3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit
Attended by over 550 actual, real people.
SAN FRANCISCO - Nov. 17, 2009
With the close of the 3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit, industry professionals and journalists alike are buzzing about the many challenges and benefits virtual goods monetization presents for the digital media and interactive entertainment industries. The two-day event, held at the Westin Market Street Hotel in downtown San Francisco, featured a complete lineup of nearly 50 speakers from leading companies, more than 30 sponsors, and a total of over 550 professionals in attendance. Attendees came together to share experiences, inspire and learn from one another, all while celebrating the burgeoning virtual goods industry.
"This year’s Virtual Goods Summit was bigger and more compelling than we could have imagined, attracting speakers and attendees from Europe and Asia as well as across North America," said Charles Hudson, host of the 3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit. "This gathering put tremendous momentum behind the discussion of free-to-play business models that will undoubtedly carry us into next year’s summit."
The 3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit featured panel discussions and presentations from the industry’s most prolific individuals and companies. Among the topics covered were the variety of challenges associated with virtual goods implementation, virtual economy management, and monetization in free-to-play online games, social games, and iPhone applications.
On day one of the Virtual Goods Summit University, Lee Clancy of IMVU focused on best practices in managing and marketing virtual goods, and emphasized that “community is key” in driving sales. Clancy attributes their thriving virtual goods economy to engaged users hoping to gain the attention and respect within their online community.
In an overview of the Asian virtual goods market on day two of the summit, Benjamin Joffe of +8* revealed his estimate that the Eastern segment of the global virtual goods industry is worth nearly $7 billion, emphasizing that, “Asia is already more than the sum of North America plus Europe, in terms of internet users and mobile users.”
Following Joffe’s presentation, spokespeople from virtual goods leaders including Nexon, IMVU, and DeNA discussed their extensive experience in the space on a panel. When asked what makes a great virtual good, Min Kim of Nexon stated, “Everything we sell is functional. Whether it's a piece of clothing for your avatar or it's an item that helps you earn experience faster, there's some sort of function there.”
During the final panel session of the summit, a discussion among payment system leaders from Offerpal, Zong, Incomm and PayPal regarding the quality of advertising offers for purchasing in-game currency sparked widespread interest about the integrity of the offer market. The discussion resulted in several social gaming publishers and networks such as Zynga, RockYou, MySpace and Facebook revising the terms of use for offers that are potentially misleading to end users.
Additional presentations and discussions were given by leading companies including Linden Lab, Playfish, Bigpoint, Outspark, Playdom, Serious Business, Jambool and many more.
To view presentations and panel discussions from the 3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit, please visit http://www.vgsummit.com/2009/video
About the Virtual Goods Summit
The 3rd Annual Virtual Goods Summit is brought to you by 3rd Power LLC, the team behind the Virtual Goods Summit 2008, Virtual Goods Summit 2007, Social Gaming Summit 2009, Social Gaming Summit 2008, and the iGames Summit. 3rd Power LLC strives to develop events that bring Internet and social media professionals together to exchange ideas and make new connections.
Kate Pietrelli, TriplePoint
(415) 955-8500
katep@triplepointpr.com