The Future of Games is Flash
Among many of the prophesies on future of the videogames industry is its eventual transition to the cloud. If games are run virtually, it means that gamers don't need to physically own software. David Perry, chief creative officer at Acclaim Entertainment, likens it to the arcade where people were willing to pay to play on hardware they could never afford.
People don't care if they own a physical copy of Texas Hold 'Em on Facebook, but there's a problem with moving more complicated games directly to the cloud. It requires a really fast Internet connection and better broadband penetration. Perry expects that is at least five years away.
That's why Acclaim has decided that the future is Flash, particularly because Adobe continues to add more 3D support. With Flash, the game is saved on Acclaim's servers. It's persistent. Everything is cog-based and scalable. Flash, says Perry, gives you unlimited power.
He is spearheading the development of a next generation API that brings development tools to developers. The suite would allow them to easily implement virtual currency, achievements, guest passes, prepaid cards, and alternative business models to their games. Developers could also adjust prices in real-time and instantly update their micro-transaction offerings.
These tools would all be hosted within FanHub.com, which is currently in the final stages of development. Essentially a Flash game publisher, it would host the catalog of games and give developers 80% of revenues. The model, says Perry, would allow developers to take back their own industry.
Right now the Flash games business is leaving a lot of money on the table, he says. If you aren't within the first or second tier of Flash games, they're buried on the pages of Web portals. Most developers release their games for free or rely on pre-roll ads – none of which make much money. And there's the problem that if a game has been distributed across multiple sites, it's nigh impossible to make sure all portals have the most up to date version of the game.
While the most poignant part of Perry's broad talk about the future of the games industry had to do with the Flash future, he also touched on the need for building community, interacting with audiences, and exploring new markets and business models.
There's not game industry veteran who became successful by not taking risks, says Perry.
