Gametech 2011: Redefining the interactive audience

Who was there: Brian Neider, senior vice president and global COO of EA Games.

What they talked about: Neider has been in the games industry for 25 years. He acknowledged that it was the hardware manufacturers in the past which set the pace for change in the industry, but this has now shifted into the hands of consumers. It is the consumers who now dictate "how and where they want to play our games." With this, the games industry is in a unique position to redefine itself.

Neider moved on to talk about emerging business models like microtransactions and free-to-play, two models that were virtually nonexistent five years ago but are now worth US$10 billion worldwide. New game designs, social- and browser-based games, mobile gaming, and technologies like the PlayStation Move and Microsoft's Kinect have expanded the gaming audience more than ever before, meaning that almost everyone--even those who don't count themselves as gamers, like Neider's father-in-law, who plays Wii Bowling in his retirement home--is now a gamer. This leads into the issue of ubiquity: in the future, the industry will learn to take better advantage of the various opportunities presented through the expansion of gaming intro the mainstream.

Neider went on to say that consumers want simplicity, especially when it comes to hardware. It's not good enough to have six different devices in the home that all do different things. And why should the games industry care about this? Because by acknowledging it and overcoming it, the industry can have better access to the consumer and better understand the battle between distribution and content. According to Neider, microtransactions are the way to go for the global industry; while the TV, film, and music industries have already added new revenue streams and shifted viewing and listening to mobile devices, the game industry needs to learn to do the same to attract new audiences. Neider made his point by revealing that nearly 450 million smart devices will be sold this year, surpassing PC unit sales.

"We need to keep the PC and console business going, but also expand into other platforms and into the microtransactions business model. We need to look at gaming as an inherently social experience; 50-100 million people play social games every day, and there is an opportunity for the game industry to innovate in this space."

Neider then talked about the importance of academia and edutainment, two areas that improve talent and quality of game experiences. According to the EA COO, academia legitimises the gaming industry and leads to better game design and creativity. The challenge now is to change the way the industry is viewed not only from outside, but from inside as well. In his next point, Neider outlined various legislation issues to do with the gaming industry that he believes will be addressed over the next decade, including privacy rights (how is data used and stored); consumer rights; a unified End User License Agreement that deals with ownership regarding digital assets; a unified ratings system that addresses social and online experiences across territories; and digital protection that spans borders.

Neider closed by looking at the development of AI in games and the need to develop smart, emergent worlds with game systems that recognise players' gameplay styles, as well as the need to redesign user interfaces.

Takeaway: Neider outlined a lot of solid points that focused on the bigger issues facing the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to how the gaming audience can be expanded through the adoption of new business models and emerging platforms.