Category Archives: Games Artist and Animator

Train2Game news: Free-to-play games generate 65% of App store revenue

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Train2Game students with plans to develop mobile games may be interested in the following statistic; free-to-play games now bring in 65% of the revenue in the iTunes App store.

That’s according to a report by Flurry Games GM Jeferson Valadares that tracked over 90,000 apps and showed that at the start of the year free-to-play games brought in just 39% of revenue.

It could encourage Train2Game students to develop free-to-play titles of their own.

“When you make your game free and add in-app purchases, two powerful things can happen: first, more people will likely try your game since you’ve made the ante zero,” writes Valadares.

“And second, you will likely take more total money, since different players can now spend different amounts depending on their engagement and preferences. It’s not unheard of for individual players to spend into the tens of thousands in a game they like,” he continues

“Although this means that more than 90% of players will not spend a single penny, it also means that players who love your game spend much more than the $0.99 you were considering charging for the app.”

Valadares adds that free-to-play is “here to stay” This evidence for this is significant, with the Train2Game blog even reporting that EA believe it can be as profitable as triple-a

In an interview with the Train2Game blog last year, games industry consultant and Gamesbrief founder, told us that free-to-play generates more revenue.

“The guys who are making more money are allowing people – if they like the game – to keep upgrading. And instead of the maximum amount of that money you can make from customer being 99c you can make $5, in some cases $30.” Lovell told the Train2Game blog.

“There’s a game called Pocket Frogs which has in app purchases of values of 99 cent, $4.99 & £29.99. Only 8% of people by the $29.99, but in revenue terms, more than half their revenue comes from those bigger packs.  And most businesses stop at the 99c level, they would make a tenth of the revenue of Pocket Frogs.”

Last week, the Train2Game blog reported that Smurfs’ Village is ‘changing the market’ for mobile games.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the growth of free-to-play? Is it here to stay?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Industry Gamers via GI.biz]

Train2Game news: PC has ‘shot by’ consoles say Epic

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The Train2Game blog has long praised PC gaming, especially when it comes to the opportunities that modding could bring.

Epic Games believe that PC will not only be very important to the future of gaming but that they’ve already surpassed the abilities of the current consoles.

“We’re at the stage in the life of the consoles where the PC has shot by them in terms of capabilities.” Epic Games VP Mark Rein told Eurogamer.

“Don’t forget every game that’s ultimately built is built on a PC. PCs are always going to be the tools through which all games get made.” He said.

Of course, Train2Game students on each of the courses will know how important a PC is to building a game, be it for PC, for a smartphone, or any other system.

“With the PC you can simulate the future – you can put enough hardware in a PC to show you what a future console will look like.” Rein added.

The Epic VP also spoke about the highly impressive Samaritan tech demo that Train2Game students saw earlier this year, and how it could push developers to move forward.

“It was kind of our love letter to hardware manufacturers,” Rein explained. “The next-gen, we expect, will look like that. If you fast forward a year or two years that should be a fairly common gamer’s spec.

“We hope the console manufactures look at that and go, jeez, if we aim for that in our next consoles we’ll be competitive with what you’ll be able to do on a PC in a year, year and half from now. A reasonably priced PC – obviously you can do it on an expensive PC already.”

Mark Rein has previously spoken in depth about the Samaritan tech demo, and his comments are available to see here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, do you think PCs show the future of gaming? Will games look as good as the Samaritan demo in two years?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Eurogamer]

Train2Game student Jonathon Robinson’s industry experience video diary No.4

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Train2Game Game Designer Jonathon Robinson is on placement at DR Studios as part of the Train2Game industry experience placement programme.

In this experience diary, Jonathon and Train2Game incubator scheme, and Art & Animation student, William Alexander discuss a little more about what goes on behind the scenes at DR Studios, what they’ve been up to and getting to grips with working in different areas.

Watch the video, produced voluntary by Jonathon, below and leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.   Watch the previous video here on the Train2Game blog.

Disclaimer: views expressed in the video are those of the person expressing them, and not of Train2Game or DR Studios.

Train2Game news – UK Charts: Zumba Fitness No.1 again

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Train2Game students are possibly getting fed up with hearing the same thing every week, but Zumba Fitness is once again the UK No.1.  It’s the dance title’s fourth consecutive top spot and seventh overall.

DIRT 3 jumps five places to No.2, equalling the position the Train2Game blog reported it reached in its debut week at the end of May. Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon climbs to No.3, no doubt thanks to the release of the film.  LEGO: Pirates of the Carribean drops to No.4, while three times No.1 L.A. Noire drops to No.5

Virtua Tennis slips one place to No.6, while Call of Duty: Black Ops re-enters the top ten at No.7.  Former No.1 Brink moves up one to No.8, F.E.A.R 3 drops five to No.9 while Top Spin 4 completes the top ten.

UFC Fitness sees an increase in sales, rising from last week’s debut position of No.22 to No.13.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 9th July 2011 is therefore as follows:

1. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
2. Dirt 3 (Codemasters)
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Activision)
4. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
5. LA Noire (Rockstar)
6. Virtua Tennis 4 (Sega)
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
8. Brink (Bethesda)
9. FEAR 3 (Warner)
10. Top Spin 4 (2K Games)

It’s another relatively quiet week for new releases, which include Captain America: Super Solider and Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon.

So Train2Game, could Zumba Fitness hold onto No.1 for the rest of the summer? Why do you think it’s so popular?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Chart-Track]

Train2Game may be pleased to hear that Modern Warfare 3 will be ‘colour-blind friendly’

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Train2Game students may be interested to hear that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will be colour-blind friendly.

VP of Sledgehammer games Michael Condrey confirmed the news, after being asked a question by a Call of Duty fan, on the developers official blog.

“Research suggests that as much as 6% of the general population suffers from Color Blindness, or more accurately Colour Vision Deficiency. Men (9-12%) are 20x more likely to be afflicted than women (0.25-1%).”   He wrote.

“Those numbers vary depending on which source you quote, but we estimate that nearly a million gamers are playing Call of Duty every day with this issue.  I am happy to report that we are working on a Colour Blind Assist option for Modern Warfare 3.”

“So start honing your MP skills, Nick.  You won’t be able blame your red-green deficiency for all that friendly-fire come November 8th.”  Condrey concluded.

It raises an interesting question for Train2Game students who’ve already been developing their own games, have you taken the possible colour-blindness of users into consideration?

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Sledgehammer are one of three studios that are contributing to the development of Modern Warfare 3.

The Train2Game blog brought Train2Game students the reveal trailer back in May, while the as also seen on the Train2Game blog, publisher Activision say it’ll bring the most advanced multiplayer ever.

So Train2Game, have you thought about the colour-blind? Should more developers take it into consideration?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Sledgehammer via CVG]

Train2Game Industry Experience Diaries – Johnny Robinson No.2

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Train2Game Game Designer Johnny Robinson is on a  Train2Game student work placement at DR Studios.

This is the second in a series of Train2Game student work placement diaries Johnny will be writing during his placement. Read it below or on the official Train2Game industry experience diaries website.

You can also watch Johnny’s second video diary here on the Train2Game blog.

Train2Game students can play Civilization on Facebook as more devs join social media gaming

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Regular Train2Game blog readers will be familiar with Zynga’s Allies & Empires, which has gained more users than social gaming behemoth Farmville.

Its release was seen by some as a pre-emptive move against, Sid Meier’s Civilization World which is now available to play on Facebook. Yes, that’s the same Civilization that’s been such a hit with PC Gamers for many, many years.

“With over ten million units sold worldwide, Sid Meier’s Civilization  is world renowned as one of the greatest strategy game franchises,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of  publisher2K.

“We’re excited to bring this fun and social game to people on Facebook, enabling fans of the series to play Civilization World from almost anywhere in the world; while offering newcomers a chance to enjoy this addictive strategy gameplay that has fascinated gamers for two decades.”

The game is described as ‘an online world where players collaborate with friends to become the strongest nation to accomplish an end goal of becoming the world’s most powerful civilization.’

“Our team set out to create an exciting  Civilization  game for Facebook where for the first time, players can join with their friends to build a powerful empire and rule the world,” said Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games.

“Civilization World  is a fun and engaging game that both fans of the series and fans of Facebook games will find immediately addictive, and we look forward to adding to the experience as the game continues to evolve in this dynamic new gaming world.”

Civilization’s move to the social media sphere may not come as a big surprise to some Train2Game students, given that Frontierville and former Civilization II designer Brian Reynolds has previously heaped praise on social media games.

He also mentioned how the role of a Game Designer is much more important in a smaller, social media title than a Triple-A game.

“But it turns out that the skills we have are really valuable in social games and it’s actually really fun to design those games. First of all, I’m working on the forefront of a new thing. Second of all, I’m reaching (millions), tens of (millions) of players I could never have reached before” said Reynolds.

And third, I really need my skills. It’s harder to design these games. We do the same things we did with strategy games: Design simple systems that interact in complex ways, but they have to be so much more accessible then they used to.”

And as reported by the Train2Game blog, another PC strategy title in the form of Age of Empires will also soon be heading to Facebook.

Train2Game students already know that Facebook is a huge area of gaming now, and the fact that big developers and publishers want to get involve only solidifies this.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Civilization coming to Facebook? Would you play it? What other classic games would you like to see online?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game students may have to wait for Skyrim mod tools

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Skyrim Dragon Fight screenshot

Train2Game students looking to get their hands on modding tools for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may have to wait for a little while after the game is released.

“We put a big premium on our editor, which we then ship with the games,” Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard told Gamasutra.

“It’s going to come out again with Skyrim, the Creation Kit. So when it comes to content creation, we just have so much of it that we have to put a lot of development time into the tools, because the game is so big.

“We’re hoping [the Creation Kit] will be available as a download on launch day. I don’t know if I can promise day-one, but it will be very close.”

Skyrim looks extremely impressive indeed, and it’d be interesting to see what modders can do with the Creation Kit.

You can find out a little more about Skyrim here on the Train2Game blog

In an interview published on the Train2Game blog last month, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall said that modding is an excellent way for those with desires to get into the games industry to practice their skills.

Indeed, Valve, who was reported by the Train2Game blog will be releasing the Source SDK for free have a long history of supporting modders, and as many Train2Game students will know, the popular shooter Counter-Strike begun as a mod for the original Half-Life.

More recently, Valve have allowed Team Fortress 2 community developers a cut of the revenue made from the in-game items sold through digital transactions.

Some amazing games have been made by modders for various engines, who knows what they could come up with when using the Skyrim Creation Kit.

So Train2Game, is the Skyrim Creation Kit something that interests you? Or are you just looking forward to the game itself?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forums.

[Source: Gamasutra via VG247] 

Train2Game news, Retailers not good for dev creativity say Paradox

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Many Train2Game students have aspirations to work on the Triple A games that get stocked on shelves in shopping centres and supermarkets, but this area has not been good for creativity in the industry.

That’s according to CEO of Paradox Interactive, Fredrik Wester who revealed that the strategy title specialists generate most of their revenue through digital downloads.

“This year we’re close to ninety percent of our revenue being digital” he told PC Gamer.

“Retail sales are like a bonus for us now. We don’t really need retailers any more and that is a release because retailers have not been good for the industry. They’ve not been good for the creative part of the industry, for finding new cool games.”

“People complain to publishers that there are only sequels on the market, but that’s because retailers want to see sequels, because they can do their chart diagrams for how things sell and things like that. So one of the things preventing more creative gaming has been the retail challenge.”

“I can only say this now because we’re not depending on them, so it’s really relieving to be able to say that.”

Paradox’s main digital partner is Steam, with GamersGate also a big parter. Recently, the company had success publishing indie title Magika, which has been downloaded over 600,000 times. It’s proved to be a popular game on the Train2Game forum.

It also offers inspiration to Train2Game students in that Magika was developed by students at a Swedish University who’ve now got a hit game on their hands!

Essentially, Paradox suggest that digital platforms allow developers to self publish and take creative risks that retailers may not want to be a part of. Self-publishing could also potentially allow Train2Game students direct access to a market for their games.

Earlier this year, the Train2Game blog reported that Alan Wake developer Remedy sees an all digital future.

So Train2Game, do you agree that digital distribution allows game developers to be more creative? Would you publish in that way? Or is seeing a game you’ve developed on store shelves the ultimate goal?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: PC Gamer]

Train2Game Game Developers take note: The “real battleground” for new consoles is AI say Ubisoft

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As reported by the Train2Game blog, Ubisoft appear to be very keen to see the next generation of consoles appear sooner rather than later.

Now, in comments that may come as a surprise to Train2Game students, the publisher says it won’t be graphics that push games forward, but the A.I. in them. This one therefore may especially be of interest to the Train2Game Game Developers.

“AI has always been the real battleground. The challenge is that, if you see an AI coming, you’ve failed. And that’s a problem we have to overcome as we create the impression of flawless, seamless worlds.” Ubisoft’s Yves Jacquier told GamesIndustry.biz.

“In general the industry expects that graphics will not be a strong feature any more… Obviously, graphics are better for marketing purposes because you can show things. AI you can’t show.”

“Our challenge with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox [360] is that we’re extremely limited in what we can do. It’s a challenge for the engineers to provide nice graphics and nice AI and nice sound with a very small amount of memory and computation time.”

“We think that the next generation of consoles won’t have these limits any more. Games might have more realistic graphics and more on-screen, but what’s the value of making something more realistic and better animated if you have poor AI?”

And as previously mentioned on the Train2Game blog, Ubisoft have previously stated that a new generation of consoles is needed to bring more creativity into game development.

Train2Game students no doubt have many ideas of what they could do if they could build better games with much improved A.I.

So Train2Game, do you agree with Ubisoft? Is improving AI the next step for the next-generation?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]