Favorite Brands:
Samsung in mobile
Xbox 360 in console
Windows 7 as computer so

Fact #8
Play videogame between 1 to 3 hours weekly.

Fact #9
44% of women gamers play at Facebook.

Fact #10
50% of players search for news about apps and games on social network.

Source: Pesquisa Game Brazil 2017 (English version)

#GoGamers

Who are millennials gamers?

Source: Twitch - The New Face of Gamers, February 2014.

Tks to Marcelo Spina for the content. =)

E3 2014

Last week, I visited the famous Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The fair is well known as one of the biggest videogame events in the world, and every year the trends and launchings of such market are presented in this mega fair.



The experience of two days fully immersed in new games, videogames, game accessories, gaming conferences, and gamers was too complex to synthetize in a small post, so I decided to create a list of highlights of the fair, divided by subject:

1) Games, games and more games: this year great games were announced in the event, like Little Big Planet 3, The Order 1886, Alien: isolation, Evolve, Super Smash Bros WiiU, the new Halo and Batman: Arkham Knight, only to name a few blockbusters. The experimental games also gained terrain and titles like Entwined, Abzû (I felt mesmerized by this one, check the trailer below) and No Man’s Sky had good space at E3.



2) Sony’s press conference: I watched the exclusive presentation about the future of the PlayStation platform. The company said that, for 2014/2015, the focus would be on more free content and in exploring the videogame as an entertainment central. Sony intends to launch each TV of the brand with PlayStation Network embedded in its interface, so it will be possible to play some of the games without a PS console. Another great revelation from Sony is the PlayStation TV, a U$ 99,00 device with access to exclusive content (animations, movies, documentaries etc.) created exclusively for PS network, the first production will be an animation of the comic book POWERS (created by Brain Bendis). You can watch the full conference in the video below:


3) Nintendo: the brand bets on classic characters but showed nothing relevant to the public.

4) Microsoft: the Halo franchising was the great highlight of Microsoft’s stand. The Xbox One with new Kinect interactions generated good experiences for the public. Microsoft bets on a perfect balance between the casual and the hardcore player.

5) Accessories: loads of equipment were displayed at the fair, like joysticks, screens and special chairs, but the true highlight was the VR devices like Oculus and the Virtuix Omni (check the video).



6) Final thoughts and some pics: staying in touch with the experience of E3 is something unique. The fair is a place to see how the next year will be in the gaming market, to anticipate the future and make good networking. I came back to Brazil full of ideas (and souvenirs from the stands) and I want to work hard to put some projects in practice as soon as possible (a new book among them). And check some images from this great event.



Go gamers!

Article: Brazilian Gaming Market

Craving to disseminate information about the Brazilian gaming market, my friend Mauro Berimbau and I wrote a brief article explaining some peculiarities of this environment with many relevant research data. We want to share our feelings with you.



Click here to download the PDF. We are waiting for your opinions!

Serious games: origins

Recently, we have heard a lot about serious games. The media is talking about the use of gaming activities for a great number of purposes including: e-learning, training, advertising, healthcare, social causes, education, etc.



However, the term "serious game" is not new and has been used for a long time, being redefined over the years. Author Clark Abt in his 1970 book "Serious Games" sets the following definition:

“Reduced to its formal essence, a game is an activity among two or more independent decision-makers seeking to achieve their objectives in some limiting context. A more conventional definition would say that a game is a context with rules among adversaries trying to win objectives. We are concerned with serious games in the sense that these games have an explicit and carefully thought-out educational purpose and are not intended to be played primarily for amusement”.

By that time we didn’t have any digital games, but it’s possible to imagine these concepts applied to analogical games.

A little bit of history always helps to improve our gaming researches.

Money through mobile games

As you know, I’m a postgraduate research student and graduation level teacher in Brazil. At this moment, I’m teaching Digital Media and Gaming Concepts to my students. In a specific class about mobile gaming there’s question that comes up every semester: “How can we make money through mobile games?”

Ok, the world is going mobile and everybody wants to create the new Angry Birds to become a millionaire, but it’s essential to analyse some important business models inside this complex (and gigantic) market. In this post I just want to highlight some of these models. It is not my intention to write a complete document about this subject.



1. Freemium (a neologism mixing “free” and “premium”): is a business model by which a game is provided free of charge, but money is charged for advanced features, functionalities, or virtual goods. “Cut the rope” is an example of freemium game because you can download the content and play ten stages of the game, but if you want the complete experience its mandatory to pay. “Zombie Tsunami” is an example of how a company can make money with in-game equipment (players are invited to visit a virtual shop to buy scenarios, powers, clothes, etc. with real credits).

2. Ads and banners: there are a lot of free games with advertising inside its interface. It’s very common to find a free game with ads/banners in the screen. Sometimes it sucks but someone needs to pay the price and advertising could be an answer.

3. In-Game Advertising: refers to the use of digital games as a medium for the delivery of advertisements. This is a better way to put products and services in the interface. We have a lot of examples of brands that created games for its products, like “CP3K” running game from Nike.

4. Free for long-term profit: a good strategy for small companies in the beginning of its existence is to give the whole game for free or put the game for free for a while and put a minimum price on it after a few weeks. In the beginning it’s necessary to build a name in the mobile gaming field. If your first game was good, certainly people will pay for expansions or new ones.

5. Put a price on it: there’s no rule about a price for a mobile game. In this case it’s important to have an overview about similar games to create a coherent value to your game.

There’s a lot of another strategies to create “talkability” and make your game to go viral. It’s possible to distribute promotional numbers for free downloads to influent people, use social media, etc. but this is a subject for another post.

Now on to your opinion.

Made for Play: Board Games & Modern Industry

Excellent content. Brilliant documentary. One master piece about the board games industry in Europe.



Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games.

This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game.

Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!

For more information on The Spiel and our media coverage of the game playing world, visit thespiel.net

Brazilian gaming market

Good content to share: high level game facts from the brazilian national gamers survey.
Source: NEWZOO (2011)

New data about the brazilian gaming market

Brazil doesn’t have a formal gaming industry, and the country holds high levels of piracy. However, a recent survey made by a brazilian research institute shows that:

1 - There are 46 million gamers in Brazil (23% of the population);
2 - The most frequently used platforms: 67% console, 42% computer, 17% smartphone or tablet and 7% portable consoles.
3 - 47% of the gamer audience are women.
4 - The current market is US$ 500 million, but in 2016 the brazilian market is expected to reach US$ 2 billion.



There is no doubt that we have a potential market.

Then there is the question: why doesn't the market grow anymore?

The answer is: the lack of government incentives is delaying the development of the brazilian gaming industry. High taxes hinder progress. Bureaucracy keeps foreign companies away from our territory.

Isolated initiatives do not gain strength. What remains is to wait for better times.