I think many of these rollup-type UGC publishers are counting on a couple of factors:
Arbitrage: acquire games cheaply and attempt to apply existing GaaS best practices to improve performance.
IP/brands work-for-hire: build the Roblox or Fortnite experience for some non-gaming (or even traditional AAA gaming) brand seeking to reach a younger audience.
Not saying I necessarily agree with the viability of these approaches, but the hope would be that the latter pays the bills while the former generates larger revenues in the long term. Acquiring existing games rather than building original IP theoretically derisks some of the obstacles you mentioned.
Is that venture backable? Maybe…or maybe it never can be, so long as they're stuck behind a platform's walled garden. But there are definitely VC-backed companies out there (Voldex, Gamefam, LNW) taking that bet.
Great article - simple and clear arguments. It is clear that the more helpful/restrained creator environment, the less differitated end-product and more limited platform transferability
I think many of these rollup-type UGC publishers are counting on a couple of factors:
Arbitrage: acquire games cheaply and attempt to apply existing GaaS best practices to improve performance.
IP/brands work-for-hire: build the Roblox or Fortnite experience for some non-gaming (or even traditional AAA gaming) brand seeking to reach a younger audience.
Not saying I necessarily agree with the viability of these approaches, but the hope would be that the latter pays the bills while the former generates larger revenues in the long term. Acquiring existing games rather than building original IP theoretically derisks some of the obstacles you mentioned.
Is that venture backable? Maybe…or maybe it never can be, so long as they're stuck behind a platform's walled garden. But there are definitely VC-backed companies out there (Voldex, Gamefam, LNW) taking that bet.
Great article - simple and clear arguments. It is clear that the more helpful/restrained creator environment, the less differitated end-product and more limited platform transferability