Many people believe the video game console market is dead. In the face of growing mobile and casual games market, some would even go so far to say that traditional games are dead altogether. While we won’t know what the market will shape out to be just yet, there is one thing for certain: there are die-hard loyalists on each side of the spectrum and TechCocktail has recently written about a new startup wants to start rewarding these people.
Wufasta will be partnering with companies to produce branded promotions, reward gamers for completing in-game challenges, and even sponsoring professional completive gamers. Rewards can come in the form of physical prizes but the really innovative reward scheme they’re going to use will be the reward of virtual goods. And no, not badges or achievements this time — Wufasta will be rewarding players new in-game items and extra downloadable content, which in turn keeps gamers playing and exposed to brands.
This is loop is even further ingrained with the ability for players to earn Wufasta’s virtual currency and actually exchange that for in-game app purchases that would normally cost money. In-game items that cost real money can typically be earned with the in-game virtual currency but usually take a very long time to earn. Ideally, the Wufasta model should make this process feel quicker and make the free-to-play revenue model more viable for players (more “free” gaming) and developers (more revenue) alike.
The only other platform that exists to reward players like this is the social-gaming network Raptr, which connects to your Steam, Xbox Live, and Playstation Network accounts to reward you for time spent playing. Wufasta is different in that they are planning on leveraging the rising growth of the professional gamer market, also known as eSports. They will be partnering with Twitch, Steam, and a number of eSports teams and organizations to attract a new segment of the gamer market.
Wufasta is currently in early development but plans to launch in open beta in late Spring 2013. Players can sign up to participate in Wufasta’s beta at launch.wufasta.co and follow them on @Wufasta for product updates.
Wufasta really has their work cut-out for them if they want to really compete with Raptr, considering they’ve been around since 2007 and have raised $27M in funding. If they can successfully leverage the exploding eSports scene and partnering with big tournaments for League of Legends and Starcraft 2, they might just have a chance.
Most people believe the video console market is dead? Who are these people? I guess they can’t be counted amongst the 230,000,000 PS3, 360 and Wii gamers. Tell Activison traditional games are dead, it made $1 BILLION in the first 15 days of Black Ops 2 sales. Sorry, but that irked me enough to stop reading your article. 🙂
PC>Console>Mobile>Social
The reason that they had to mention it is because there’s been so much buzz about “mobile” gaming. Some people (that have never played DOOM or FFVII) think that hand-held touch screens will somehow replace the HD Television in people’s living room. The new micro-consoles (OUYA, Gamestick, and some more) are smart about this. Sure, they are based on Android, but do not call them “mobile”.
But PC will always reign supreme above all else. Always!
PC supremacist.
The device that will always reign supreme is the device that satiates the gaming needs and desires of each individual gamer, and this will always differ from person to person. As much as you love your PC gaming, that platform simply doesn’t get the games I want to play. Having grown up on the PlayStation brand, I find the console gaming culture so much more alive than that of the PC. It’s all subjective.
However, John Carmack, the godfather of the PC FPS genre, doesn’t agree with you. He said that PC isn’t a leading platform in his eyes any more.
“We do not see the PC as the leading platform for games. That statement
will enrage some people, but it is hard to characterize it otherwise;
both console versions will have larger audiences than the PC version.”
Now the PS4 has been unveiled, has been crafted upon the express feedback of both 1st and 3rd party developers, has massive processing power and 8GB GDDR5 RAM. It is getting support for middleware dev tools like xaitControl, morpheme 4, SpeedTree , PhysX, Apex and Enlighten too. So if the PC’s right to reigning supreme is based on its graphical advantage, that has been snubbed to quite a large degree. It certainly isn’t from a content point of view seeing as it’s basically a 3rd party platform and even PC exclusive titles like Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 are going to console…Anyway…
Bottom line is, different strokes for different blokes. 😀
I’d rather not fart around with upgrades, drivers and DRM when I’m gaming. 🙂
I meant that initial statement as a general claim for people who believe the videogame industry will shift significantly more towards PC/mobile gaming in the next couple of years. I’m pretty sure the Call of Duty bubble has more or less burst by now and we wont be seeing such numbers for that franchise again.
I’m excited for the PS4 to come out though — and to see how gamers will react to next-gen consoles in the face of a really damn good current generation of PC gaming.
My apologies if I sounded a bit rough. I didn’t want to come off as arrogant or anything, it’s just these beliefs are clearly not supported by reality and I guess I would have personally addressed this in my article. Anyone out there who believes that core gamers are suddenly going to relinquish complex controls on in-depth games for swiping a screen on a €0.99 game is not in touch with the gaming industry (and I’m talking about these people who have the beliefs you mentioned, not you yourself).
I can understand how it may seem like this to people who aren’t that integrated into the culture and industry of gaming as casual gamers far out weigh core gamers…
I don’t know if I like this that much. I think the inclusion of branded promotion inside games damages the fantasy of the experience. Their case study sets up the problem as: gamers want free stuff – do they? I thought they wanted awesome games.
If they want awesome games, then they can pay $60.
If they want free stuff, they’ll either come to us or get it off of torrent. (except now with this online-only DRM madness they can’t pirate games)
Which came first, World of Warcraft or Twitter? The iPhone or Call of Duty III? Traditional Computer and Video Games predate both Social Media and Mobile applications. The next-gen consoles, and new PC hardware will only propel core gaming back to its former glory: when Pokemon, Chrono-Cross, and Counter-Strike 1.6 were the only games that mattered. (Zelda, Age of Empires, & Advance Wars were good too)
Well, I wonder why people are too keen to kill other stuff to sell their wares! I think rewarding players for time spent playing sucks!
It’s harder to track, but the gold would be referral rewards as opposed to the amount of engagement time.
I think it’s interesting because of the consistent connection to a brand. No matter the platform used that is the money maker here.
It looks interesting