Don't dismiss potential of casual market - Eidos

Lou Fawcett, head of Eidos' new casual division SoGoPlay has urged developers to reconsider what they assume makes a good game.

During a round-table discussion at Northern Exposure last week, Fawcett argued many potential players have been put off by the technical evolution of videogaming, and that audiences are happy with titles that might previously have been considered too simple.

"From a development perspective the casual market really challenges a lot of assumptions that you'd make," offered Fawcett.

"The casual market isn't new. But the traditional videogames market has moved on and gotten so complicated and technical that it's almost alienated a lot of potential customers."

"A lot of people ask, 'what is casual?' You need to get in touch with your feminine side, speak to friends and relatives who are playing these games and understand what they consider to be a great game dynamic is perhaps something that you have dismissed as being too light, not having enough flesh on its bones," she said.

Fawcett also offered insight into Eidos' reasoning behind entering the casual market and the establishing of a dedicated division within the company.

"It's very hard internally for small games to get any degree of focus from the sales team or the marketing teams. Because obviously, when you've got big launches coming through it's very hard to put attention on the small fry," revealed Fawcett.

"But they are viable games and viable opportunities, and the whole ethos of having our dedicated division is that we make the noise to give these titles the attention they need."

She also reiterated the company's commitment to creating new IP for the casual sector, and that the market offers opportunities on all systems, not only the PC format.

"For us at Eidos, casual games aren't just about the PC space and our exploitation of that market. It's about creation of new and original IP, not just on PC but on all platforms, whether that's online, mobile or the Wii," said Fawcett.