Commentary
Are Media Companies Missing The Virtual World Mark?
- by Michael Pole , May 6, 2009
Some forward-thinking companies have dipped their toes into the interactive entertainment pool, but there are many obstacles to successfully extending your brand into an engaging interactive experience. As innovative brands explore developing Casual MMOs, a number of important lessons can help lead them to success.
Casual MMOs Rally Consumer Communities Around the Brands They Love
Casual MMOs can best be described as virtual theme parks - online destinations where like-mined people assemble on a regular basis to interact with each other and celebrate their passions, whether it be for an entertainment genre such as sports, movies, TV or music, or a brand such as Disney, MTV, NASCAR and so on. Most Casual MMOs are free to enter and provide a host of entertaining games and social networking activities to participate in. In today's economy, having no consumer barrier to entry other than owning a home computer is exceptionally attractive.
Some media companies have already embraced the Casual MMO space. To date, Disney has been the most aggressive player with its development of Toontown Online, the Pirates of the Caribbean MMO and its landmark acquisition of Club Penguin. Nickelodeon launched its first MMO, Nicktropolis, and most recently, Cartoon Network launched its first Casual MMO, Fusion Fall. This is just the beginning of a new trend in consumer entertainment, signaling an even greater opportunity for media companies to explore this burgeoning space.
Monetizing the Virtual Theme Park
Media companies can extend their brands into the Casual MMO space in many exciting new ways. Through branded or themed online 2.5D and 3D worlds, companies are able to promote and monetize their content libraries and new franchises through micro-transactions, premium subscriptions, e-commerce, sponsorship and advertising. Consumers are able to personalize their virtual home-away-from-home with extensive avatar and environment customization and all-inclusive social networking tools to meet new friends and unite current ones. To keep the site fresh and flourishing, new content and game applications can be added on a weekly and monthly basis.
Casual MMO Development Surprisingly Affordable
Compared to developing console-based videogames, building Casual MMOs can be quite economical. The cost to develop high-quality videogames that leverage the technology of the next generation systems can range from $10 to $50 million, the price of launching a blockbuster motion picture. The cost of developing a high quality Casual MMO can be under $3 million, and can then be maintained with another several million dollars over its lifetime -- which can range from five to 10 years and beyond.
Console and Online Game Success Factors Parallel Film and TV Industries
The business model for developing traditional console games is very similar to the movie business, featuring big budgets, wide releases and success that is very often dependent on the opening weekend box office results. In contrast, the online game industry is much like the television business, where product can be launched direct to your target audience and the fan base can be grown over time. In addition, it's cheaper to develop online games, products can be delivered in half the time of a traditional game, and the business model offers a higher return on investment as online games don't require costly hardware licenses and huge marketing spends.
Despite these benefits, many IP owners who have placed their IPs into existing online virtual worlds have realized that virtual worlds can sometimes lead to uncharted territory with few controls over user-generated content and the protection of their brand experience. Experienced Casual MMO developers can help ensure a successful online community is created for the brand.
The Internet is the world we all live in, and it is only growing more important in every aspect of our daily lives from work to play. Entertainment companies can maximize their IPs in ways we only dreamed of 10 to 20 years ago by creating brand-focused theme parks we call Casual MMOs.
I'd add that if a company wants to experiment with content and business models for immersive presence and community around a brand or franchise, an open virtual world like Second Life (in the hands of developers able to secure an SL environment, integrate it with the web for maximum exposure and added features, and provide a brand-safe, brand-integral experience) lets them contemplate doing so (depending on goals) for less than 1/5th the cost of developing essentially the same experience on a stand-alone, proprietary casual MMO platform.
They can then cost-effectively tweak and curate the experience until it satisfies real metrics goals, before scaling out the winning formula to a stand-alone platform -- a fairly mechanical process, at predictable cost, involving minimal additional creative effort.