Top Global Markets for Online Games and how to speak to the gamers

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Top Global Markets for Online Games (and how to
speak to the gamers)

• David Lakritz
• Language Automation, Inc.
• ION 08
• May 13, 2008

2
Overview

• Worldwide online game market survey
• Round-the-world tour
• Success factors
• Multicultural game deployment
• Conclusions

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WW Online Game Market (B)
Data DFC Intelligence
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ROW Online Game Market (B)
Data DFC Intelligence
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Breakdown by Genre (2007)
Data DFC Intelligence
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Breakdown by Genre (2012)
Data DFC Intelligence
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WW Market Drivers

• Broadband penetration
• Increased acceptance of online game play
• Plummeting cost and accessibility of technology
• Social networking phenomenon

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WW Market Drivers

• Broadband penetration
• Increased acceptance of online game play
• Plummeting cost and accessibility of technology
• Social networking phenomenon

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Growth in Broadband
Data DFC Intelligence
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Growth in Broadband wrt market
Data DFC Intelligence
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Where the gamers are
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Asia
50
13
North America
30
14
Europe
20
15
Asia
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Asia

• China
• S. Korea
• Japan
• Taiwan AustraliaHong KongSingapore

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China

• Broadband penetration
• 12 HH
• Languages
• Simplified Chinese

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China cultural taboos

• Number four (4) is bad luck, number eight (8) is
  good luck
• Never wear red to a funeral, only black
• Do not sweep the floor the first day of the
  Chinese New Year
• Dont wash your hair either (it might wash away
  your wealth)

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China regulatory issues

• 10 separate agencies independently regulate and
  police the game industry
• 21 documents need to be filed
• Sale of console hardware is banned.
• The Ministry of Culture publishes a list of
  banned content.
• Any other content forbidden by laws and
  regulations is also banned.
• The Great Firewall

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China top 10 online games 2007
Source China Analyst
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S. Korea

• Broadband penetration
• 80 HH
• Languages
• Korean

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S. Korea regulatory issues

• Video game violence is controversial in South
  Korea.
• For a long time many games were banned
• Strategy changed with launch of GRB (Game Rating
  Board) in Oct. 2007
• Now, violent games are rated.

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S. Korea popular online games 2006

• Lineage
• Kingdom of the Wind
• Mu
• Laghaim
• Ragnarok
• Fortress
• Kart Rider
• Casual games are popular
• many portals

Source DFC Intelligence
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Japan

• Broadband penetration
• 51 HH
• Languages
• Japanese

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Japan cultural taboos

• Dont stick your chopsticks into your bowl of
  rice, because thats what is done at funerals.
• Don't point with your chopsticks.
• Don't, while talking to a superior, refer to them
  with "you."

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Japan regulatory issues

• Games are rated by the Computer Entertainment
  Rating Organization (CERO)
• Violent games are tolerated, but games with
  excessive violence are censored
• In Japan, more attention is on pornography

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Japan popular online games

• Table/card games
• RPGs
• Puzzles
• However, Japanese typically not big on hardcore
  MMOGing

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Rest of Asia
Source (BB) DFC Intelligence
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Rest of Asia - regulatory

• Australia rating done by Office of Film and
  Literature Classification
• Singapore new age-based rating system
  introduced
• 2 categories Age Advisory (gt 16) and M18 (gt 18)
• Everything else approved for general consumption

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Europe
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Europe

• FranceUKGermanyItalySpainNetherlands

• Belgium SwedenSwitzerlandDenmarkPortugalAustr
  iaFinlandNorway

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Europe (1)
Source (BB) DFC Intelligence
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Europe (2)
Source (BB) DFC Intelligence
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Europe cultural taboos

• UK - Asking anyone over 30 how old they are, or
  asking anyone how much they weigh. Especially
  women.
• UK - Pointing at people.
• Spain, Belgium Making jokes about the King or
  his family.
• Netherlands Making fun of Dutch people thinking
  they all live in windmills, love tulips, eat lots
  of cheese and own cows.

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Europe - regulatory

• Many ratings agencies
• Europe (excluding Germany) - Pan European Game
  Information (PEGI)
• Germany - Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
  (USK)
• Finland - Valtion elokuvatarkastamo, Finnish
  Board of Film Classification
• United Kingdom - British Board of Film
  Classification

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Europe - games

• WOW
• Much crossover with NA MMOGs
• Soccer
• Social gaming
• Spain racing and sports games
• UK FPS

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North America
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A Word about North America

• Canada 10 of U.S. pop. but higher per capita
  BB penetration
• Canada is much less regulated than the U.S.
• Canadian French is NOT European French
• Canada (including French-speaking Quebec) uses
  the same ESRB rating system as the United States.
  

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Western MMOGs (4/08)
Source MMOGChart.com
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Global Market Success Factors

• Tailor your game to the market linguistically and
  culturally
• Understand the target market work with a local
  expert
• Start early in the creative process
• There are no right answers, it depends on your
  target audience

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Multicultural Game Deployment

• Creative issues
• Localized -gt Internationalized -gt Globalized
• Database organization
• Flat vs. hierarchical (region/country)
• Operation Maintenance
• Localization process/workflow
• ? Critical factors for successfully deploying an
  online game across multiple languages and cultures

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Conclusions

• Maturing market will demand better localized,
  culturally tailored content
• Work with local experts and start early in the
  creative process
• Build a solid infrastructure that can scale with
  the market
• The world is actually a small place

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Questions?

• David LakritzLanguage Automation,
  Inc.dave_at_lai.com