Games As Services Final Report

UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION STUDIES AND INTERACTIVE MEDIA Games as Services Final Report Sotamaa, Olli & Karppi, Tero (toim.) 2010 Research Reports 2 ISSN 1799-2141 http://www.trim.fi ISBN 978-951-44-8167-3 GAMES AS SERVICES 2 Contents Introduction 3 by Olli Sotamaa RISE OF A SERVICE PARADIGM 1. Understanding the Range of Player Services 10 by Jaakko Stenros & Olli Sotamaa 2. Digital Distribution of Games: the Player’s Perspective 22 by Saara Toivonen & Olli Sotamaa RETHINKING PLAY AND PLAYERS 3. Console Gaming, Player Production and Agency 35 by Olli Sotamaa 4. Internet Connections: Rethinking the Video Game Console Experience 50 by Tero Karppi 5. Methodological Observations From Behind the Decks 56 by Tero Karppi & Olli Sotamaa 6. Achievement Unlocked: Rethinking Gaming Capital 73 by Olli Sotamaa TRANSFORMATIONS IN BUSINESS AND DESIGN 7. Ten Questions for Games Businesses: Rethinking Customer Relationships 83 by Kai Kuikkaniemi, Marko Turpeinen, Kai Huotari & Lassi Seppälä 8. Motivations for C2C Word-of-Mouth Communication During Online Service Use 95 by Kai Huotari 9. Casual Games and Expanded Game Experiences: Design Point of View 105 by Annakaisa Kultima 10. Use of Camera in Mobile Games and Playful Applications 123 by Lassi Seppälä CONTENTS GAMES AS SERVICES 3 Olli Sotamaa Introduction by Olli Sotamaa In May 2010, Bill Mooney laid out the foundations of game studio Zynga’s methods for game development. Mooney is the general manager of FarmVille, the most popular computer game in the world (over 80 million monthly active users in May 2010) and therefore his insights should not be underestimated. In his talk at GDC Canada, Vancouver, Mooney highlighted that since the launch of the game in June 2009, Zynga has introduced new features and tweaks to the game on a weekly basis. This ongoing development is based on constant testing and live metrics. Mooney further defined that Zynga sees its role primarily as a web service provider. The games they host are run as services that Zynga expects people to play still years from now. While Zynga’s design fundamentals reflect a very particular con- ception of digital game development, at the same time they nicely highlight the transition the global game industry has faced in the past years. The ultra competitive nature of global game industry, characterized by spiraling production times and development costs, has forced the developers to search for alternative approaches. As a consequence, digital distribution systems, subscription-based models and micro-transactions have challenged the traditional cir- cuits of game development, play and distribution. A common theme across the transformations ranging from persistent game worlds and casual games to automatic content updates and player-created content is that they make games, more or less, available “as services”. The need for a particular research project examining the rise of the service paradigm among game industry was identified already in relation the Neogames centre surveys conducted in 2007. The Finnish game industry representatives were widely aware of the change towards service-driven models but the individual game stu- dios had no resources for a larger analysis. The practical objectives of the Games as Services (GaS) project are motivated from this background. The project, conducted in collaboration between the University of Tampere Department of Information Studies and Inter- active Media (INFIM) and The Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT), has aimed at producing an overview on the nature of the service paradigm and its consequences to games, game culture and business. In addition, individual case studies have been conducted in order to shed light on particularly interesting sub- themes. During the project’s timeframe (2008‒ 10), the core themes of the GaS have only increased in relevance and visibility. The reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, the online games market of games, in- cluding subscription, digital game download, DLC, virtual commodities and value-added services is steadily expanding (PwC 2009). Secondly, with the advent of casual and social games, entirely new audiences have been introduced to digital games. Players are not so much asked to structure their lives to fit the demands of a game INTRODUCTION GAMES AS SERVICES 4 (Juul 2009). Instead, the games are increasingly designed to serve the players and to fit into their lives. In the age of “contextual gaming”, play is increasingly tied to the practices and rhythms of everyday life and playful behaviors are often rooted in social rela- tions and exchanges of information that are used to maintain and expand the networks of relationships (Mäyrä 2008). Many signs indicate that the days of digital games packaged as “fire and forget” commodities are numbered. The global game industry is actively moving from providing discrete offerings towards establishing ongoing relationships with players (Chang 2010, 24). Not all games will be based on a constant update model, but even the more traditional releases will be transformed after the launch by patches, upgrades, expansions and modifications. The development budgets are forecast to reflect this change, as significant in- vestments are moved from the launch to operating the ongoing service. The transitions described are not entirely unique to the games market but similar developments can be identified in other media markets. It is, however, noticeable how easily and successfully many sectors of gaming have already shifted towards a service- based economy. In this respect, all the traditional media industries have a lesson or two to learn from games as services (ibid.). This report collects the results of the research conducted during the Games as Services project. The chapters draw a multifaceted picture of the ongoing change. While the final report concludes the central findings, it should also be seen as a starting point. As many of the phenomena defined here remain under-researched, we warmly welcome all further contributions. In addition, our own 1 1 http://futureplayproject.wordpress.com/ work will continue in the follow-up project titled Future Play. Structure of the report The report is divided into three sections. The first section, entitled “Rise of the Service Paradigm”, contributes to the general understanding of the ongoing change. The first chapter by Jaakko Stenros and Olli Sotamaa provides a cultural and economic background for the rise of the service paradigm in the realm of games. Both the complicated relation between products and services and a variety of contemporary examples are examined in order to develop a detailed understanding of the ecology of games-related services. From mapping the history of games and the current situation the chapter moves on to create a particular player service model. The model is created both to help analytically dissect what player services are and to pinpoint some blind spots in current service design. The model can also be used to rethink the current industry ecology and potentially to find entirely new semi-independent service domains. In the second chapter, Saara Toivonen and Olli Sotamaa examine game distribution as a service. While the brick-and-mortar retailers and physical copies still hold a dominant position in the overall market, the online market has rapidly developed in the past years. At the same time we know very little of the player attitudes towards digital distribution of games. Therefore the chapter focuses on examining the players’ experiences and notions concerning online distribution of full game titles and other forms of downloadable content. Based on the findings, the following factors have INTRODUCTION GAMES AS SERVICES 5 a significant influence on how players consider digital distribution: the amount of time used on game playing, the social activities related to games, and familiarity with other forms of downloadable content. A notable majority of those who had downloaded games highlighted the importance of the following issues: wide variety of games available, ease of finding downloadable games, affordability and simple payment methods. Furthermore, the chapter examines why more than half of the respondents still preferred to have their games as physical copies. Finally, some implications for service design are introduced. The second section, “Rethinking Play and Players”, puts the em- phasis on the role of players and game experience. The section further discusses the importance of platforms and the methods of studying contemporary games. The section is started with Olli Sotamaa’s “Console Gaming, Player Production and Agency” by looking at player agency among the players of the console game LittleBigPlanet, or LBP (Media Molecule, 2008). The special focus is in analyzing the technical and economic strategies the game and the console environment uses to position the productive activities of players. Related to this, the chapter discusses whether LBP can be seen to challenge Zittrain’s much cited argument about tethered appliances. Secondly, the chapter aims to describe the limits of player agency available for LBP players. If the game from the start invites players to co-design the game itself, how much is there room for resistance and trans- formation? Based on the observations, there are reasons to argue that the recent developments in the console market have turned the latest generation consoles into an increasingly inviting platform for different forms of player production. At the same time the chapter highlights how the new options available for players do not automatically make all of them active participants ‒ instead, a variety of different roles can be identified. It is further argued that while LBP does not allow radical reprogramming of the console environment, it does support more subtle ways of re-purposing the console. In chapter 4, Tero Karppi elaborates how virtual services such as automatic updates have changed the experience of playing with video game console.

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