1. Transmedia, gamification,
advergaming and other buzzwords
Nicholas Lovell
GAMESbrief
October 27th, 2011

2. Nicholas Lovell, GAMESbrief
• Author, How to Publish a Game,
GAMESbrief Unplugged Volumes 1
&2
• Director, GAMESbrief
(www.gamesbrief.com)
• Clients include Atari, Channel 4,
Channelflip, Firefly, IPC, nDreams,
Rebellion and Square Enix
• @nicholaslovell / @gamesbrief

3. Subscribe to the blog

4. This is a game

5. This is not a game

6. This is a game

7. This is not a game

8. This is a game

9. This is not a game

10. BUZZWORD BINGO

11. ADVERGAMING
IN-GAME ADVERTISING
TRANSMEDIA
GAMIFICATION
MAKING GAMES

12. Advergaming =
a brand paying a developer to make a
game

15. An advergame is not a TV spot
• Games are rubbish at customer ACQUISITION
• They are great at customer RETENTION
• They can complement an acquisition campaign, not
replace it

16. Marketing budget >= dev budget
Development budget:
$50 m
Launch budget:
$200 m

17. Transmedia =
taking a media property and extending it
into a different medium.

18. Some examples
• A novel set in the world of a PS3 game
• An alternate reality game designed to promote a movie
• A kids business that makes a show to sell the books, the
CD, the colouring book, the toys (veering into
merchandising)
• But they are so often misconceived

19. My latest transmedia (ugh!) project

20. Stop! When transmedia attacks

21. What games do
• Games are great at customer retention, customer
engagement, customer monetisation
• They are rubbish at customer acquisition
• It breaks my heart that we build disposable transmedia
games when it is not the strength of the medium

22. In-game advertising =
a (largely discredited) attempt to bring
television-style advertising to big-budget
games

23. Burnout Paradise

24. In-game advertising was going to be the
next big thing
• Massive, IGA, Double Fusion
• Games are big and growing. The market was going to be
huge
• But:
• Only some games are suitable
• Volumes too low
• Advertisers and developers made uneasy bedfellows
• Social media and social games are frankly better
• Massive = bought by Microsoft for $400m in 2006; shut
down in 2010

25. Branded virtual goods
2 million Facebook fans in 24 hours

26. Game making =
making games

27. Brands are not game makers
• Making games is tough
• 40 years of experience
• Business model, distribution, audiences, genres changing
• Do you really want to make a game?

28. Gamification

29. My definition of gamification
“Using game-like mechanics to improve
a business process, or customer
experience, or profits”

30. Some rules

31. Rule 2: Know what you are trying to
achieve

32. Rule 2: Did it work?
• What’s the point of gamifying if you don’t what it aims to
achieve?
• To gamify successfully:
• Write down three things you want to achieve by gamifying
• Make them measurable
• Hand the list to whoever is going to gamify and ask for help

33. Rule 3: Be prepared not to gamify

34. Rule 3: Remember the basics
• You win races by tacking
better, not advanced
tactics
• You satisfy customers by
giving them what they
want and need easily and
efficiently
• Your customers don’t care
about buzzwords
• Make your site work
before you gamify

35. Rule 8: Beware unintended
consequences

36. Rule 8: the target, or the objective?
Q&A

37. Rule 9: Make it personal

38. Rule 9: Intrinsic versus extrinsic

39. Rule 10: Gamification is a process, not a
project

40. Rule 10: change your attitude
• Spend 50% of your marketing budget after launch
• Once you start, never stop

41. The ten rules – in summary
• You’re not making a game
• Put your house in order first
• Think about ALL your customers, not just the ones that
are like you
• If you have a gamification project, not a gamification
process, it won’t work.

42. Thank you
nicholas@gamesbrief.com
http://www.gamesbrief.com/2011/03/the-ten-
rules-of-gamification/
Buy my books

43. Killers, Achievers,
Explorers, Socialisers

44. Killers
• Competition
• Tests of skill
• PvP
• Ganking and griefing
• It’s all about “beating” another human

45. Achievers
• Points, levels, trophies and stuff
• Competition “with yourself”
• Who “gamification” was made for
• Xbox Live Achievements
• Levelling up
• Grind
• Achievers want elite status, and to show it off

46. Explorers
• Search
• Explore
• Take time
• Discover
• Transmedia-friendly
• Explorers want to go where no one else has gone and
know what no one else knows

47. Socialisers
• Friends
• Community
• Communication
• It doesn’t matter what they do as long as they do it
with friends

48. The Player Interest Graph
ACTING
Killers: 23% Achievers: 21%
PLAYERS WORLD
Socialisers: 25% Explorers: 29%
INTERACTING

49. Everyone is a bit of everything
• My BARTLE TEST results
• Explorer (EAS)
• Explorer: 80%
• Achiever: 73%
• Socializer: 47%
• Killer: 0%
• http://www.gamerdna.com/quizzes/bartle-test-of-gamer-psychology