Rock Solid

This is a highly dynamic space and it's moving very, very quickly. Where we are today compared to where we were a year and a half ago is a significant advancement in a lot of areas. That's both an opportunity and a risk. We have to stay abreast of technology but more importantly we have to stay abreast of consumer trends. I've worked in the casual games space with a number of guys for the last ten years and one of the traps that you can fall into is assuming that technological advances are always a good thing.

From our perspective we're very focused on the consumer experience because this is a mass market audience. For us it's much more about what the consumer demands rather than what new technologies are able to deliver. Where those two come together and work hand in hand you've got the perfect storm. But it's absolutely essential to us we stay focused on what the consumer is demanding not what we as game makers can do with the latest technology.

Technology should be a tool used in our arsenal to offer a better experience, it shouldn't be an end in itself. The games industry is unique in the world in being one of the few industry's where technological advancements reduces margins and that shouldn't be the case. From our perspective, where technology can help improve the gameplay experience, whether that is through 3D or any other opportunities that are open to us then we'll absolutely embrace it. We're very focused on staying abreast with that. But it shouldn't be used just because it's there and that's something to be very guarded against.

Look at something like Just Dance which has sold well over ten million units for both versions and it's not a technologically advanced game, but it's absolutely hit a sweet spot in the marketplace. Very much like movies we've seen films with huge budgets crash and fail and movies with small budgets become worldwide hits. It's about the product, it's not about the technology.

In the year ahead, what you're going to see from RockYou is a fairly balanced portfolio where we have different kinds of experiences that we're trying to create for different audiences. It's about the team and the experience they're making and the experience the audience want and then figuring out the right technology to deliver that.

As I look forward I don't think the social gaming and social network platforms are going to evolve as rapidly as some of the dedicated gaming platforms over the past couple of decades. I don't think there's going to be a huge rush in ever increasing production values, but I do think 3D is going to play a role.

If you look at EA's latest golf game, that obviously requires the Unity plug-in and that can be a barrier when you're trying to reach a very large audience. But it's really impressive what can be done with 3D in a web browser. One thing I do know is that audiences all over the world do openly want great experiences that are immersive and believable and sometimes that requires you to deliver a very rich, graphical world. But other times it requires the delivery of great music or something else depending on the game that you're making. We're going to see advancements but I don't think it's going to be a prime mover in the space.

A couple of other things that we're seeing - smartphones and tablets are coming like a tidal wave. They can't be ignored as a really important platform for social gaming. It's an unstoppable trend. The other thing is that so many games are only available in English and that's something that's clearly going to change. It's something we're going to focus on.