WEE makes education happen!
WEE World Educational Entertainment
Class: Date of Submission: Video Game Design & Programming April 23, 2015
Team Members: David McAleese Jason Garcia David Garcia Jazmine Cespedes
Table of Content
Team Bio Sheet………………………3
Verification…………………..………4
Executive Summary…………….……5
Company Description………….…….7
Company Ownership…….…….…….8
Products and Services……………....15
Market Analysis………………….....18
Marketing Plan…………..………….25
Management and Operations Plan….28
Financial Plan……………………….30
2
TEAM BIO SHEET
Financial Manager/Project Manager: David McAleese
David is an A+ student in his Video Game Design & Programming class, an avid video game player, a black- belt in Karate and a proven leader as an elected Skills USA Parliamentarian. His technical skills include writing programming code, HTML & web design. As a Parliamentarian, David has fine-tuned his presentation and public speaking skills.
Lead Artist/ Level Designer: Jazmine Cespedes
Jazmine is an A+ student in her Video Game Design & Programming class, an avid video game player, and a Van Guard award winner. She is a talented and skilled artist who has the ability to create, draw and digitize her original artwork for use in original game builds. She possesses great communication skills and is able to construct a level with input from game build team members including the user interface designer, game writer, and audio engineer.
Audio Director/Game Writer: Jason Garcia
Jason is an A+ student in his Video Game Design & Programming class, and an avid multi-player video game player and quest leader. He is a good dramatic writer, savvy with technology, and an excellent communicator. His past game build experience proves that he has the ability needed to keep all aspects of character and dialogue moving the story forward from opening scene to final obstacle. Jason technical skills include programming code, sound mixing, adding sound tracks and creating sounds for game builds.
Game Designer/User Interface Designer: David Garcia
David is an A+ student in his Video Game Design & Programming class, and an avid video game player on both on-line and with multiple gaming platforms including XBOX, PS4 and WII. He possesses keen technical skills for core mechanics needed to create successful game builds and the ability to evaluate how the player progresses from one level to another. He is also proficient in programming and applying the use of game-specific controllers needed for top performance and playability for a game build.
3 LETTER OF VERIFICATION
4
1:0 EXECUTIVE SUMMERY
Name of business: World Educational Entertainment (WEE)
Team member’s roles and job descriptions:
Financial Manager/Project Manager: David McAleese
Responsibilities: Coordinate all of the lead managers and enduring that all project components are on task and well managed. Setting of the production schedule and tracking that all jobs are completed on tine and on budget. Oversees all marketing, advertising and promotions. Evaluates customer research market conditions and competitor data.
Lead Artist/ Level Designer: Jazmine Cespedes Responsibilities: Day-to-day leader of the design team. Create the visual elements of the game. Manage the art designer and the workflow needed to create all game assets. Create the game world and game functions for a game levels. Implement the designs from the design documents into working game levels.
Game Designer/User Interface Designer: David Garcia Responsibilities: Establish the rules of the game, finalize the design claimants, and ensure the game will work as envisioned. Create controls that the player uses to move and interact with the game. Design realistic UI designs that allow the player to be immersed in gameplay.
Audio Director/Game Writer: Jason Garcia Responsibilities: Conceive the concept, design and theories of the game. Create character depth and interaction. Compose backstory, introduction and dramatic information for the player to understand the imaginary world that the game is trying to create. Construct all of the sounds that add depth to the game including active sounds, background music and ambient sounds.
5 Why is this a good business opportunity?
The video game industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. economy. According to the research firm Gartner, global video game sales will reach $111.1 billion by 2015.
In 2013, in the United States revenues exceeding $21 billion as entertainment software companies delivered well-paying jobs and revenue to state and local economies across the nation.
Video Game Market Revenue, Worldwide, 2012-2015 (Millions of Dollars) Segment 2012 2013 2014 2015 Video Game Console 37,400 44,288 49,375 55,049 Handheld Video Games 17,756 18,064 15,079 12,399 Mobile Games 9,280 13,208 17,146 22,009 PC Games 14,437 17,722 20,015 21,601 Total Video Game Market 78,872 93,282 101,615 111,057 Source: Gartner (October 2013)
In the past decade many schools have welcomed educational video games into their classroom and that number is growing. The educational video game market is growing fast due to five factors.
1. Better Technology: including the ratio of students to computer averaging 5 to 1, bring your own technology programs (BYOT), and improved quality of the connectivity.
2. Gamer Teacher: the new generation of teachers were raised on video games and are more likely to use them in their classrooms.
3. Academic Interest: as video games become part of the mainstream society, educators are seeing the possible educational uses and benefits they offer.
4. Leveraging Engagement: Well-designed video games are engaging and for that reason, educators are taking notice.
5. Money: learning games are currently a $1.5 billion dollar market, with a projected growth of $2.3 billion by 2017.
The educational video game market currently is strong and growing. We at WEE strongly feel that this is a good business opportunity with endless growth and possibilities.
6 Customer needs:
Our mission at WEE is to educate the world in an entertaining way through the use of technology. Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world.”
Our company satisfies the needs of our customers by bringing them comprehensive standards-based content educational video games that are engaging, fun, and entertaining. WEE games are designed for children, ages six to twelve, first through eighth grade. At WEE, we offer parents, educators and school districts an effective way to bring 21st century learning into the home and classroom at a low cost. WEE believes that the future of learning is now.
2:0 COMPANY DESCRIPTION
The video game industry began in the early 1950’s with the creation of the simple Tennis-for -Two game; even though the game was a failure it proved that there was great potential of a future video game industry. During the mid-1970’s, the first commercial home video game system hit the market. This gaming console was Atari. The video game industry has been steadily growing everyday since the mid- 1970’s and with the development of digital technology and inventions such as CD-ROM, the market for creating new possibilities for game developers is endless.
The structure of the video gaming industry consists of several groups. Game Developers Publishers Distributors Retailers Customers
WEE’s current target market consist of children, ages six to twelve, first through eighth grade. But WEE has future plans to widen the target market to include all school age children, grades kindergarten through twelfth.
Company Goals and Objectives:
To endure that our games are integrated with learning goals. Provide the most up-to-date comprehensive standards-based content educational video games that are engaging, fun, and entertaining. Create a link between what is being taught in the classroom and real life situations. Create games that are motivating as possible and pose a challenge to the learner. To increase our brand awareness To increase our target market base to include grades kindergarten through twelfth. Create customer referral bonus program. Begin monthly e-newsletter with educational gaming related topics.
7 Mission Statement:
To educate the world in an entertaining way through technology by developing educational video games that provides value to the player.
Company Philosophy:
The future of education is now. Every child has the potential to bring something unique and special to the world and our role is to empower children with the tools they need to accomplish this goal. Through the use of technology and engaging educational video games, education can happen for every child.
3:0 COMPANY OWNERSHIP
There are four categories of company ownership:
Sole proprietorship: one individual owns business. Partnership: more than one person owns business. Limited Liability Companies (LLCs): business structure that provides partnerships and sole proprietorships some legal protection form being held personal liable for their business activities. Corporations: Safest business structure because the owner or shareholders cannot be sued personally for the actions of the corporation.
Since WEE’s is a new start-up business, it is a Partnership. We decided on a partnership structure because we are friends who share a passion for video game development and have a shared vision of educating children through the use of technology and gaming. So we feel that friendship will make our small independent company better.
Permits and licenses needed to do business:
To operate a partnership we must first complete, notarize, and file an “assumed name certificate.” Also known as a DBA. Certificate of Authority to Collect Sales Tax: A registration authorizing the collection of sales and use tax on the sale of taxable tangible personal property, rentals, specific taxable services and purchases of tangible personal property for resale. EIN: an employer’s identification number will be secured from IRS. Trademark search will be conducted by attorney to ensure that it is available and once it is determined that it is available we will follow our attorney’s instructions in protecting the name and logo.
8 Sample Forms:
Certificate of Assumed Name
9 Certificate of Authority to Collect Sales Tax
10
11
EIN
12
13
Owner-employee relationship:
WEE is an intellectual property start-up business that has four equal partners and no employees. There are plans in the future to hire employees when needed as the business grows.
When we hire our employees, the partners (owners) of the business will benefit our employees by given them a competitive salary, and if working full time we will offer medical insurance. Employees will be treated with respect, and as part of the WEE team. Employees will be trained to perform their jobs to ensure their success and to help them stay on track while working together to make a better relationship.
Community relations:
The video game industry is very competitive therefore it is very important to have a strong relationship between company and community. Our commitment to the community is at the heart of our business, it not only helps attract top employees, but it also gives our customers a positive feeling about our company. As an educational video game development company, we feel strongly about giving every child an opportunity to learn through technology. We will work with parents, teachers and school districts to help bridge the technology gap. This positive relationship will greatly improve our position in the market, and it will help us grow and increase our bottom line.
14 4:0 PRODUCT AND SERVICES
WEE’s products are educational video games which are considered intellectual property. Wee offers downloadable comprehensive standards-based content educational video games. Customers download the product from the Internet to their computer by using a key code provided by WEE. Downloads are also available for mobile devices through several distributors including: ITunes Store, Google Play, and android device stores.
WEE fuses cutting-edge technology and imaginative artistic expression. The computer code underlying a game transforms ideas into rich expressions of visual art, which come alive on a range of devices – consoles, computers, tablets and smartphones.
Designing a video game is a big task and there is no one-way to create a game. The following steps are our design process at WEE.
Step 1: Pick your genre Decide what kind of game you want to create, and look at what other games in the same genre do. Common genres include: Arcade games Shooters Puzzles Platformers Racing Adventures Endless runners RPGs First person shooter Story/Manga driven JRPG Tower Defenses Horror Fighters Comedy
Step 2: Pick your platform The platform dictates the way the game is controlled; smartphone games are typically touch- and tilt-based, PC games typically use a keyboard and mouse, and console games use game pads.
Step 3: Write out the preliminary design This is where the heart of the gameplay experience is created. It contains the fundamental concepts of your game, and will allow you to see if your idea is really viable as a video game.
Step 4: Start with a core philosophy This statement is the motivating force behind the game. These are very simple statements that get to the heart of what the game is and ensures that your game is still meeting its basic goals. Some example core philosophies: . This game simulates a space station economy . This game lets you play as a living car . This game is about testing the player’s reflexes 15
Step 5: List game features The features are what sets your game apart from others in the same genre. List your ideas and concepts and then turn those concepts into action-driven sentences. An average game has between 5-15 features. For example: Concept: space station construction. Feature: Build and manage your own personal space station. Concept: damage from asteroids Feature: Struggle to survive against environmental hazards, including asteroids, solar flares, and comets.
Step 5: Write the design document The design document contains detailed descriptions of your game’s mechanics, plot, setting, aesthetic design and more. Not every game has a design document, and no two design documents will look alike.
Step 6: Decide on an engine Different engines have different strengths and weaknesses. Some are more suited to 2D graphics, while others are designed for 3D graphics.
Step 7: Build a prototype The prototype tests the core functionality of the game. You don’t need graphics or audio for the prototype, just simple placeholders (like a cube or a stick figure) and a small test area.
Step 8: Create game assets Some games builds use only simple shapes and colors, while other game builds use complex worlds.
Step 9: Create some rough draft art Create a storyboard so you can get a feel for the visual aesthetic of the game. Once you have some art to use, you can start constructing the game itself.
Step 10: Put it all together Play your game as much as possible. Review your art, sound, and game design and smooth out the rough edges.
Step 11: Test the game Once the game is working form start to finish, you need to find the bugs and fix them. It is a good idea to watch other people play your game, watch how they interact with the game world and how they handle the challenges.
Step 12: Release the video game Promote your video game. Some ways to do this is to release screenshots and video clips of your game in popular gaming forums, and gaming news sites. Create a company website so that you can start building followers.
16 Step 13: Select a distribution service There are several popular outlets for releasing independent games on PC and Mac OS X: Steam Desura Humble Store GOG Mobile games are released through their stores (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, etc.). The same goes for console games (Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, etc.).
Step 14: Support your game There are bound to be bugs that appear once the public has access to your game. You must can fix these as soon as possible.
17
Costs:
The costs to produce video games vary greatly; it depends on the complexity of the game design. WEE is an indie company; therefore we are able to build our games inexpensively. Cost of a game is based on the numbers of man hours spent on a build. Cost is calculated at $25.00 per hour per person on the team. At WEE our average game build takes four weeks, 40 hours per week per member of the team at the cost of $16,000. WEE currently has four team members (partners).
Four week build… 160 hours x 4 team member = 640 hours $25 per hour x 640 hours = $16,000
All games are offered as a download with a code key at a cost $2.99 per station. In addition to the single use download, WEE offers educators a school site license at a cost of $50.00 for up to 25 computes. The discount offered with the school license will help promote our video games to schools worldwide and in turn, sales of single use download will increase because our users will want to play the games outside of the classroom either on their PCs or mobile devices.
5:0 MARKET ANALYSIS
WEE’s games have two categories of target markets; the player and the buying decision maker.
1. Players: children, ages six to twelve, first through eighth grade 2. Decision maker: parents, educators and school districts who want a teaching tool that brings 21st century learning into the home and classroom at a low cost.
18
Market Research:
A survey was conducted after a group of children (ages six to twelve) and their parents beta tested our newest educational video game (app).
A total of 25 surveys were conducted and evaluated.
Sample of survey:
Video Game Experience
Survey is confidential and information will not be shared outside of WEE. Parent or guardian of child who beta tested app must complete survey.
Your age:______
Your Gender (please circle one): Male Female
Gender of child: Male Female
Age of child: ______
Grade of child:______
# of children your household:______
Children gender/s and ages:______
Thank you for your time in assisting WEE make education happen for every child. The team at World Educational Entertainment
19
20
SURVEY RESULTS:
Gender of Children Female Children 10 Male Children 15
After evaluating the results of our sample target market, we strongly feel that the app will be readily accepted into the educational video game market and will be a commercial success.
21 Competitors in this market:
WEE has several competitors in our market; we have selected the top three companies that we currently compete with.
#1. CrazySoft Limited A small indie company whose target market includes school age children, teens and young adults. CrazySoft, Limited offers several educational apps that are similar to WEE’s apps. Downloads available through all the device app stores. Apps are offered for a free trail for a limited time, but a full version of the program is available at same price point as WEE’s. Unlike WEE, they do not offer an educational school discount.
22
#2. JH Digital Solutions Small indie company with a staff of 2. CEO /lead Programmer Lead Artist Similar company structure to WEE’s company structure, whose target markets includes, children / adult education apps and adult workout apps. Limited Distributor /Retail channel; sells only through ITUNES app store, and does not offer an educational school discount. Same price point as WEE for single downloads.
23
#3. Educational Resources, Inc. A small indie company that is ten years old and whose target market is Preschool aged children. The app is offered as a free sampler that offers only 20 questions; twelve In-App Purchases (IAPs) are available for purchase. Downloads are available through all the device app stores. The program is available at same price point as WEE’s. Unlike WEE, they do not offer an educational school discount.
24 Competitive Analysis / Unique Value Proposition:
Competitive Analysis and Unique Value Proposition Distributions channels School age $2.99 School Code Company Market download discount googleplay itunes android Key WEE yes yes yes yes yes yes yes CrazySoft Limited yes yes no no yes no no JH Digital Solutions yes yes no yes yes yes no Educational Resourses, Inc yes yes no yes yes yes no
WEE’s unique value proposition is our relationship with the educational community. WEE offers schools multi-use site licenses at a 30% discount over the single use price of $2.99, per 25 devices.
6:0 MARKETING PLAN
Our products are an intellectual property and will be sold solely as a download from the Internet with no limit on the quantity.
WEE will promote apps through the following channels:
WEE’s company website: single and multi-use site license key code downloads Google Play: single use download ITunes Store: single use download Android Store: single use download
25
Logo and Slogan:
WEE makes education happen!
Original artwork by: Jazmine Cespedes
26 Sample marketing/advertising material
27
We will overcome its competitors by:
Focus on a specific target market (school aged children). Offer only comprehensive standards-based content educational video games that are engaging, fun, and entertaining. Apps will be updated as educational standards evolve. Offer both single download for home and schools. Offer multi-user site licenses for schools.
7:0 MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
WEE has does not require a storefront retail space or an office space in commercial location. WEE is an intellectual property business that operates out of an office space near the partners’ homes.
The four-member team (partners) collaborates on projects and each has specific tasks that they are responsible to perform in order to compete a video game build.
WEE Organizational Chart
Project Manager/ Financial Manager David McAleese
Lead Artist/ Level Designer Jazmine Cespedes
Game Designer/ Audio Director/ User Interface Game Writer Designer Jason Garcia David Garcia
28 Risks:
The video game design industry is evolving rapidly, expanding due to innovative new products and app, platforms and a growing global market. All of these trends have both positive and negative effects on the market.
There are three risks that game developers need to be aware of:
Product Obsolescence: current technology being replaced by new hardware, platforms and software innovations.
Privacy and Security Risks: developers have been unable to prevent hackers from breaking their code to gain unauthorized access to data.
Intellectual Property (IP) Protection: developers must take many steps to ensure the value they put into a project is not lost to illegal sharing, product imitation, patent infringement or counterfeit production and distribution of their software.
Story behind a failed software developer:
A software developer similar to WEE was, The Learning Company, which was an educational software firm that created such popular titles as "Myst," "Reader Rabbit" and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" In May 1999 the toy company, Mattel purchased The Learning Company because they wanted to expand their software selections. Mattel lost almost $200 million dollars in the first few months of buying the software company. The problem was product obsolescence; The Learning Company had not developed any new hit games in several years and was not keeping up with current technology trends. At the height of the company’s success, stocks reached a high of $46 a share, one year later it fell to $12 a share.
At WEE, we know the importance of keeping up with technology and all its ever-changing trends. The team will study why similar educational developers failed and prepare a course of action to prevent falling into the same pitfalls. WEE will research current technology and marketing trends on an on- going basis in order to stay not only current but ahead of them.
WEE will keep its finger on the pulse of technology.
29 8:0 FINANCIAL PLAN
First month start-up costs including one-time equipment purchases:
WEE’s Start-up Costs for Month 1 Office Internet Marketing Computers Machines Software Mobile Data Service Office Rent & & Total= Devices Plan Furniture Salaries Utilities Advertising $20,000 $2,000 $3,200 $2,000 $200 $150 $2,500 $16,000 $1,400 $800 $48,250
Possible Funding Sources:
Self-Funding / Partnership-Funding Friends and family Small business grants Loans or lines of credit
Operating Expense Chart:
Wee's Fixed Monthly Operating Expenses
Internet Sales & Rent Utilities Service Data Plan Marketing Salaries Total= $1,200 $200 $150 $200 $800 $16,000 $ 18,550
30
Sales Projections:
WEE’s Monthly Sales Projections Type of Sale # of sales $ sales Total Sales Single-Use Downloads 5,000 $14,950 $29,950 Site Licenses 200 $15,000
25,000
20,000
15,000 Single-Use Downloads Site Licenses 10,000
5,000
0 # of sales $ sales Total Sales
31
Record Keeping:
WEE is a small company that would best be served by using “QuickBooks” record-keeping software program. We will use QuickBooks for to track WEE’s business.
Record keeping tasks include:
Storing customer and vendor information Tracking sales and expenses Creating customer invoices Receiving payments from customers Analyzing sales and expenses Organizing financial data for tax purposes
Investment outline:
Terms of WEE’s loan: $50,000 at 8% over 5 years.
Wee Investment Outline Loan Amount $50,000.00 Interest Rate 8% Years 5 Monthly Payment $1,013.82 Total Interest Paid on Loan $10,829.20
Funds from loan will be used to cover the start-up cost of for WEE. Computers Office Machines Software Mobile Devices Internet Service Data Plan Office Furniture 1st month’s salaries Rent Utilities Marketing & Advertising
Alternative Funding:
WEE consists of four partners; each partner will be required to invest $15,000 from their personal funds to have an equal share in the business. Alternative funding total = $60,000.
32