(published in NetValue November 2011)
Thirty years ago, computer games were universally associated with anemic nerdy boys. Back then, I was among a circle of friends who spent endless hours wasting a tonne in twenty cent coins at arcades or burning our retinas in home console games. I was also among a smaller circle of friends who were also hackers. In the early 1980s, hackers had little to do with cybersecurity. We were known as a group of geeks who looked at as much code as possible to improve our algorithms, often to the detriment of social life or popularity.
For games, the intent was also to play more titles, play better games or increase play duration. One way to do this was to trick arcade consoles to give you more credits via physical hacks. Another way was to write your own game to play at home. Though I am not going to admit anything about illegal physical hacks, I was definitely a code hacker.
One of my creations was a 3D racing game on my high school's Apple IIe green screen in 1983. This suprised my teachers because they did not imagine these computers were capable of doing this. I had fun building and playing my games. But it took a lot of effort, requiring sacrificing endless nights and weekends. This effort meant time spent away from other interests such as girls. So the following year, I stopped chasing game and graphic algorithms and chased girls instead. Although girls never caught the video game bug, the business of "toys for boys" has grown to become a big industry.
Whilst the game industry started to falter, a totally new genre of interactive entertainment started to rock the world. The social game phenomenon had suddenly and breathtakingly overrun the globe. Whereas complex massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) such as World of the World craft attracted 12 million subscribers after 17 years, games like Farmville gained almost 82 million users after 17 months.
In the past, casual and social game developers were shunned and mocked due to their timid game play and simplistic art. This mocking has now stopped thanks to facebook games. Farmville, Citiville, Badoo, Cafe World and others successfully convinced consumers to dole out money to beautify their virtual farms, pets and cities. To go "viral", the games also convinced players to share virtual gifts and showcase their creations to other friends hooked on facebook. Facebook has become very addictive especially for women.
According a survey by AIS media, over 55% of women who use facebook bring their mobile phones to the bathroom to use it. A survey by Lightspeed Research shows that a third of women use faceook before brushing their teeth or going to the bathroom in the morning. Over half of mobile social gamers are women. They are also the dominant player group for 35 years or older. Middle aged women have become the new power gamers.
But this type of change is not new. Middle-aged female consumers have become the bedrock of traditional industrials. The financial industry's resurgence in the 1980s was fueled in part by their recognition of the modern women's strong influence in the buying process. The traditional media industry has also been transformed by women. Movies, cars, electronics, healthcare and even the computer industry has also been transformed by women as customers. So it was only of time that they play a big role in interactive entertainment.
Thirty years ago, computer games were universally associated with anemic nerdy boys. Back then, I was among a circle of friends who spent endless hours wasting a tonne in twenty cent coins at arcades or burning our retinas in home console games. I was also among a smaller circle of friends who were also hackers. In the early 1980s, hackers had little to do with cybersecurity. We were known as a group of geeks who looked at as much code as possible to improve our algorithms, often to the detriment of social life or popularity.
For games, the intent was also to play more titles, play better games or increase play duration. One way to do this was to trick arcade consoles to give you more credits via physical hacks. Another way was to write your own game to play at home. Though I am not going to admit anything about illegal physical hacks, I was definitely a code hacker.
One of my creations was a 3D racing game on my high school's Apple IIe green screen in 1983. This suprised my teachers because they did not imagine these computers were capable of doing this. I had fun building and playing my games. But it took a lot of effort, requiring sacrificing endless nights and weekends. This effort meant time spent away from other interests such as girls. So the following year, I stopped chasing game and graphic algorithms and chased girls instead. Although girls never caught the video game bug, the business of "toys for boys" has grown to become a big industry.
After over twenty years, men and boys poured pay money and pocket money into sophisticated video games. For example, Activision's Call of Duty franchise pulled in three billion dollars. Microsoft's Halo generated $160 million in one day. This is more than Spiderman 3 the movie's revenue in its first three days. Blizzards' World of Warcraft attracts 30 million hours of game play every day, culminating to a total of six million years played. That is around 120 times the duration of human existence.
Considering its business arises from only one fourth of the consumer demographic, the traditional console game industry has done very well. However around four years ago, the industry hit a ceiling. Most game publishers lost a lot of money because of declining revenues, higher costs and increased competition. The industry would not grow because there is only so much time and money a guy can spend on games. They have families, friends and girlfriends too!
The Rise of Social Games
Whilst the game industry started to falter, a totally new genre of interactive entertainment started to rock the world. The social game phenomenon had suddenly and breathtakingly overrun the globe. Whereas complex massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) such as World of the World craft attracted 12 million subscribers after 17 years, games like Farmville gained almost 82 million users after 17 months.
In the past, casual and social game developers were shunned and mocked due to their timid game play and simplistic art. This mocking has now stopped thanks to facebook games. Farmville, Citiville, Badoo, Cafe World and others successfully convinced consumers to dole out money to beautify their virtual farms, pets and cities. To go "viral", the games also convinced players to share virtual gifts and showcase their creations to other friends hooked on facebook. Facebook has become very addictive especially for women.
According a survey by AIS media, over 55% of women who use facebook bring their mobile phones to the bathroom to use it. A survey by Lightspeed Research shows that a third of women use faceook before brushing their teeth or going to the bathroom in the morning. Over half of mobile social gamers are women. They are also the dominant player group for 35 years or older. Middle aged women have become the new power gamers.
But this type of change is not new. Middle-aged female consumers have become the bedrock of traditional industrials. The financial industry's resurgence in the 1980s was fueled in part by their recognition of the modern women's strong influence in the buying process. The traditional media industry has also been transformed by women. Movies, cars, electronics, healthcare and even the computer industry has also been transformed by women as customers. So it was only of time that they play a big role in interactive entertainment.
Women should take control
Although women represent the majority of players, the developers continue to be male dominated. In a crowded gathering of talented Malaysian game developers held in Puchong recently, there was only one woman present. Internationally, it’s a similar picture. Social game companies are male dominated. Morever, many of them are being bought by traditional macho game developers. For example Playfish, the publisher of Monopoly Millionaires and Pet Society, is now owned by Electronic Arts. Crowdstar was almost purchased by Microsoft nine months ago. Playdom, with 42 million subscribers, is now owned by Disney.
It does not make sense for men to totally dominate content development for female consumers. It is now time for the fairer sex to take control of games on which they spend their precious time and hard earned money. In the era where Adrianna Huffington now dominates internet news, IBM will be helmed by Virginia Rometty, Meg Whittman transformed eBay and is now tasked with turning around HP, it is inevitable that of future game companies will enriched by women. There is sign of hope. A few months ago social game major RockYou promoted Lisa Marino to CEO position.
It does not make sense for men to totally dominate content development for female consumers. It is now time for the fairer sex to take control of games on which they spend their precious time and hard earned money. In the era where Adrianna Huffington now dominates internet news, IBM will be helmed by Virginia Rometty, Meg Whittman transformed eBay and is now tasked with turning around HP, it is inevitable that of future game companies will enriched by women. There is sign of hope. A few months ago social game major RockYou promoted Lisa Marino to CEO position.
Considering that many social game companies are founded and used by Asians, it also seems to make sense that social game companies of the future should be led by Asian women. But there are no Asian women leaders in this space. For now. This is a great opportunity for Malaysian women, especially when game development tools like Game Salad, Corona and Rocketpack allows non-programmers to create games. Malaysian women should pickup these tools and create the games they want to play, then share it with their friends. If nothing else, more girls in the gaming industry will certainly make our local developer gatherings a lot more interesting.
