Cmune Contributes Views to Virtual Goods Industry Forecast 2010

Cmune
January 17, 2010 0

Cmune contributed its views to the Virtual Goods Industry Forecast 2010 coordinated by Engage Media. The report, which includes ideas from over two dozen industry experts is available free of charge here. A related post is on the Virtual Worlds News site. Cmune definitely hopes to grab part of the potential $10B global market!

Here are some of the ideas shared by Cmune’s CEO Ludovic Bodin:

1. What are your top three trend predictions for the virtual goods sector in 2010?

  • A new market is going to emerge, between casual games a la Zynga & MMO a la WoW.
  • More non-US/Europe companies become visible, making geography less and less relevant.
  • Crossover titles become a must have. MMO and a lighter and more social version of them, kind of Social MMO works closely together. This collaboration create for both companies additional line of revenue and it become an invitation and conversion loop enhancers.

2. What challenges do you expect 2010 to bring for the virtual goods industry?

  • Defense of IP for games with low barrier of entry becomes a very serious issue — core expertise lies not in game production anymore, but running a service and distribution networks. How many farm games on Facebook? Which was the first? (answer: it was before Facebook existed!)
  • Companies with good games but low expertise on analytics and viral mechanics struggle.

3. What was the most significant evolution at your company over the course of 2009 and what are your business and product goals for 2010?

  • We implemented and experimented to understand user behaviors
  • 2010 is going to be about reach, scale and conversion !

4. How has the global economy affected your business, and how has it impacted strategy?

  • 2009 was not the best climate to raise money.
  • But was an excellent time to experiment as not many companies are getting started due to the economic climate.

5. Who are the one or two companies or individuals you think are most likely to have the greatest impact on the virtual goods sector in 2010 and why?

  • Unity3d! Bringing the quality of console games / MMOs to the browser is going to be a game changer.
  • Cmune (us ^_^ ) – as our first product, Paradise Paintball 3D will show the emergence of a new segment of the gaming market, between Social Games & MMO, and we hope to lead the way!

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