enjoy your failures, it's part of the game - olivier issaly - web game conference 2013

FACING THE ONE-GAMESTUDIO CHALLENGE

COMPANIES WITH ONE SUCCESSFUL HIT

You’ve probably seen…

WHO STRUGGLE TO SUCCEED ANOTHER GAME

But…

WE’RE ONE OF THESE COMPANIES

If you don’t know one, well…

You probably know our first game

We had our set of failures or semi-successes

Let’s share some thoughts on failures

WHY IS IT AN ISSUE ?

FOCUSING ON ONE GAME IS OK

In some ways

COMMUNITY-BASED GAMES CAN THRIVE FOR LONG TIME

1/ GOOD PRODUCT AND COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

As long as :

2/ FOLLOW TECH AND PLATFORMS SHIFTS

And…

That’s how we’ve been in business for 8 years

Fine, but…

VIDEO GAME IS A HIT DRIVEN BUSINESS

Like it or not

Technology business yes, but still hit driven

CHANGE OF TECHNOLOGY (ONLINE/WEB)

Think of it…

CHANGE OF BUSINESS MODEL (FREE-2-PLAY)

Think of it…

CREATIVE RISK REMAINS!

But still…

It’s not only originality, but team/project alchimy too

F2P JUST GIVES MORE TIME TO FACETHIS CHALLENGE

We can’t fool ourself

MUST MASTER THE CREATIVE RISK OF THIS BUSINESS

To survive in the long term

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT ?

FOCUSED ON THE SUCCESSFUL GAME

1) Main reason is we are

It’s where money is…

SUCCEEDING A 2ND GAME IS A NICE TO HAVE

When you have a successful game

Not as critical to survive as succeeding the 1st

100% ENERGY & ATTENTION

As long as you don’t devote

You’re less likely to succeed

HOW RESSOURCES ARE SHARED ?

2) Even with best intentions to succeed

BEST TALENTS ON FIRST SUCCESFUL GAME

Again, it’s tempting to have

ENOUGH TALENTS FOR 2 PROJECTS

It takes time & scale to have

And the right management for this

IT TAKES ±10 YEARS TO BUILD A STUDIO

As the saying goes

A studio with constant quality

DO YOU REALLY LEARN FROM FAILURES?

3) Let’s be honest

MOVE ON THE NEXT NEW COOL IDEA

Easier to

And forget about project mgt & HR issues

REAL LEARNING PROCESSES

Need a

I.E exhaustive post-mortems

WHAT IS THE RISK ?

FLAT GROWTH ORREVENUE FALL

Obvious main risks are

Risk of bankrupt at some point!

TWO SOLUTIONS

In this context (or rather before)

A NEW GAME TO RENEW ACTIVITY

Manage to create

SELL BEFOREIT’S LATE

Or…

Go to a bigger house for long term visibility

WE DID BOTH

At Owlient

TRIED 9 PRODUCTSAFTER HOWRSE

None of them brought significant revenues

Since 2005 we

SOLD TO UBISOFT

For a long term visibility to raise studio competency without risking a bankrupt

In 2011

WE KEEP TRYING!

We have two new projects currently

By the way

Beta is coming up next week

WE ARE CREATIVEPEOPLE

Can’t stop trying new ideas

Why do you keep trying ???

CONCLUSION

STARTUP INVESTMENTS

Another similar hit driven business is

Must read: paulgraham.com/swan.html

1000X VARIATION FOR BIG WINNERS

Learning from Y Combinator

Such as Dropbox & AirBnB (B$ valuation)

« COST OF DOING BUSINESS »

As Graham says, other startups are just

In a purely financial view

FAILURES ARE JUST COST OF FINDING A BIG HIT, SOMETIMES

Back to our video game issues, it means

Just business, don’t take it personnaly

ENJOY YOUR FAILURES,IT’S PART OF THE GAME

Thanks Olivier Issaly

@oissaly / kiad.org

So keep faith and