Untitled

[rubixq]

Gaming as a service to change the way we play

In the similar lines of software as a service, the gaming industry had also brought forward a continuing revenue model – Gaming as a service(GaaS). They release the game for an initial price or free of cost and then monetizes it over time. Unlike the Pay-to-play model, this retains the users’ interest in playing the game for longer times and generate a continuous source of income. One-time game purchase models are tough to sell, prone to severe losses, whereas GaaS based games are future proof. It attracts players, advertisers and investors alike. Today, some of the most popular games are getting released via this model, thanks to cloud gaming.

This revenue model allows developers to make money post its release through subscriptions and in-game purchases, ads, etc. This also allowed them to concentrate on the video game development part of it rather than the financials, as the content in the game can define the long run and lifespan of the game. The advent of this technology helped video game developers and players alike. It created new opportunities for developers by opening doors to cloud integration and streaming games. It opened up a new door for cloud gaming with Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) like Age of Empires, PUBG, etc.

Cloud integration allowed users to play multiplayer games on their phones or PCs or consoles and the developers can have their servers that host those games as a service somewhere distant and stream the game through video codec. They can release new updates on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in the form of missions, events, levels, etc. They can limit the access for these games as a service with subscriptions, manage the players and payments with effective business systems in place.

Business systems:

Unique Billing System: It is extremely important for developers to deploy an efficient and unique billing system that can cater to a wide variety of players of cloud gaming who opt for different plans and pick different offers. These subscriptions of the games as a service can be categorized into 3 types.

A flat billing system where the player is charged according to his weekly or monthly or yearly plan

A volume-based system where the player is charged based on the volume of content he consumed or played

A tiered system where the player is charged based on a set amount for a unit range of time

Customer Relations Management (CRM):

CRM is important for any business and the Gaming Industry is not an exception. To increase the number of signups, subscriptions and plans, GaaS based games need to be a proper CRM in place to manage the possible issues in billing, plans, services, in-game purchases and the game itself. A well-organised CRM will increase the trust and support of any user.

Accessibility

Modern gaming is more than just a game, it’s about taking a part in life. Users will want to play GaaS based games, anywhere and at any time. So, it is imperative for video game developers to make games readily accessible. At the same time, they should provide the users with security with defined login authentications. This is where technically adept and professional video game development outsourcing companies like RubixQ come into play. With sound knowledge in the technicalities as well as the market research of what gamers want, they deliver games that are compatible across all platforms without compromising on the quality and content.

Conclusion:

There are a lot of developments happening in this modern revenue model in terms of customised plans, less latency in the cloud, enhanced user experiences, etc. Another interesting addition to these is the rise of gaming OTT platforms. Major players in the video gaming industry have already tapped the potential of fully or partially cloud-based gaming services. Google Stadia is coming up with its own subscription plans and so does the XBOX game pass, taking full advantage of GaaS based games. During 2007-2008, Chinese company Tencent was one of the first companies to employ this model. EA Games, in just 6 years of GaaS introduction, increased its market value from $4 billion to $33 billion. With the tremendous growth of these big companies and virtual currency slowly being the norm, more and more developers are moving towards this model by including skippable ads, in-game purchases, tokens, cheat codes, coins, etc for recurring revenue.

[rubixq]

Amazon and It’s Future Plans To Rule The Gaming Industry!

If there’s any industry that’s not only escaped from the COVID crisis but also seen exponential growth in the market value, that is the gaming industry. Amid the lockdown, even the so-called non-gamers also joined the bandwagon of playing online games. This resilience is a result of work from home, unemployment and a lot of free time. With few exceptions, almost all big games have been released on time and received critical acclaim during this period. It can’t get any better for biggies like Amazon to step in and create something huge with the help of video game outsourcing companies like RubixQ.

A world of opportunities

After dominating the digital entertainment, e-commerce, and other segments, Amazon is venturing into the gaming industry by investing millions of dollars to be the industry leader of video games. They want to become the NETFLIX for gaming and get the major share in the multi-billion dollar market. It has launched its games division in 2012 under the name Amazon Game Studios with an initial focus on smaller mobile games. Later, they pivoted to expensive and elaborate PC games. Since then, they have worked on big-budget video games development in-house.

Initial Hiccups

In 2017, Amazon Game Studios gave an awe-inspiring pitch for a lavish and humongous big-budget video game, Breakaway. It is a fast-paced video game that happens on the Royal Dutch Navy battleship. The concept of it sounds like a beautiful amalgamation of two of the most popular games, League of Legends and Rocket League. It requires split-second reflexes, combat strategies, spatial reasoning, etc to succeed in this 4-minute heart-pounding game. They’ve spent a whopping quarter-million dollars to design and develop it. And the result – Breakaway failed to create the mark it was intended to and was cancelled.

The promise of a bright future

Amazon Game Studios spend around $500 million a year which its parent money Amazon earns in a matter of hours. And it is ready to spend a lot more to create a benchmark video game. The company acquired the game development studio that made “Killer Instinct” – Double Helix Games. For a mammoth amount of $970 million, it also bought Twitch, which is now one of the most popular game-streaming services.

Currently, another mammoth game called New World is under development. It would be a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) till day from Amazon Games. It was supposedly set to be released on August 31, 2021, but it is still not clear whether it would release on that particular date. The game will be set in the mid-1600s with its characters looking to colonize a land derived from colonial America in the Atlantic Ocean known as Aeternum Island. According to some sources, the game will be available via a buy-to-play business model with no subscription fee.

After the release of “New World”, they are planning to introduce a string of interactive games on Twitch. Amazon plans to break that virtual wall of people merely watching others play and make them a part of the play. They are also working on their own cloud gaming service through Project Tempo. They have launched Luna which is a cloud-based service that offers games to be played across smartphones, PCs, tablets and televisions. It is their answer to Stadia from Google in the cloud gaming service. They’ve recently collaborated with Smilegate RPG to release Lost Ark. They told that they are committed to releasing the highest quality games, whether they’re developing it or working with some of the best developers from other game development agencies.

Though Jeff Bezos announced his retirement from his position as a CEO of Amazon, he made it clear that the company will give a free hand to the developers to look beyond the horizons of Video Games and streaming services. They are looking at big leaps in both visuals and fidelity. They can use their robust Amazon Web Services (AWS) to their advantage by making it the underlying infrastructure. As Amazon grows its revenue from all other sectors, its expenditure on technology and content will also grow exponentially. With this kind of ever-growing stream of revenue to invest in, only the sky is the limit for Amazon’s video game ambitions.

[rubixq]

Different Game Monetization Strategies for Developers

If there’s any industry that’s not only escaped from the COVID crisis but also seen exponential growth in the market value, that is the gaming industry. Amid the lockdown, even the so-called non-gamers also joined the bandwagon of playing online games. This resilience is a result of work from home, unemployment and a lot of free time. With few exceptions, almost all big games have been released on time and received critical acclaim during this period. It can’t get any better for biggies like Amazon to step in and create something huge with the help of video game outsourcing companies like RubixQ.

A world of opportunities

After dominating the digital entertainment, e-commerce, and other segments, Amazon is venturing into the gaming industry by investing millions of dollars to be the industry leader of video games. They want to become the NETFLIX for gaming and get the major share in the multi-billion dollar market. It has launched its games division in 2012 under the name Amazon Game Studios with an initial focus on smaller mobile games. Later, they pivoted to expensive and elaborate PC games. Since then, they have worked on big-budget video games development in-house.

Initial Hiccups

In 2017, Amazon Game Studios gave an awe-inspiring pitch for a lavish and humongous big-budget video game, Breakaway. It is a fast-paced video game that happens on the Royal Dutch Navy battleship. The concept of it sounds like a beautiful amalgamation of two of the most popular games, League of Legends and Rocket League. It requires split-second reflexes, combat strategies, spatial reasoning, etc to succeed in this 4-minute heart-pounding game. They’ve spent a whopping quarter-million dollars to design and develop it. And the result – Breakaway failed to create the mark it was intended to and was cancelled.

The promise of a bright future

Amazon Game Studios spend around $500 million a year which its parent money Amazon earns in a matter of hours. And it is ready to spend a lot more to create a benchmark video game. The company acquired the game development studio that made “Killer Instinct” – Double Helix Games. For a mammoth amount of $970 million, it also bought Twitch, which is now one of the most popular game-streaming services.

Currently, another mammoth game called New World is under development. It would be a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) till day from Amazon Games. It was supposedly set to be released on August 31, 2021, but it is still not clear whether it would release on that particular date. The game will be set in the mid-1600s with its characters looking to colonize a land derived from colonial America in the Atlantic Ocean known as Aeternum Island. According to some sources, the game will be available via a buy-to-play business model with no subscription fee.

After the release of “New World”, they are planning to introduce a string of interactive games on Twitch. Amazon plans to break that virtual wall of people merely watching others play and make them a part of the play. They are also working on their own cloud gaming service through Project Tempo. They have launched Luna which is a cloud-based service that offers games to be played across smartphones, PCs, tablets and televisions. It is their answer to Stadia from Google in the cloud gaming service. They’ve recently collaborated with Smilegate RPG to release Lost Ark. They told that they are committed to releasing the highest quality games, whether they’re developing it or working with some of the best developers from other game development agencies.

Though Jeff Bezos announced his retirement from his position as a CEO of Amazon, he made it clear that the company will give a free hand to the developers to look beyond the horizons of Video Games and streaming services. They are looking at big leaps in both visuals and fidelity. They can use their robust Amazon Web Services (AWS) to their advantage by making it the underlying infrastructure. As Amazon grows its revenue from all other sectors, its expenditure on technology and content will also grow exponentially. With this kind of ever-growing stream of revenue to invest in, only the sky is the limit for Amazon’s video game ambitions.

[rubixq]

The Psychology Behind Game Development

Games are being played for a long time now and a lot of research is also being happening simultaneously to understand the behaviour of gamers. Scientists are trying to understand what makes video games appealing and what are the factors that motivate people to continue playing for a long time. Several studies are being conducted to understand how game developers can advance their strategies and game structures in terms of attracting new players and piquing the interest of existing gamers. There have to be more to what makes games attractive and addictive, and Video game outsourcing companies like RubixQ are working relentlessly to find out the factors.

Psychology plays an important role in designing anything that interacts with people. It helps the developers to understand what gamers like and why. The focus on the mental state of gamers will explain the enjoyment of games. According to Richard Ryan and Edward Deci’s Self Determination Theory, humans are always driven by innate emotions like competence, challenges, sense of accomplishment, relatability, autonomy, etc. When their needs are fulfilled by a game, it makes the experience attractive and addictive to players. It gives a purpose to the gamer, provides enjoyment and relaxation caused by the gaming.

The social element in gaming is another aspect that contributes to the psychology of gamers. Video game developers are tapping into this with multiplayer and online games. According to game designer John Radoff, there are a set of 42 things that can make people interested in games. For example, Relaxing, Competition, Organizing Groups of People, Improving Society, and Triumph Over Conflict are a few. According to Dr. Steven Reiss, a Psychology and Psychiatry professor, there are 16 different human motivators and their object of desire. Power, curiosity, honor, independence, status, vengeance, and family are a few of them. Considering all these factors, video game developers are designing games that can allow people to associate themselves.

According to the Dr. Richard Bartle, a British game reasearcher, there are 4 types of video game players.

Achievers: These type of gamers are always looking to experience challenges and tackle that challenge successfully. That urge and ability to win keeps them engaged in the game for a longer period of time. Video Game Developers should leverage that competitiveness, integrate more challenges and increase the difficulty levels upon the progression of the game.

Explorers: Curiosity is what defines these kind of gamers. They are process-oriented in terms of progressing in the game. Their learning curve is steep as they want to discover every aspect and secret throughout their journey. Developers should always keep this curiosity in mind and make the game more layered. The deeper the game, the more engaged they get.

Socializers: While Achievers and Explorers play to fulfil their passion, Socializers look to interact with other gamers to progress forward in their game. They collaborate, congratulate and share their opinions with other players. Developers should integrate seamless communication features and allow them to engage throughout the game.

Killers: These type of players are disruptive in every sense. The only thing they would do is to try everything to get ahead of their competitors and win at any cost. They would find all the hacks and cheat codes in the game, and takes pleasure in beating every opponent. Developers can leverage this attribute and fulfil their hunger to win by giving them a sense of accomplishment with every success.

Game user experience is highly controllable on contrary to what people might think. It also is a discipline of science and psychology with formalized processes. When game developers follow these processes, they can improve the critical reception and experience of their games. Video game developers can identify the personality types of their target audience and create experiences crafted keeping them in mind. It allows them to leverage the unparalleled advantage to design appealing, engaging and addictive games.

[rubixq]

Video Game Marketing For Movies

Movie promotions are getting creative by the day and marketers are finding new avenues to reach more people and promote a film. Video Game Marketing is one such avenue with a wide reach among potential audience. It might not be the right strategy for every film that releases but when suited, it’s the most powerful marketing tool that production houses have. They resort to video game outsourcing companies like RubixQ to capture the essence of the film in its entirety to engage and entertain the audience and build curiosity around it.

This hybrid marketing solution can be employed before the release to create buzz and after the release to sustain the revenue from it. In 1982, Atari paved the way to the movie tie-ins in games, by developing a game based on E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Recently, the trend shifted from developing games to core gamers to casual gamers in order to increase the reach. Simple games on Facebook, apps and other platforms make the game available for non-gamers too. They can generate the much-need viral marketing for movies if it clicks.

This video game marketing also gives an opportunity for the filmmakers to get to know about how the concept is getting received by the fans. Based on the feedback they can then decide if there are any changes to be made, considering the budgetary stakes. If the game becomes successful, they can build a fanbase upfront before the release. Post-release, they can extend their business for longer periods with multiple revenue streams.

These games can be as basic as interactive puzzles and easy adventures. The video game developers will then incorporate the elements of movies into that artfully in a way that every player can notice, remember and recollect movies even after playing the game. This gives films much-needed word of mouth and publicity. That marketing buzz multiplies when the game is multiplayer in nature.

Fast and Furious: Cross Roads is the best example for garnering not only franchise fans but also casual players to download the game and get excited about the film. Some other successful examples are Disney’s Tron, Salt, Day X exists, Blade Runner, The Chronicles of Riddick, Indiana Jones, etc. Some of the most popular TV Series like Dexter and Spartacus have also employed this marketing approach for their benefit by engaging the audience with simple games. The most acclaimed of all is the game console adaptation of Walking Dead.  

Challenges:

Video game based movies are not new for hollywood. But a film is a passive medium where the audience sit and let the storyteller tell his story. Whereas a video game is an active medium where the players get involved in pretty much everything and define the final outcome on their own. This creates a different level of emotional connection to the story with the player as the first person acting as a protagonist. It basically is the player who develops the story and unfolds the final outcome. That is the reason for the failure of a number of video game based movies.

Solutions:

Video game developers need to keep both game lovers and film lovers in mind. The game aspect of it shouldn’t overshadow the promotional aspect of the film. At the same time, it cannot be everything about the cinema. They need to find the right balance keeping the demographics, behavioural aspects, and interests of the people among your target audience.

The tone of the game is extremely important as it sets the mood of the audience going to the theatres. For example, if the game is gritty and gruesome, people would expect the same in the movie as well. It represents the tonality, genre and production quality of the film. So, it’s essential for video game developers to keep the film, audience and their expectations in mind.

A rewarding game is what attracts casual players to play the game. As most people nowadays are playing games on their mobile phones, communication is now possible on video games. Video game Developers can send personalized rewards to the players and build the marketing buzz for the movie. It can be coupons, merchandise, discounts, etc. This can implant the idea of watching that particular film in the minds of people without their knowledge.

This is not just beneficial to the cinema industry but also to the video game industry with lots of money by selling the advertising slots in independent games and designing separate games altogether for movies. With the advent of technology, many big video games are coming with cinematic storytelling embedded in their narrative. Credits to the Video Game outsourcing companies like RubixQ, there is almost never a dearth of content available for Hollywood to market their movies. When aimed at the right target audience with an economical budget, this hybrid marketing formula can generate marketing buzz for films and create multiple revenue streams for the production houses.

[rubixq]

Game Localization & It’s Impact

Almost all games are developed directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly from a cultural context of the developers. Localization is a process of adapting a game in a way that players from a particular location can all feel that the game was made for their region. The complexities arise from the inception of the process of localization. There can be different versions of the same game to be released in different locations. And different locations can have different languages, cultures, vibes, people, and localities. In order to tailor the game to a specific audience in a specific region, there are numerous variables like the above, to be taken care of by video game developers. Another layer of this localization is the censorship by governments in different regions. Some don’t accept gore and violence, and some don’t accept AR, some have age restrictions according to the genre, etc.

Why it is important:

It’s always the nuances that make any game addictive to play. It’s these cultural nuances, regional relevances and connecting factors that make you feel more than satisfied after finishing the game. To achieve this level of localization, the game developers need to include art assets, exclusive manuals, relevant audio, appropriate hardware, cutting out and adding different segments of the game according to the relevance. Considering the advantages of it, many developers across the world are working on the same with the help of game outsourcing companies like RubixQ.

The inception of localized games can be traced back to the localization of the Japanese game Puck-man to the United States. They changed the name to one of the most popular games, Pac Man, with altered names, cultural contexts, etc. A noteworthy fact is that India stands second in terms of the smartphone user base in the whole world and has more than 10% of the global gaming audience. Just by that sheer number, we should have got at least a dozen localized global games. But the truth is, we don’t have that many impactful localized games yet. It comes with its own difficulties, though. India is home to dozens of recognized and unrecognized languages and cultures. To satisfy each one of them is a task next to impossible unless planned and organized structurally.

There are 2 methods or production models for deploying localized games. One is a simultaneous shipping method, and the other is a post-gold localization method. Simultaneous shipping method needs a lot of planning, at least the last 4 months of the game development to truly include the culture, context, language and other regional settings into the game. Whereas in the post-gold method, the game retroactively altered to suit different regions and markets.

As much as we welcome foreign games, the experience that a localized game can offer is completely different, especially when the scope to showcase the culture is so huge without overdoing it. One such game is Subway Surfers World Tour 2018 – Mumbai. However, it’s always important to be aware of some sensitive topics that can trigger emotions and sentiments of people. For example, In 2016, Pokemon Go was caught in a petition for placing virtual eggs in sacred places like temples. So, every game developer must consider religious aspects, historical information, and other national elements before including them in their game.

Developers often get confused between translation and localization. A mere translation can never be enough to simulate the regional relevance in a game. The suspension of disbelief caused because of the difficulty in comprehension can always break the immersion experience of players and easily disrupt the gamer’s interest to continue the game. However, localization is not always necessary. It entirely depends on the financial viability, genre, the game’s objective, scope and the setting.

If the genre is fantasy, there’s no point in localizing the game; instead, we have to make the setting as alienated from the reality as possible in that case. According to the teasers and trailers, the Indian counterpart to PUBG, the FAU G is supposed to have Indian locations throughout to give a localized gaming experience. To keep the gamer experience at the forefront and make the gamers feel important, Playstation even announced that they are hiring people to play their video games, test linguistic consistency, the accuracy of locations, etc. When done meticulously, it can easily connect your game to the 2.5 billion video gamers across the world.

[rubixq]

To Regulate Or To Ban Online Gambling Games - Outsource Mobile Game  Development

Gambling has always been a part of our gaming since times immemorial, needless to remind the Indian epic, the Mahabharatha. Since then it took so many forms and shapes to be an integral part of gaming. Recently, and especially post lockdown, there has been a huge shift in the Indian gaming industry. The improvement in infrastructure facilities, the increase in internet consumption by people and the exposure for a wide range of games opened the door for online gambling and betting. This has seen the evolution of several new games like online rummy, poker, cricket fantasy games, etc and given a chance to entrepreneurs across the world to expand their territory in the Indian market with the help of game outsourcing companies like RubixQ. But are all of them legal?

In July 2020, a 20-year-old parlour employee who makes tattoos had to hang himself for not being able to pay the ₹20,000 that he lost on a gaming app. This isn’t the first time such incidents happened. The addiction to gambling, be it offline or online, has the capability of ruining a person’s life and eventually after the debts mount upon them, it can lead to any drastic decisions like suicides. It is the reason why high courts across the states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, decided to ban online gambling games proactively before the number of such incidents rises. In September 2020, Andhra Pradesh government declared online gambling to be illegal. Instead of banning them, it made such activities an offence and people can be prosecuted when caught playing. These moves are made in a manner to scare people from gambling than preventing them altogether.

The Indian gaming laws categorize games broadly into two types – the game of skill and the game of chances wherein the latter comes into the gambling.  This is the reason why Google had to pull out Paytm from the play store a while back, for violating the gambling policies and being the games of chances, whereas apps like Dream 11 are considered as games of skill. The Central government has no jurisdiction for gambling, the legislation of betting and gamblings lies in the hands of state governments and most of them have an exemption for games of skill. Recently Maharashtra government went to the Supreme Court to redefine what a game of skill is and what a game of chance is, and where the fantasy games fall under. The supreme court took up this and asked for a detailed report on it. If it passes the rule in the favour of fantasy games, that industry blooms like never before. Otherwise, they have to shut down.

Also, there’s another discussion floating around for having caps on gambling like ₹100 or ₹200 a day and there’ll be a cap for winning too accordingly. When the winnings are huge like in lakhs, the cap can increase up to ₹5,000 – ₹10,000. But then, the argument here is for the category of taxation for these games. If the winnings are in lakhs, though the companies are paying GSTs, the tax paid by winners is considerably less. So, they are looking at increasing this to a higher rate of tax for these activities.

According to research, the gaming industry in India is almost worth $150billions and in the worst-case scenario, corporates involved in it would only want regulations, not bans. For example, horse racing bettings are regulated, casinos in Goa and Sikkim are regulated. There’s another angle to this whole debate – psychological impact. There was a case where a college student of age 23, got addicted to gambling and eventually caught stealing, lying, losing control to end gambling sessions, getting unreasonably angry, etc. According to health experts, gambling is a behavioural addiction and it has its side effects of eating into the regular areas of functions. It can result in anxiety, impulse control issues, anger management issues, etc. So, with mental health being at stake, the ban is justified.

In economics point of view, legalization of these games with nuanced regulations and reasonable taxations can be effective, as governments can then have control over those activities. Otherwise, gamblings can happen in any form or manner and hoard a lot of black money that go unnoticed. There are some international examples like the UK Gambling Act of 2005 where they have a licensing regime for the 4-5 game categories. However, considering the facts that the industry is still in a nascent stage and the huge number of players, it is a strenuous task for governments to regulate the game of chances.

[rubixq]

Story Telling In Games

At the core of it, every art form is a medium for storytelling. Games aren’t an exception at any level. A good video game has a story at its heart that hooks us right into its world and makes us play it again and again. The narrative in it can be linear or nonlinear, overt or underlying, but the crux of remains the same and is the backbone of the game that maintains its structure. To be precise, the whole game is defined by a narrative and the events in it are goals, plans and emotions for players to psychologically invest in it. The industry is evolving by the day by focusing on the core storytelling and creativity while outsourcing the rest of the game development to game solution companies like RUBIXQ, where they create distinct worlds, engaging stories and interesting character design.

Unfortunately, most of the current independent games aren’t realizing the importance of a strong narrative in a video game. As the number of indie games being produced has skyrocketed in recent years, they are just relying on the visual appeal of a game and the instantly gratifying elements like thrills and violence sometimes. This may grab the players attention for a moment but it won’t involve them and make them intrigued to play any further.  

Let’s see the what, why and how of the integration of a story in a video game works.

According to Aristotle, every story should have a beginning to introduce the characters and the world they live in, a middle to show their struggle and aim, and an end where they overcome their struggles and accomplish their goals. In a traditional video game, we might not be able to invest a lot of time for the beginning, so, the introduction of the characters and the world can be crisp yet memorable enough for gamers to etch the same in their minds.

There are different ways to achieve it.

A linear narrative with a straightforward progression from one stage to another in a series of steps where the story progresses from one event to another. In these kinds of games, there’s always little to no interaction with the story as players don’t get to make choices to change the direction of how the story plays out. Irrespective of the character design, it can just be completed in one way, the way a designer decides it.

Eg: “The last of us” on PlayStation, where an empathetic father has to save his surrogate daughter in a tense post-apocalyptic atmosphere amidst zombies.

Next is the string of pearls model, where the narrative is linear but the player gets to make his own choices like attire, weapons, vehicles and the key decisions to progress the game in a specific direction that can change the final outcome of the game. These games are made up of separate sequences in the form of missions or quests. Players can explore the world, influence the character design and have the freedom to participate in side quests. These types of narratives are usually found in role-playing games.

Eg: Raji, an epic adventure game based on Indian Mythology, where Raji’s objective is to rescue her younger brother and defeat the demon lord Mahabalasura.

The third one is the best of all, a highly thought out and well-built story, where every character in the game plays a major role in that world. Their character design and arc develop over time and their tasks hold greater importance in every stage of the game. Mostly these games are either made of a movie or adapted into movies later.

Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, for example, is a reputed game that had a story where players could see it unfold while they play it. Released in 1981, it changed the way industry looks at game development. They made sure that the whole story is simple enough to be told on screen and at the same time instantly grasped by players. This game uses scenes at the beginning to show how the ape escapes. Smaller animations and pop up texts are used to convey the plot of games, such as the ‘help’ speech bubble.

To sum it all up, the role of the narrative design in video games has changed. It’s time the developers provide context with story-based games, to give players a goal to achieve and a reason to play, instead of making games for the sake of swift revenue. Even indie games can be experimental in their game development without being afraid to try storytelling techniques as the players have gone from seeing a bit of story in the games to playing it for the stories and feel inclusive. To stand out among the rest and hook the audience, a game has to be an amalgamation of aesthetic, artistic and personal motivation. Maybe the recent success of Raji can bring a shift in the mindsets of game developers and the objectives of games.  

[rubixq]

Mobile Gaming – Top 5 Factors Leading To Bad User Experience Edit

Mobile isn’t just the future, it’s today and it’s everything. It became a natural extension to the human body without much exaggeration. With the evolution of gaming and their compatibility, mobile phones became the vessel for some high-end games. Without the rich consoles and distinct controls, mobile phone gaming experience depends highly on the personalized experience. To get that user experience right, developers have to consider different combinations of variables that affect the behaviour of gamers while playing. It can be the make or break element for the games to stand the competition on stores and stay on the mobiles of gamers.

Dysfunctional, dated and cumbersome interface

The first impression is always the best impression. This simple rule will never become dated. First-time user experience (FTUE) is a user’s first interaction with the game. It is important to have a clean and simple interface that makes it easier for the user to take less time in understanding the game and get right into the game. With the attention span of users being drastically reduced by the day and the increase in free alternative games on the store, it wouldn’t take much time for the player to exit from the game and go for another.

Performance

The change in the performance of games is deemed to be compromised when the Gaming sector got another platform in mobiles other than the PC consoles. Players will not take no for a performance dip. They want to get into the game quickly and play as smoothly as possible. So, it is essential to bring down the loading time and make the game multithreaded. If the game is feature-rich, it is also important to have a simple UI for consistent framerates and optimum performance overall.

Power consumption

One thing that players don’t want to experience ever while playing a game is a notification of low battery or over-heating or even worse, mobile getting switched off. Games that involve complex graphics and hefty user interface usually fall prey to this issue. Such games not only eat up your data quietly but also put the hardware of a mobile phone under heavy load and increase the power consumption and temperature. This distracts the players during the game and puts their excitement off. That momentary distraction may even cause the player to exit the game.

Touch-to-display latency

The time gap between touching the mobile screen and witnessing the result or reaction for that is called Touch-to-display latency. It is more popularly known as LAG in the game. Longer the latency gets, harder the ability to focus. Though the latency is mostly device-dependent, it can also be reduced with thoughtful design and development. Smooth renders, optimum resolutions for UI and non-UI elements in the games, and consistent frame rates can help to reduce the touch-to-display latency.

Navigation and clarity in the goal

Nobody wants to be lost in a game with no clarity of what to do, how to do and where to go. This is where the navigation can make a difference with proper structuring to the game. It involves menu identification, ease of access to the core features and having a flowchart. It allows the user to reach for his required option without sweating around. This architecture will also allow the user to have clarity on what his go-to actions are and what his final objective is. A lack of it will only turn off the user’s experience and make him wander over the UI aimlessly. A simple UI, easily accessible menus, entry points, exit points and defined daily goals with rewards are essential to keep the gamer excited throughout.

The end-user experience is what defines and decides the fate of any game. The cost of customer retention is increasing by the day with new games popping up every single day on the stores. A bad user experience will only make it worse by losing gamers, investors and eventually the revenue. Companies like RubixQ which gaming solutions hire to improve the user experiences in mobile games with mobile test automation, monitoring solutions and other techniques to reduce user-end related issues for a better product.

[rubixq]

Mobile Gaming – Top 5 Factors Leading To Bad User Experience

Mobile isn’t just the future, it’s today and it’s everything. It became a natural extension to the human body without much exaggeration. With the evolution of gaming and their compatibility, mobile phones became the vessel for some high-end games. Without the rich consoles and distinct controls, mobile phone gaming experience depends highly on the personalized experience. To get that user experience right, developers have to consider different combinations of variables that affect the behaviour of gamers while playing. It can be the make or break element for the games to stand the competition on stores and stay on the mobiles of gamers.

Dysfunctional, dated and cumbersome interface

The first impression is always the best impression. This simple rule will never become dated. First-time user experience (FTUE) is a user’s first interaction with the game. It is important to have a clean and simple interface that makes it easier for the user to take less time in understanding the game and get right into the game. With the attention span of users being drastically reduced by the day and the increase in free alternative games on the store, it wouldn’t take much time for the player to exit from the game and go for another.

Performance

The change in the performance of games is deemed to be compromised when the Gaming sector got another platform in mobiles other than the PC consoles. Players will not take no for a performance dip. They want to get into the game quickly and play as smoothly as possible. So, it is essential to bring down the loading time and make the game multithreaded. If the game is feature-rich, it is also important to have a simple UI for consistent framerates and optimum performance overall.

Power consumption

One thing that players don’t want to experience ever while playing a game is a notification of low battery or over-heating or even worse, mobile getting switched off. Games that involve complex graphics and hefty user interface usually fall prey to this issue. Such games not only eat up your data quietly but also put the hardware of a mobile phone under heavy load and increase the power consumption and temperature. This distracts the players during the game and puts their excitement off. That momentary distraction may even cause the player to exit the game.

Touch-to-display latency

The time gap between touching the mobile screen and witnessing the result or reaction for that is called Touch-to-display latency. It is more popularly known as LAG in the game. Longer the latency gets, harder the ability to focus. Though the latency is mostly device-dependent, it can also be reduced with thoughtful design and development. Smooth renders, optimum resolutions for UI and non-UI elements in the games, and consistent frame rates can help to reduce the touch-to-display latency.

Navigation and clarity in the goal

Nobody wants to be lost in a game with no clarity of what to do, how to do and where to go. This is where the navigation can make a difference with proper structuring to the game. It involves menu identification, ease of access to the core features and having a flowchart. It allows the user to reach for his required option without sweating around. This architecture will also allow the user to have clarity on what his go-to actions are and what his final objective is. A lack of it will only turn off the user’s experience and make him wander over the UI aimlessly. A simple UI, easily accessible menus, entry points, exit points and defined daily goals with rewards are essential to keep the gamer excited throughout.

The end-user experience is what defines and decides the fate of any game. The cost of customer retention is increasing by the day with new games popping up every single day on the stores. A bad user experience will only make it worse by losing gamers, investors and eventually the revenue. Companies like RubixQ which gaming solutions hire to improve the user experiences in mobile games with mobile test automation, monitoring solutions and other techniques to reduce user-end related issues for a better product.

[rubixq]

Is Gaming The New Social Networking?

Gaming is now more than just a personal recreation. It is no longer a niche market that serves only a particular aged customer base and segmented audience. Video games have evolved over the years and marked the dawn of a new age of gaming. The concept of SOCIAL seeped into the gaming and turned it into a community and network building entity. The advent of social media and its quick penetration in the world made this virtual connection among the players possible.

Social Media has been all kinds of things for gamers – to stay connected, to share the experiences, live streaming, etc. One of the key benefits of this is the increase in competitive streak among the players. It allowed gamers to compare their skills and compete directly among themselves. This has changed the overall dynamics of the relationship between social media and gaming. It has evolved from being a personal experience to more of a networking entertainment media.

With the exponential increase in the number of social media users, it didn’t take much time for the gaming industry giants to notice the impact that merging social media and gaming together can have. And why not, the number of social media users in India stood at 326.1 million in 2018. And the increase is not going to stop any time soon. This has led to the influx of huge amounts of money and the equivalent amount of technology as well. It is because of the fact that gamers are now interested in networking and chatting while they play.

This allows a common database where the results can be shared, compared and discussed. When there are a ton of users and giants competing for it, there should obviously be a huge revenue around it. That revenue here comes through promotions and advertising. The new normal is the synchronization of upcoming games to social media. This allows companies to show their recommendations to users who use that particular game. It also acts as a new way to communicate with potential customers about deals, new launch of games, etc.

The above-mentioned reasons are enough for companies to strengthen their social media presence by having a page and dedicate advertising budget to promote the same.

Online gaming and multiplayer gaming have brought a revolutionary change in the gaming culture altogether. It provided an opportunity of cross-marketing on social marketing and the consoles. It allowed players to brag about their high scores on social media and raise the competition. For example, there’s a lot of hype and pride that surrounds breaking records like Fortnite players’ longest win streak, Minecraft’s’ most consecutive two-block jumps, etc. It also allowed game viewers to see their favourite gamers play during the live streams.

Players can build their own communities now

Companies can analyze the pulse of people

Both of them can get prompt feedback from people

Industry giants like EA Sports and key outsourcing companies like RubixQ are creating some of the groundbreaking games that can be a great platform for social interactions and socialization in general with the integration of live chats, online communities, internet forums, etc to connect people who have never met before.

Earlier, it takes weeks for a new game to get going with magazine ads, reviews etc. Now, within the minutes of the genesis of the game idea, one can put up a social media marketing strategy to create buzz around it. Social media not only contributed to the circulation of information and promotion, but it also became a gaming platform.

It gives a broader reach to existing gamers and gets more new players by the day. And the biggest impact of all is that gaming is becoming a new social media platform when the experts expected otherwise. People started to communicate about different things while playing games in the chat rooms, making it all the more engaging and of course, keeps the users logged in for more time. With all these advancements in social media by the day, the future looks all the more interesting for gaming for sure.

[rubixq]

Scope Of Esports In Gaming

Pandemic has changed the gaming scenario worldwide as all the major sporting events got either cancelled or postponed. This gave rise to the expanded base and increased attention for eSports.  It has got a significant market and new audience, thanks to people looking for entertainment avenues. With the innovations piling up and investments pouring up, the near future of the eSports industry is nothing but blooming.

Innovation: Esports is a collective term used to describe competitive gaming at a professional level. Though it isn’t a novel concept by any margin, the latest innovations including multiplayer cloud-based plays upped the game in the arena of eSports. Games like PUBG, Call of duty, Counter-Strike, etc, organize numerous tournaments and events that allow professional video game players to make a living by competing against each other and win huge sums of money as prizes. These players are contracted to play for different organizations.

There are calendars for these eSporting events, players can register and viewers can watch the stream of these competitions. Usually, these games include a multiplayer online battle arena with real-time strategies, first-person shooter, fighting and other interactive sports. The technology is expanding every day and seeping its way into the games with virtual reality, 3D, multiplayer, cloud etc, as the video gaming experience has become a transforming and redefining the ways that people consume entertainment. One of the exciting upcoming esporting events includes Season of the 5th edition of ESLs flagship tournament, ESL India Premiership 2020, which will go live from September 18 and will be broadcast exclusively on OTT platform Disney+Hotstar. Economics: According to reports, in 2019, the eSports industry hit the mark of $1.1 billion dollars net worth. Corporate giants like Paytm, Alibaba, Tencent, YooZoo Games are investing millions of dollars in the Industry. The popularity of esports is measured in the number of viewers and digital metrics over sold-out arenas or TV ratings. With online tournaments going on across the world, the market size is increasing by value and volume. Along with that, the penetration rate and the average revenue generated per user (ARPU) is also on an increasing graph for a long time. Challenges: Though there is a spike in the growing popularity for eSports, the real challenge is whether the leading tournaments like PUBG, League of Legends, counter-strike, etc can ever be a global conversation. Because, the community of gamers and the fans of those particular games are keen enough to carry forward the communication, but the common sporting fans are still aliens to the esporting tournaments. Also, once the situation of COVID becomes normal and the traditional sporting events are scheduled, there can be a puncture to the numbers that we have seen so far. Scope: Once it conquers the above challenges as expected, it wouldn’t take much time for eSports to come to the forefront more so than ever. With the internet being spread to nearly every corner of India[a][b], gradually, enthusiasts are becoming professional and part-timers are earning money from it. The paradigm shift in the way people consume media & entertainment and the growth & awareness of esports will also be the catalysts to make the games into revenue-generating individuals and businesses. According to a recent report by BARC & Nielsen, there clearly is a spike in the number of smartphone game users per week, as it grew from 60% in pre-COVID times to 68% during the lockdown. So is the time spent on mobile games per user per week, as it went from 151 minutes before the lockdown to 218 minutes during the lockdown which underlines the increasing scope of professional gaming. Apart from the rise in participation, thanks to higher income potential, there is also a rise in viewership that contributes to esports revenue.  According to a report by INC42, this revenue is going to grow by CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) 36% in the next 3 years. Future: Though there’s a little hiccup with the ban of Players Unknown’s Battleground, famously known as PUBG, there actually is a boom of popular titles like Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and DOTA 2. Needless to say, the industry is at an all-time peak compared to yesteryears. There are many organizations that are ready to invest in building new games and raise the stakes of existing ones with multimillion-dollar rewards. And several independent organizations like RubixQ are lending their expertise in bringing that innovation faster to the market. This can elevate the eSports market in India to the next level in the coming days, so much so that the future of gaming can take a shift.

The technology and infrastructure for the eSports have been growing with multiplayer competitive titles like Valorant right around the corner. Industry giants like Asus, ESPN, BBC have already upped their game with their own titles. Unicorns like Paytm have launched their own multi-game platforms. This surge in the investments also increased the money that has been fuelling these games. Not to forget, the prize money has also seen an upward trajectory. This resulted in the behavioural change of general gamers, as they started taking it seriously.

The unique features, incomparable perks and benefits and the rise in innovation will be the key factors in defining the seemingly bright future of esports across the world. The investment of time, money and technological resources by the corporate giants like Asus, ESPN and BBC will only turn more heads towards it and encourages people and players to change their perspective towards gaming as a career. Considering all these, esports as an industry and as a culture, is carving out a new path towards success in terms of popularity and the multibillion dollar business it unmistakably will become.