Although online game playing has been gaining traction ever since the
Internet met the average office worker, there are several companies that
want to refine it to get more people into the game. One of the most
ambitious is Bethesda-based Exent, which has developed a
platform for game development that creates true on-demand game playing.
The company's vice president of products & market strategy, Yoav Tzruya,
answers some game-filled questions and gives us a peek at what's ahead.
What's involved in the games-on-demand world?
GoD, or games-on-demand, is a general term relating to PC or console
games that are delivered through the Internet, enabling the user to
consume games, on an on-demand basis, anywhere, anytime, on any machine.
In essence, GoD saves users from having to go to the store and purchase
a physical copy of the game, or order a game online but wait for
physical delivery. The term is used for various types of service
business models, primarily subscription, but also rental, purchase, and
try-before-you-buy.
How is your company's platform different?
Exent-powered GoD, unlike other service or technology providers who use
the term, is truly "on-demand." Some other services only offer game
downloads, while Exent technology enables true subscription-based or
rental gaming, providing an on-demand, real-time user experience and
console-like instantaneous gratification and game-play.
How does the platform work and how is it different from buying games at
a store?
Exent-powered GoD is delivered through our EXEtender platform, which
streams the game or application to the end-user's computer. After a
short initial buffering of the game, the user can begin to play. In
essence, a click-and-play experience. This is important, because most PC
games are very large, and take a long time to download. EXEtender
preserves all the original game features, and runs locally on the user's
device, but does not actually install the game on the user's computer.
Why wouldn't gamers just buy a game in a store? Why would they want the
on-demand gaming you describe?
GoD service differs from buying a game in a store in several very
important ways. The first is cost. A typical "all-you-can-eat"
subscription to a gaming service costs about $15 per month. Specialized
packages, such as a kids' package, or a game genre package, cost even
less. GoD services can include well over 100 games.
Contrast this with purchasing a single game in a store. There, a single
game can cost over $50, this pays for about 40 hours of gaming
experience. Think how many games and how many hours you can play online
for that price.
Another consideration is the user experience. Who is the electronic
retail store's target audience? Typically, young males. The experience
of going into a specialty store can be very intimidating if you are not
in the target demographic. You may be inundated with images you don't
relate to. What if you don't know what game you want? How about if you
did get a game recommendation, or know what you want, and you get home
and find out your computer doesn't actually meet the game's minimum
requirement? What if you just don't like the game? You've still spent
your $50.
With a subscription-based GoD service, you can try out games, play a
variety of games, participate in online communities, chat and get
recommendations. No risk, and a lot of reward. This means the novice or
casual gamer can enjoy games too, not only the hardcore gamer who is
hooked into the gaming "world."
In addition, EXEtender resolves any hardware/software conflicts--you
know in advance which games your system supports.
Tell us why a gamer would want to install the EXEtender player.
After installation of the EXEtender player, which is the games
interface, you never have to go through any installation processes for
the games you play. At the same time, you get the exact same experience
and features that you would if you had the CD installed in your system.
Exent-powered GoD services can offer games of any size, from small games
to multi-gigabyte games, in any genre, including kid/family,
educational, first-person shooter, action, adventure, strategy, sports,
and more. Everyone in the household can enjoy, all within a single
subscription.
There is also availability to think about. Typically, stores keep games
on the shelf for a relatively brief time, approximately 3 months. GoD
services are able to offer the entire back-catalog of a publisher's
games, as well as new hit titles. This way, users can always find their
old favorites, or try new things.
Who are your competitors?
We don't think we have any direct competition in the games space--our
product and services are innovative and unique. In a broader sense, we
compete with other broadband services like video-on-demand (VoD) and
music services for subscribers. Data from published studies suggests
that games-on-demand services perform up to 3 times better than other
value added services, such as VoD. For example, GoD services reach a
penetration rate of 3 percent of all broadband subscribers at a
broadband service provider within 12 months after launching, while VoD
typically reaches around 1 percent.
Have you seen a growth in interest for on-demand gaming?
Absolutely. GoD is fast becoming the value-added service of choice for
broadband service providers. But it is not limited to them. Consumer
portals like Yahoo and game publishers like Atari are beginning to
recognize the value of GoD, not to mention retailers and Internet cafe
chains.
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