App Stores, Digital Distribution & the True Value of a Game

“The point that the games industry needs to be taking notice of is that app stores are going to be everywhere.”

A great article was posted today on Gamasutra that talks about the implications of the new Macintosh App Store. We’ve been hearing for a very long time that digital distribution is coming. The CEO of EA believes there will be more digital game sales than retail game sales by the end of 2011.

I’ve been keeping a very close eye on digital distribution because one of my company’s specialties is game packaging, but today’s article touched on another thing we do, consulting for digital game distribution through app stores.

The Gamasutra article asserts that one of the biggest differences between app stores and digital distribution services like Steam are the fact that app stores are open environments and services like Steam are curated—customers can be assured they’re purchasing quality titles from reliable developers.

But some app stores are curated. GameDocs has been working with Replay Games—placing games in app stores for major manufacturers—and it is not an open environment at all. We are only approaching top 100 developers and only accepting games that fit the demographic. Hardware manufacturers wisely want to create an integrated portal that adds value to their brand.

“Integrated” refers back to something I blogged about last week. Vizio is integrating OnLive gaming into 2011 products so people who buy a new Vizio electronic item will also have the capability of playing cloud-based games with no further hardware investment.

Integrated app stores offer the same value and convenience—buy a new machine and have automatic access to purchase new software with a minimum number of steps.

The article talks about what consumers really want to pay for games versus what publishers want to charge for them. This is another place where the game industry needs to mature and get out of last millenium thinking that they’re selling to hardcore gamers. Yes, a hardcore gamer will pay $60 for a game and feel as though a wise purchase has been made.

Sell your title at $60 to 10% of hardcore gamers and you could do very well. Sell your title at $5 to 10% of everybody and it’s a whole different game. . . !

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32352/Opinion_The_Mac_App_Store_And_The_PC_Gamepocalypse.php
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/ea-ceo-digital-to-overtake-retail-this-year/