digital media adaptation model - mrs kids&youth2011 conference [screens+notes]

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 KIDS GAMING LANDSCAPE ............................................................................................................................................ 4 INTEGRATED MEDIA STRATEGIES ............................................................................................................................ 10 MEDIA PRODUCTION MODEL ................................................................................................................................... 15 WRAP UP .......................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Claudio Pires Franco, Head of Games and Media Research [email protected]

Kids & Youth Research 2011 SCREENSHOTS & SPEAKER NOTES

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INTRODUCTION I want to begin by telling you about a book that I started reading this week. It’s a book about the relation between games, culture and society, by Ian Bogost, a famous games designer and game scholar. The book preview starts with the following title:

Puzzling, isn’t it? This sounds like bad news, especially when it is said by a games designer! As I read on, it all started to make sense... In recent years, computer games have moved from the margins of popular culture to its center. Games are being played by all types of people, from stereotypical teenager boy gamers, to grannies, to politicians who get sacked for playing Farmville during Council meetings!

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This is a picture of the Bulgarian councilor caught red-‐handed. He excused himself by saying that other councilors also play -‐ and he’s only on level 40 whilst one of his colleagues is already on level 48! Tough competition in Bulgaria! Ian Bogost suggests that we think about games as a medium which can be used for infinite purposes, not just as entertainment products in limited formats.

I liked this quote as it reflects the status that games seem to be acquiring as a medium in their own right. All types of games can be created, for all types of people, and for all types of purposes. Games are being used for storytelling, for education and training, for marketing, for therapy, for politics, you name it... As Betty has shown us, games are even shaping the way we do research! So instead of witnessing the end of the gamer, we’re living in a time where games are becoming global -‐ in audience reach; in their uses; and in the influences they have on many aspects of our society and culture.

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Games are here to stay, and any brands and organisations who work with kids should probably be thinking about how they can use games to engage with their audiences

Today we’ll be exploring three main areas: I’ll show you some fresh data on the games that kids are playing, Then we’ll see how games have become an essential part of integrated media strategies, and finally we’ll hear about some strategic insight based on media production models developed by Dubit

KIDS GAMING LANDSCAPE Let’s start by looking at what kids are playing with data from Dubit’s latest ONLINE GAMES RESEARCH... We’ll be releasing a lot more data very soon for the US and UK, but for now I’ll show you topline data for the UK. Think of it as a little appetizer fresh off the press

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According to our online survey of 1,000 kids, 99% are playing some kind of computer or video games. Here the main surprise is that the industry would probably expect the level of kids playing on mobile gadgets to be higher, especially on iPads and iPhones... But probably this expectation is down to a bit of media hype about these platforms, which reminds me of similar hypes about Twitter a coupe of years ago, when everyone was thinking about engaging with kids via Twitter but then we found out that only a tiny proportion actually used with any regularity. The cost of iPads and the like are still prohibitive for kids, and parents tend to opt for cheaper options for kids gaming. Apart from games consoles, the computer is still the main platform used to play games, and a platform which is more accessible than consoles for most brands and IPs.

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This second chart shows the top 5 websites kids used to play games in October Facebook seems to be the one site that could cause some surprise... However, in spite of existing regulation, we know from previous research that many under 13s using it -‐ and mostly to play games! Probably something to be discussed later today in the ethics panel FB is followed by TV channels websites where kids get in touch with their favourite characters, and then by Miniclip, a hugely successful mini-‐games portal.

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Now let’s look at Facebook in more detail. Facebook gaming is ruled by Zynga with 3 titles in the top 5. This seems to reflect the adult market, which makes sense as we know that typically kids are introduced to FB gaming by their parents, and even group play as a family. Zynga have been doing extremely well in the social games arena, in part probably due to their attention to games analytics: understanding what their players do in their games and re-‐adapt their design and strategies accordingly.

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This chart shows the top VWs and MMOs -‐ for those of you who are not sure what they are, think of multiplayer games where your character can walk around different areas... No surprises in the top 5, except perhaps for Minecraft finally making its way to the top. Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters continue to rule the UK market -‐ by far! Which may have something to do with their overall online and offline strategies... we’ll see later on...

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In this study we also wanted to know what games really stand out. Which ones do kids find more appealing? We’ll have to leave their reasons for a later date – this data is still being analysed. The chart shows the top 10 favourite games for kids. I’ll make the analysis easier for you: VWs make up 7 out of the 10 games. And CP and Moshi Monsters alone represent the preferences of over one-‐third of all kids. But why are VWs so popular with kids? They’re the most complex kinds of online games out there -‐ and they cover many diverse needs, from socialising, to role-‐playing, to narrative and storytelling, to exploration, to user customisation, competition, and a lot more! As we like to say at Dubit, VWs/MMOs satisfy the needs of different player archetypes, which as we will see should be taken into consideration when designing a game. Safety and trust are another important reason why CP and MM are so popular. The teams behind these games invest strongly in communicating with parents, and in showing them that their kids will be safe online. And parents act as important gatekeepers for what kids -‐ especially the youngest -‐ can do online.

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Let’s now see how games link up with other forms of media...

INTEGRATED MEDIA STRATEGIES

Kids media consumption has never been so integrated across different platforms and different media. Kids media has essentially become Transmedia. Kids nowadays read the book, watch the film, buy the toy and play the game -‐ they expect to find their favourite characters across all platforms, across all media. As Adam Khwaja, ex-‐BBC, likes to say: kids are becoming platform-‐agnostic... Online games have become an essential part of transmedia strategies in the kids market. And VWs are at the centre of innovation often leading the way in the kids transmedia landscape.

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From established ways of working mostly from book, to film, to game and toy... Now IPs travel in all directions... You can start with a game, a film, a book, or a toy, but kids will expect to experience your IP across all of these media. Let me show you a few examples...

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CP and MM have invested strongly in their transmedia expansion, recurring to licensing strategies and partnerships with established names, for example in the publishing and toys sectors.

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Poptropica is less well known in the UK, but comes up on the top 3 VWs in the US. It is owned by Pearson, who by the way are book publishers. Poptropica is based on a strong narrative, and allows kids to travel to different islands like in a theme park, where they can go on pirate adventures, or cowboy adventures, or play with knights and princesses. The Poptropica team also creates bespoke islands to promote IPs in other media. In this example, kids are able to visit Wimpy Wonderland and play a Wimpy Kid adventure. Whilst they’re doing this, they are exposed not only to the IP through playing a story, but also to information about the book, film and DVDs.

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This example is even less well known, and comes from our French neighbours Ankama. Ankama started creating MMOs, but have meantime expanded to other areas of media and entertainment. They adopt a different business model to most MMOs -‐ instead of relying on licensing, all transmedia content is created in-‐house, through Ankama’s very own publishing department, cartoon studio, console development team, etc. Something else I love about Ankama is the highly integrated way they weave their transmedia content. For example, when you play the Wakfu game, you can become a Wakfu legend, and your character and adventures may feature in the manga-‐style Wakfu magazine... Imagine how exciting that can be for the players! Ankama even have their own Transmedia quality control team -‐ forgot what they call it. This team works across departments, to make sure that all their IPs provide a seamless experience across different media... from game to film to cards and books, all needs to work seamlessly. -‐ as we will see next, this is extremely important!

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MEDIA PRODUCTION MODEL I now want to give you a little bit of a flavour of the types of media production models that Dubit have been developing. In this highly cross-‐media environment for kids, it is essential to reflect on how we work. And on how we can produce media products that build on existing IPs in ways that guarantee brand consistency and quality of adaptation. This is how we can meet -‐ and exceed -‐ audience expectations, by building an effective cross-‐media web of ongoing engagement with brands / IPs in an integrated way.

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This wheel represents the main areas that you should consider when you’re creating content in a transmedia context. I will use the creation of a game based on an existing IP example, but the model could be used to inform the production of a completely new IP, or using an existing IP to produce a cartoon or any other form of media product. There is flexibility about which areas are relevant, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. My example is illustrated with a mock exercise we did for the Bookseller conference last month, where we looked at how we could adapt the Swiss Family Robinson (SFR) IP into a game. We invited a group of kids to read the book, watch the Disney film adaptation, and work with us in the design of the basic sketch for a SFR game. Try to imagine that you’re attempting to do the same with your own IP, or with your brand -‐ even if you’re not in the media sector.

Production Factors Basically this is the kind of information that should be defined in any initial brief. objectives, budget, timings, target audience But also the less obvious factors like editorial guidelines, technical limitations and promotion and marketing plans

Source IP here we look at the IP in detail We extract the narrative structure of the IP, but also hear what kids think about the characters, which are their favourite, what traits they find most engaging, and main events in the story that can be translated into the game.

Here we also look at themes and effects: is the story supposed to be funny? Is it serious? What feelings does it convene to the audience? And how can these effects be reflected in the game?

Often themes will function as inspiration for game mechanics. In the case of the SFR, the theme of team work could be translated into a mechanic whereby

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players can choose different characters to complete different tasks. Think again about your IP or brand -‐ is it funny? is it serious? What effects do you want to cause in your audience? What should the tone / style be? And can any of the themes be translated into game mechanics?

Previous Adaptations In the case of the SFR, the DIsney film adaptation of the book had a very powerful influence in the way kids imagined the game.

For example, in the film there was an added scene where the heroes fight a bunch of pirates -‐ this never happened in the book, but kids wanted it to be part of the game.

How much you change your source IP is really up to you -‐ but don’t forget you need a good level of consistency for a seamless experience! And you’ll probably want to please your book readers and your film watchers!

Theme Universe This area of the wheel is linked to a knowledge of the wider kids’ media universe. If you’re doing a game around pirates, it is worth exploring what other pirate-‐related media kids kids enjoy.

Back to our example, the SFR, kids told us that the pirates of the Disney movie did not look like real pirates -‐ for kids, a real pirate had to look like the pirates in the film Pirates of the Caribbean. This shows how this film has shaped kids’ views of pirates.

Games Universe The Games Universe area means that if you’re creating a game for a specific audience group, you need to understand what games those kids are playing and also what is it that they find appealing in the games they play.

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The main point is to understand what mechanics and features can be used in your game, and how these may help you satisfy the needs of existing gamers. At Dubit we use the concept of ‘player archetypes’ to help us guide design. Players – in different ages and gender – have different tendencies or preferences, and this can to a certain extent guide your design.

Games Technology This is the most geeky part of the process. But geeks are cool, and they’ll eventually rule the world! This is where you look at existing technologies appropriate for the game you want to create Often finding a platform that already has many of the features you want to add to the game will save time and money -‐ which you can invest in making a better game

Transmedia Strategy This is where you think how your game will link up and integrate with the other parts of your IP, across other media and platforms

This could be, for example, through the use of toys or cards that open features in your game; and through game levels or achievements that unlock access to videos of your new cartoon episodes... or more complex stuff that links all sorts of media together in storytelling.

Increasingly, IP development across different media is being designed in an integrated manner from stage one -‐ integrating your offers means that readers, TV watchers or game players can start at any touch point and move through your web of transmedia content.

Game Evolution Once we have a Game Design Document -‐ this is the specifications for a game -‐ and some artwork ready, we test these with our audience.

And as soon as a game has a prototype, we invite kids to play it, ins-‐tudio or form home, alone or in groups. Our little testers play our games at Alpha stage, at Beta stage, at every stage -‐ in order

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to optimise gameplay and unveil any usability problems which could cost us dearly after launch. Launching a game is not the end of the story Games are a bit like organic creatures -‐ they are born, they grow, evolve, change -‐ often informed by what your audience is doing in them.

Games have one great advantage in terms of audience insight when compared to other types of offline media -‐ they allow you to collate live data on how kids are using your game!

You can know what characters are more popular, which levels kids find too hard, where they’re getting stuck and where they seem to be getting back for more fun.

Game Analytics allow you to take informed decisions to develop your game in the right direction A piece of advice: besides analytics, try to involve your audience in decisions about future developments, for example which new places to create, or which new characters to bring on board -‐ kids will love to take part and use their creativity to help you.

END OF THE WHEEL... That’s the brief overview of our approach to creating transmedia integrated games. Over the next couple of years Dubit will be taking part in a UNESCO-‐sponsored project looking at how books and stories can be translated into, and integrated with, new media forms -‐ we’re representing the games industry perspective. We’ll be part of an international team of academics and industry practitioners that will study current practices, develop models and create new media products based on the insights gained. We’re looking for partners who want to embark with us on a journey of discovery about the adaptation of stories into new digital forms. We’d love to involve storytellers from other media because we think that the games industry can benefit from existing story-‐telling skills and better narratives... Our dream is to create games that feel like interactive cartoons... we want to be the Pixar of Gaming!... And we’re also planning to bring together an informal group of people who may be interested in a

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less hands-‐on involvement -‐ but still want to follow developments and get insight through informal meetings and our project blog.

WRAP UP Today we started with a question: are we witnessing the end of the gamer? To a certain extent, the answer is yes, we are... We’re moving away from gamer stereotypes... and evolving towards global gaming -‐ gaming at a planetary scale! In many shapes and forms. But we’re also seeing games as part of wider nets of media consumption. We live in a new era of transmedia, where kids are platform-‐agnostic and expect to find the content they like across every media -‐ in a seamless way. We’ve seen how VWs and MMOs form an integral part of transmedia strategies, and how they’re often leading the way in innovation and creativity. Finally we also explored some rules of thumb for creating games in this transmedia environment. Above all -‐ and here I put my big researcher hat on -‐ we think we should be involving kids in these processes of media creation. Think of kids as our little media experts -‐ we can obviously come up with brilliant creative ideas, but it is important to involve our audiences in pretty much every step of the way. If we do this, everyone is going to win -‐ It’s a WIN-‐WIN-‐WIN situation -‐ for game developers, for brand owners, and for gamers, who end up having better games to play. I’d love to discuss these things in more detail -‐ please come and grab me during the breaks or get in touch after the event. Thank you!

THE END

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digital media adaptation model - mrs kids&youth2011 conference [screens+notes]

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