Author: Eric Cohen-Peckham

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Co-op games…a core argument in my virtual worlds series is that it has become mainstream for people to turn to the virtual worlds of games as spaces to build new relationships and deepen existing ones. People bond when they share an intense, high stakes experience together and games can simulate that type of experience.

A lot of games have been designed for core gamers eager for competition against each other without appreciating the psychological effect of different design decisions though. Many games unintentionally encourage toxic behavior by not understanding the social dynamics they’ve created.

Humans are tribal and I expect mainstream consumers spending more time in virtual worlds will crave environments that offer a sense of belonging and collaboration against a common adversary more than individual competition. Project Horseshoe has spearheaded interesting research on game design tactics here, and top talent is pursuing this path.

EA’s chief design officer Patrick Söderlund left to found the ambitious Embark Studios in Stockholm with this vision and (Korean games giant) Nexon has acquired a majority stake while it is still in development. In LA, top VC firm Andreessen Horowitz just led a $5M seed round in Elodie Games, a new co-op game studio by two former Riot devs. Co-operative gameplay is also part of forthcoming virtual world experiences that have raised substantial VC funding, like Klang Games in Berlin.

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Interesting 2019 stats from App Annie’s State of Mobile 2020 report…

There were 204 billion worldwide app downloads last year and $120 billion of consumer spend through those apps. (That consumer spend is from money running through the app stores due to paid apps, in-app subscriptions, and in-app purchases; it excludes e-commerce purchases made via apps.)

 Of that $120 billion in consumer spend, 40% ($48B) was spending in China and 72% ($86B) was spending on gaming apps.

While Casual games (puzzles, arcade games, etc.) account for 82% of downloads, it is Core games (role playing, shooter, action, strategy) that comprise 76% of consumer spending on games and 55% of hours spent on mobile gaming.About half of revenue in the mobile game industry comes from ads and that’s where Casual games shine but it is clear consumers are most willing to spend money when they are in more immersive, social experiences.

 By the way, 1,121 game apps generated at least $5M in revenue in 2019. That’s an increase from 1,055 in 2018 and 959 in 2017. Notably, the most growth has been in the segment of games generating over $100M: there were 140 last year after 116 in 2018 and 88 in 2017.