WHICH ROAD TO TAKE ?

I had an interesting meeting today with my Chief of Games Operations and my game designer from UK on what's a good fair method to design our next game to be launched at the end of this year. We were presented with a competitors analysis of similar games and one of the key highlights was - what's bad about their game ? How unfair the game is designed as paying users can simply beat the hack up of non-paying users. This game happens to be from a friend studio whom is racking in above RMB 30 million + monthly revenues at the moment for the last 6 months ( *180 million ). I knew their logics behind the game play ...

My Chief of Ops and UK game designer wants a fair game for the 98% of players whom are non-paying as it is important to take care of the majority of the users. I cant say they are wrong but I knew many friends whom are doing web games from MMO RPG to RTS to SLG in China, many of them are on the edge of closing down their game simply because they are getting the revenues needed to survive. In one of the game studio that I had invested we had the best game designer and a huge team of experience game veterans but yet our 1st game failed to produce the needed "REVENUES" despite being a good game with lots of key features.

Then we meet another game investor whom had in his portfolio 3 studios and 2 games operation platform, I asked him to look at our game and tell me what he thinks ... "You guys have a good game play and mechanics but I'm sure you guys are not making money". I was shocked and asked him for his secret formula and he is nice enough to share the followings ...

1. Dont design your game to last forever for web games.
2. Design it to reap money from day one or basically grab as much money as possible.
3. Make sure the 2% of the paying are happy and let them kick the ass out of the 98% whom dont pay.

Does the above make a good game ?

Maybe not but it sure pays the bill as all 3 of his games are racking in millions while mine is only making users happy. So there is no right or wrong way of making a game. You can have a damn good game but if its FREE TO PLAY and you are not getting the revenues eventually you will need to close doors as someone needs to pay the bill.

My final advice to my team is that ... lets get a game or two that will pay the bills first then we move on towards creating a damn good game that maybe will get us an award in the future.

How to spend your funding ?

Many venture capital firms or professionals would want you to spend wisely and most importantly get break-even point before spending more. One of my VC told me recently that the next trench of money coming in will be for me to expand the company fast. While the 1st trench is for me to get the company towards break-even. This sounds logically.

Here's a real case in China.

2 similar companies in the same internet P2P download industry, both obtained a few million USD in funding. Company A upon receiving the funding move into low gear, calculate their financials and base their new business plans towards ensuring the company will survive for the next 7 to 8 years. While Company B designed their financials and business plan to only last 12 months, basically going to spend all their money away to get market share. Today Company A is still around, became a small player in the P2P download business. They still have their Series A money in the bank with a good small healthy profit margin each month. Company B on the other had become China largest P2P download site and a key player in the online games cooperative publishing business racking millions of RMB each month. VC are chasing to throw money at them everyday while Company A is seeking their Series B funding to expand its business.

I meet another VC friend based in South China and had a long chat with him after reading one of his term sheet which requires the company to pay back the investment within 5 years if the company do not go IPO or being acquired unless the company cant last 5 years. I asked him the reason why ? He said that all the money they invest into a company is for them to spend and make a success out of the company. It is not for survival so the founders shouldn't design the company for survival. If they lose all the money in the right way then be it ! But if they dont spend and slowly spend the money for survival then its better for a VC to invest in stocks.

So in theory the money is for you to either grow BIG and HUGE or just simply die and close down. I strongly believe in this method whereby the entrepreneur should plan to use the money to grow, expand and make the business huge or if he wants to do it slowly then dont take VC money.

Many may not agree with this notion and concept tho' for many reasons. Many VC wants a healthy portfolio that's alive and kicking. Some believe that survival allows a company to sit and wait for the right time and moment to come just like gambling we need patience.

Facebook will never be in China

Facebook growth is slowing down at 500 million + friends suddenly it seems everyone you and I know is on Facebook. Where and how are they going to further grow the numbers ? Many experts predicts China and possibly India or Russia.

Maybe Russia but even then Russia have its own FB version already today.

China will never happen not because MySpace failed in China but simply because the Facebook Mark Z. attitude and character will never get pass the great China firewall. Take - "Facebook Refuses To Take Down Tributes To UK Murderer" as a good example.Facebook isunder fire in the UK today for its refusal to take down tributes to UK murderer Raoul Moat, the man who killed one and shot two others in a rampage across the North of England.

Sorry I have to stamp Facebook Failed in China unless the attitude changes.

China Online Games Market 2010

China has 400 million Internet users, a quarter of them avid gamers, according to the China Internet Network Information Center. Despite that enormous market, shares of Tencent, the Chinese market leader in Web-based games, has dropped 23 percent this year. Perfect World, another major operator, is off 47 percent, and Shanda Games (GAME) is down 42 percent.

With more Internet users in China than any other country, the Chinese game market seems ripe for growth. Two-thirds of Chinese have never been online and nearly half of China's Web surfers are under 25. Gaming companies have lot to worry about : while they see plenty of potential growth in poorer regions, it's getting harder to find players who aren't already online in Beijing, Shanghai, and other big cities.

The industry's revenues are likely to grow 22 percent this year, to $4.5 billion, that's far below last year's 40 percent. All that means the search for new hit games is urgent. This year, Chinese companies will launch 400 new titles, vs. 250 in 2009, competition is getting really hot. It's hard to stand out in the market because many operators have been churning out similarly themed medieval fantasies with titles such as Battle of Immortals and Dragon Power. Just search how many "3 Kingdoms" (san guo) MMO are there in China?

The there is the Chinese government new regulations to worry about, the Ministry of Culture on June 22 announced regulations setting guidelines for the look and feel of games and requiring that social gamers register under their real names. The ministry also set limits on sales to minors of items using virtual currency, or points earned playing online. But what's most scary is the poaching of games development teams that is happening in the Chinese MMO industry now. Companies are hiring head hunters to practically steal competitors or potential game development teams with x2 the salaries sometimes. Some are using unethical techniques to WIN at the game by way of obtaining source codes illegally. Such practises are what killing the industry today.

Gameforge to publish STAR TREK Browser-Based Games

German online game publisher Gameforge announced today that it had closed a licensing deal with CBS Consumer Products to create two browser-based free-to-play games based on the Star Trek license. These games will be casual offerings designed to complement the Cryptic/Atari subscription MMO Star Trek Online.

One of Gameforge's Star Trek games will be for Facebook and developed by an unnamed external German studio. Another unnamed external studio in California will handle development of a second browser-based Star Trek game. The games will be published simultaneously in the US and Europe. One will be based on the original Star Trek series while the other will be based on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It is not yet confirmed what type of game either title will be or how it will monetize.

*MOVIES ONLINE GAMES is becoming a trend now and we will see its streams of successes and also failures in 2011 to come.

Movies Online Games *MOG

February 2009 was the month I initiated "EUROWEB" a Flash MMO studio whom will solely concentrate on producing Flash base MMORPG online games based on top Chinese blockbuster movies. We were the 1st worldwide to produce Flash MMORPG online games based on movie IP and to launch a playable demo before the movie goes on the silver screen.

And now 18 months later the market is moving towards exactly the vision I had ...


THE MUMMY ONLINE

If the unique yet satisfying blend of horror, comedy and Brendan Fraser are your thing, then you're probably a big fan of The Mummy movie franchise. Nothing uplifts ancient Egyptian culture like making a mockery of their dead while looting their final burial place. In any case, Bigpoint and Universal Studios are teaming up to bring The Mummy Online, an action-RPG MMO, to gamers this fall.The title will be set in the same 1930's time period as the feature films, and will feature PvE and PvP play. Interested gamers should be pleased to note that it will be both browser-based (powered by Unity technology) and free-to-play, so there's no legitimate objection to giving it a try. Unless you're a scaredy-cat, of course.Universal's Bill Kispert chimed in with the announcement: "The Mummy franchise is chock full of exotic settings, supernatural enemies, exciting quests, and over the top action. It is ripe with gameplay possibilities, and we look forward to extending our relationship with Bigpoint to bring the world of The Mummy to life for gamers."

If these movie IP franchise works on Flash MMO then we will be seeing more MOG *movie online games concept mushrooming all over the world. What next ? I believe that movie IP on Facebook social games and iPhone / iPad games will become a bigger hit to come. YOU GUESS it RIGHT ! I m working on producing a Movie IP base game for the mobile in China as a new pet project with a friend.

81 NOTES : The Successful Entrepreneurs

What kind of entrepreneurs can succeed ?
From my personal experience I can see 2 types of successful entrepreneurs :

1.) The Born Entrepreneurs Type.

*These are people whom are born entrepreneurs, they cant work for anyone and they constantly have new bright ideas almost every week on what can be done to make money. Basically they just love making money as its in their blood stream. For many the roads ahead may not be easy as born entrepreneurs strive through lots of hardship sailing through failures after failures before reaching success. But they never give up hope for success and they know it is just around the next corner. Their experience is something that even Havard or Insead cant teach, their hardship in building a success enterprise whether big or small is something no case study can really tell you to the point.

2.) The Worker Entrepreneurs Type.

*Very often we see most new entrepreneurs whom had almost immediately achieved good initial success are those from this category. They often spend many years working in a company and along the way acquired the know-how of the business they worked day in / day out. When they finally decided to throw in the towel and venture into the business world, some smarter ones will actually initiate the same business similar or an exact copy of their employer. Some would even take a client or two with them when they start. These entrepreneurs have with them the know-how and mechanics of the business so initial success will be easier. But taking a business beyond what you have already known is the big challenge to come.

Successful entrepreneurs must have the never dying spirit inside themselves to succeed. When the going gets tough the tough gets going on ...

Once a friend told me about his problems back in Malaysia about how he also want to drive a Mercedes like me and how he wished he also could do business, make money and owns several apartments. We looked into what he could do and what he knows + how much he have and whether he is suitable for the entrepreneur life of hardship and sometimes you'll probably be worse off than when you are working a stable 9to5 job.

We found that he knows only what he is doing now best and we studied his employer business model and its often not surprising that it can be mimic and his clients are more than supportive for a lower price point. And so he took the 2nd road towards entrepreneurship and made lots of money along the next 4 years, drives 3 cars and purchased 4 apartments. All great entreprenuers are not just born lucky, well some are but many are carved out by themselves or someone along the road towards success. My friend business later failed and he lost all his money, cars and apartments today. But most important of all he also lost his confidence of becoming a success again. As an entrepreneur you can lose everything but never your confidence in yourself to come back up again.