Online Worlds Roundtable #15, Part Two

The second part of RPG Vault’s 15th Online Worlds Roundtable is now online. Featuring Erik Bethke, CEO of GoPets, Grace Wong, Business Development Manager of NetDevil, Jeff Lujan, Senior VP of Global Publishing of K2 Network, Brian Green, co-Founder of Near Death Studios and Megan Liu, Manager of the Overseas Business Department of Object Software. They discuss the question if the US gaming industry is paying enough attention to other markets. Erik Bethe:

Web 2.0 people are naturally gaga about Facebook’s applications… and where’s your widget or gadget strategy right now? Online, there’s the tired commentary about real-money trades being good or evil. And will the Asian item-based model kick ass in the States… answer: already taking names.

When people talk about casual games, do they mean DS, web, mobile, or item-based ones that aren’t MMORPGs. The only thing common across them all is budgets in the $100,000 to $5 million range vs. $30+ million for serious console or major MMORPG attempts.

However, I’d argue World of Warcraft, with nine million subscribers, severely distorts what casual means. There’s no way to reconcile such a number with the traditional concept of mass market vs. hardcore. Blizzard’s top-line revenue exceeds five percent of America’s TV industry… one game.