INTERVIEW: Big Fish, big ambitions

Is the casual market in danger of being flooded?
Not in the least. Great games are selling at twice the volume they were a year ago, four times the rate they were two years ago. The trick here is identifying the types of games consumers want.

Yes, certain genres are saturated, but every time one genre feels saturated another opens up. Casual gamers are not casual in their consumption of games, provided of course you are building the games they’re asking for.

Are ‘me too’ games damaging the casual market?
Copy-cat games grow the industry. We produce one Mystery Case Files game per year, yet our average customer is buying over 25 games per year. Additional choices make customers happy, so how can that be a bad thing?

From a developer’s viewpoint, it simply emphasises the importance of building a brand, not just a game mechanic, and continuing to improve that brand to stay ahead of followers. If you build a brand that grows and resonates with consumers, no-one can take that away with ‘me-too’ products. Brands sell at a much higher velocity than ‘me too’ games, but they both have their part in growing the overall industry.

Is there still room for the casual market to grow?
We are at the adolescent age of the casual games industry. The audience demographic is growing broader, the games are getting better and better, and our sales continue to double every year. I cannot think of many other industries that are experiencing this kind of rapid growth.

From the emergence of hit MMOs for pre-teens, to the baby boomers entering their golden years with excessive disposable income and even more excessive time to fill, the future looks bright for casual games. From a micro viewpoint there are some niches that have reached their peaked, but at a macro-level, things are just heating up. The future is bright.

Is casual gaming one of the biggest (and best) things to happen to video gaming recently?
Yes, casual games are definitely a positive force driving the video gaming industry forward. If you think back to the first computer or video games produced they were "Casual" in that they appealed to a wide audience. Over the years, the industry moved toward the segment that provided the greatest sales per inch of shelf space, the core gamer.

With limited retail shelf space available and organizations looking for the greatest return on investment per project, the core gaming segment became the focus. The Internet was the great equalizer and has energized the market for games designed "for the rest of us" to the point that major console developers are now expanding their demographic focus to more all encompassing.

What will be the next ‘big thing’ for casual gaming over the next year or two?
The market power of break-away brands. Historically the try-before-you-buy model created a basically "brand-less" industry and most attempts to adapt non-game related brands to casual failed with a few notable exceptions.

The brands I'm talking about are casual game brands that are built by being great innovative games. They are gaining adoption by broad consumer exposure while delivering an experience that is unique and builds over time.

This results in games that customers will buy impulsively without even trying based on the brand strength alone.

These branded games can outsell comparable games 10 to 1 on their opening day of release. Ask any casual gamer if they have heard of Mystery Case Files, Diner Dash, Bejeweled, Azada, Build-a-lot, or Big City Adventures and if they will be buying the next sequel. The trick for developers is figuring out how to build the next big brand and how to stand out in a crowded room.