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BREAKING NEWS & VIEWS

Mom’s Got Poker Skills: Publishers Get Into the Game
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Still think gaming is for social shut-ins and pimple-faced teens who converge at Comic-Con and midnight releases of Halo 3? Then you may be missing out on a boatload of traffic and revenues, said panelists this week at OMMA Global in New York. In a playful panel entitled “Grandma’s Got Game: Can Casual Gaming Deliver Real Revenue to Mainstream Sites?” publishers and game providers agreed that games aimed at all demographics have become traffic and cash cows for non-gaming sites.

“We saw games inventory double,” said Kyle Lewis, general manager, AARP.org. Lewis admits that his own sales staff was a bit overwhelmed and he was taken aback at the level of usage and ad opportunities that the site’s games section opened up for the company. “There is a catch-up moment in figuring out how do we monetize this space? Do we make custom games? Do we introduce micro-transactions and paid game downloads?”

Almost all of AARP’s gamers are over 55, but they show remarkable hang time and loyalty. Gamers in sites like AARP.org will see advertiser messages as pre-rolls before game play or as banners during play. Given the amount of time people spend playing a titles, “It’s really a branding opportunity,” says Lewis. “We are able to say to pharmaceutical or packaged goods advertisers that this is an opportunity to capture your intenders in an environment where they are open to advertisers.”

Many publishers are astonished and delighted over the amount of new inventory gaming adds to publishers’ portfolios. But Jessica Rovello, CEO of games provider Arkadium warns, “We have to shift our focus.” Many of the sales staffs she deals with are giddy over the great hang time and added page views. “But you have people spending 15 to 20 hours a week playing and after that 15th hour they are getting remnant inventory.” She contends that the gaming audience is exactly the right target for various paid models. “They probably are willing to spend 99-cents for an upgrade or $5 for a subscription.”

“Not everything has to be boatloads of inventory,” says Peter Daboll, CEO, Bunchball, which consults with publishers on gaming strategy. “It’s how do you get them to spend?”

While the virtual currency model is getting attention on social networks like Facebook and in gaming communities among younger users, Rovello is not sure that the middle-aged casual market is quite ready for it. “I don’t want to move so far away from brands and sales, because I think there is a great value for advertisers around games.”

All of the panelists agreed that the casual gaming market for the over-30 segment is going to grow quickly in coming years. The aging demographic in the U.S. guarantees that several generations raised on digital gaming will bring these habits into middle age.

If you have breaking news to share please contact Steve Smith at ssmith@accessintel.com

COMMENTS
1.
Well its nice to know that there's some kind of stuffs like these. Just continue to heighten those ideas for the future.
Posted by Online Casinos on Friday, September 25, 2009 @ 01:30 PM
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