Muse.On-The.Net

In the early days of computer games developers created games paid for from their own pockets. Similarly, the rewards were all theirs. However, as the costs of development grew - as did the size of the potential audience - it became increasingly expensive and risky to create and to market new games. In stepped the publisher. As the games increased yet again in complexity and markets became global, the relationship heavily favoured the publisher. Most developers work becomes, in effect, work-for-hire, and only the exceptionally gifted make real profits.

Shift forward to today and to mobile phone games and the same scenario is progressing, such that 80% of the games sold on carrier decks are controlled by a small number of mobile phone publishers. Is this inevitable?

There is some speculation that a new distribution model may alter this path and produce a new equilibrium between game publishers and developers. This is through the means of digital distribution direct to consumers.

For mobile phones, this usually means working with a mobile portal which provides the context, framework, and audience. Kalador is an example of a mobile storefront where games are provided to customers without intervention of publishers or carriers. Sales and marketing initiatives are inherently provided to developers and provides strong back-end value.

An additional advantage of digital distribution is the customer focus and potential for intimacy. As David Perry, CEO of GameConsultants.com told GDC, “in the old days when I was making console titles you had no relationship with the public at all. […] They’re sold and whatever they thought of the game was up to them; there’s no feedback to you and you move onto the next project.”

Digital distribution enables the customer to have a voice that reaches the game designers themselves - creating the potential for interactive game development, particularly in MMO style games. Games can be envisioned where direct customer feedback shapes the look and feel of the game itself, allowing for multiple iterations of content, keeping the game fresh and customers spending.

However, the initial investment costs to create a game remain, and the publisher-developer model is well-suited to spreading the risk over multiple projects. It is unlikely that publishers will disappear any time soon, but the lure of new business models and the huge growth of free mobile phone games sites like MobileRated (growing over 25% per month and which, in part, recovers costs through in-game advertising) mean developers have choices. These choices mean leverage, and perhaps a new balancing of the revenue share equation.