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Preface
In the last report, I spoke about our desire to make games and if we did…how could we work on something that is not typical in the current gaming landscape? More importantly, how do we work on something that is intended to be creator led?
Now we have ran the game and hosted live players. Feel free to read the preface report below. In this post, I’m going to revisit the concept and what the after action report looks like. I’m also going to show you the live gameplay so you can visit the demonstration.
We initially spoke about the idea here:
WATCH THIS!!!
The Theory
The current market of games is heavily reliant on the concept of grind gameplay which creates a desire to spend on microtransactions through a form of sunken cost fallacy. This wont stop and it is does work, but we think there are alternative models that can work as well.
In 2009, it was referred to as a “massively multiplayer online game show”, but we refer to it as a disposable indie because we have added an additional layer to the game format.
This type of game does not require grind and is meant to serve as high impact short form content when shared online. The objective is to create a one session experience that is using a content creator to anchor an emotion or desire to return for a future session. As we test short burst experience with high demand we can spin the game back up into a longer format that may emerge into a future free to play game.
A video game in this design style must be simple from a controls perspective, but use content and prize pool for depth.
For example, the contestants play a racing game with a max capacity of 5,000 players in one session. It is live streamed…so the viewer also needs a method to interact to maintain their attention. In this racing game example, the viewer could earn points ofr time watched or guess who could win the event or even have a special live function control to change the environment. Ubisoft tried this with Hyperscape on Twitch…and made a few mistakes because the game was intended to grind and not experience.
To simplify what it is we are doing:
Imagine if Mario Party could host many players at once and the game was played and livestreamed on a timed social media schedule backed by creators to facilitate the event.
and how do we make money doing this?
We are looking for ways to think about what the future of a shopify event could look like, not building the next call of duty.
The Method
We may adopt new methods as we test game formats and tooling.
For this post, we will talk about our current partners and what the setup was for our “Jump!” event.
Backend Technology: https://www.improbable.io/
Game dev partner and facilitator/live nation type builder: https://edison.games/
Prize Pool: $1,000 & 50 AVAX
Prize Pool Sponsor Test: https://www.avax.network/
Player Pool Size: 50-100 real players in one live session
Back end live virtual production team: https://www.improbable.io/
Creators & co-hosts: Jonah Blake (the person writing this) and Bored Elon who created Edison Games
IP: RE3W (our company) street themed anime IP called Real Agency https://realagency.xyz/
The Game Rules:
We created a 3 round event that is a mix of fall guys, wipeout, and temple run. The total run of show is about 45 minutes. Then the game is off and not playable again until a future session.
The player has 3 movement options…left, right, and jump. The avatars move automatically without player interaction.
The goal is to be a top 3 placement runner in each round. The three top players of each round qualify for a prize pool. Here is how the prize pool was broken down and our test winners:
Race 1: sharing $200 and 15 Avax
Name: "Hanerk" Score: 1,019.512
Name: "Orangie" Score: 914.702
Name: "TetrisGod" Score: 831.027
Race 2: sharing $300 and 15 Avax
Name: "Orangie" Score: 3,518.345
Name: "Tellapharaoh.eth" Score: 3,426.335
Name: "iceicebabeh" Score: 3,406.859
Race 3: sharing $500 and 20 Avax
Name: "CeroMiedo" Score: 6,228.697
Name: "Orangie" Score: 6,227.254
Name: "Hanerk" Score: 6,189.299
the reason for this structure is due to retaining players throughout the rounds. If players do not feel they have a shot at prizes then they will likely exit the game which would be a poor viewing experience.
The alternate prize for retention is important because some players may feel that they will not hit top 3 in any round. We need to make players who join the experience feel like they can always walk away with a prize even if it is very small. For this event, we added green blobs for players to run towards and collect. They serve as a potential in game currency for Edison and the improbable ecosystem. They may be used for points in a store in a future iteration.
The web3 component for user account tracking and prize pool is important because it is a way for us to track players even during off event weeks. For example, our company is media first and that means we have a lot of collab content with other game companies between event sessions. So think about it in this method.
Event 1 → off weeks→ collab media events and player quests/lore into event 2 → event 2 → repeat. so you can create a “game show” that blends a pseudo battlepass.
Having access and tracking to user crypto wallets allows our company to track our current and potential future contestants. We can deliver third party experiences as well as deliver crypto asset related prizes with a very smooth process.
The hosts have god like powers and special environment abilities. The game is called “Jump!” because the hosts top ability is force every player to levitate as the race track goes invisible, only to force them back down in the hopes of not hitting another wall or pit. The host also has an ability to increase or decrease speeds as well as alter camera angles for the player.
The hosts jobs is to entertain, cast, and interact with the virtual production team to initiate rounds.
The virtual production crew is a staff behind the scenes managing virtual cameras, round starts and ends, removing glitched areas or trouble shooting small bugs that might be fixed in real time. The crew was the Improbable team, since they have intimate knowledge of their own system.
The delivery system was through Improbable’s very impressive networking technology and allows for up to 5,000 players. The experience is also accessible through browser on laptop and desktop. Users would use google chrome to access the Edison dashboard. The Edison dashboard would then allow each player to place a reminder in their google calendar to be notified for the event start. In the future, there may be a small launcher that runs like Roblox on a computer to improve connections, framerate, and overall user experiences. It was still a massive success for the browser gaming genre.
The “dress rehearsal” is the really critical part of this process. The difficulty of this genre is it operates as a game that needs to be fun and work AND act as a live TV broadcast. So the team needs to fix game bugs and have creators and hosts run through dialogue lines and scripted events. If the show is boring then the game will feel awkward and vice versa. It is very important the creator host understands the job and is good at improv banter. There will be errors during the real show where a game will be on a technical timeout. The co hosts needs great chemistry so they can keep players in the event as they wait. If there is very dead air then players will start to leave…thinking the game is over or times out. Each game show has a comms channel where the backend crew is talking to the host as the host is creating commentary with the players. It is my belief that the type of creator that can survive this process is a prior esports commentator or someone who acts like Mr. Beast.
The Live Game Past
We took back a lot of player testing feedback and we heard the same story several times.
“I had fun. It reminded me of HQ trivia a little bit.”
For context, HQ was a mobile trivia game developed by Intermedia Labs for iOS, Android, iPadOS, and tvOS. First released in 2017, the HQ app allowed users to participate in daily, live, trivia games in which they could win or split prize money.
It’s clear that the players were reminded of this app because of the quick sessions, hosting, and finality of the game. We don’t intend to pursue an exact HQ model and there are several reasons why that app ultimately failed.
Daily play- Games that are live in nature burnout quickly when they are played consistently. People get tired of the host or the show format or the activities and ultimately the brand gets diluted. The game can make money without being a daily show.
App focused- This isn’t really a point of failure, but we currently live in a time where games get better search and value on top of a social media layer rather than an independent app. I’d much rather see our game live broadcasted by something like tiktok or twitch or youtube than a siloed app.
Monotonous Gameplay- a simple question trivia game is really easy to make. The innovation is the delivery method, but in 2023 the bar is higher for delivery and gameplay desire. We need to create something that is closer to squid games than HQ. The games need to be varied and allow for different social interactions.
There seems to be a desire for more live games. This is not a new idea, but the concept has not evolved since the days of 1 vs. 100.
and there are rumors of Xbox possibly exploring the live game show genre again.
so what was the 2009 hit game, 1 vs 100?
1 vs. 100 was a massively multiplayer online game show video game developed and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360, and an adaptation of the trivia game show of the same name. Here is some better detail from a wiki
The Future and Monetization
Making a game in this genre appears to be a good strategy because the time and cost to build the virtual sets will get cheaper. AI asset generation will also speed up the process of creating each mini game. The current builds can be done in 30-60 days.
On the topic of monetization, the primary revenue driver will be advertising and sponsorships
-commercial segments
-headlines sponsors
-backed prizes and items
-shopping events
-asset labeling
-social media growth and viewership
-next layer game such as wagering on the live match
As ai makes this type of game easier to create it will make content creators more important in this genre. The content creator and their IP must headline each event to give it player attraction.
We are happy to share our future vision for this format on direct phone calls and talks :)
A huge thank you again to Avalanche, Edison Games, and Improbable