We’re delighted to announce that the Prototype Fund has been short listed for the Business Development Develop Award 2013. The Prototype Team has worked hard over the last few years to do what we can to support SMEs in the games sector; from the grants we provide to successful applicants, to setting up workshops where possible with industry experts on important business development skills such as marketing – we do all that we can to help the companies we work with be the best that they can be. 

Thanks to all those who’ve supported this nomination. We look forward to the ceremony in Brighton in the summer!

KG

The panel was made up of several companies funded by the Prototype Fund, each at different stages in their business. I have to say the conversation flowed easily; the energy around the topic was evident and I was delighted to welcome a highly engaged audience to the discussion. 

The panel made some interesting points about the Management of Creative Teams that got me thinking, is this true for all applicants to our Fund?

• Don’t be scared of failure – in the creative industries failure is likely. The best companies often fail, but when they do, they pick themselves up and carry on. 
• Never underestimate the importance of ‘people skills’; being able to manage egos, conflict (constructive or otherwise) and delegation is a huge part of what can make or break a company.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are times in the life of all start-ups where help is needed, whatever the area of the business concerned. 

With that last point in mind it’s worth reminding readers that any potential applicants to the current round are welcome to submit a one page overview of their proposal before completing an application form. 

KG

The Prototype Team and a group of grant recipients were in London this month to attend a marketing workshop focused around Acquiring and Retaining Players. Hosted by professional marketing executives from Squared the aim of the session was to help start-ups understand what’s needed to make a brilliant game commercially successful using tried and tested, as well as new and innovative, marketing techniques.

Guestspeakers included Kiip EMEA Director, Eamonn Carey and Howard Kingston from I Am Playr/We R Interactive.

Howard’s session focused on the lessons learned from I Am Playr, how the game acquired 3 million users in just 6 months.

It was highly recommended to the group that when setting marketing strategies they consider using the tried and tested SMART objective framework.

Objectives should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

One of the key takeaways for us was the warning to beware vanity metrics; the number of Twitter followers a project or company has, for example, is often cited in applications made to the Fund as being a key metric to consider when projecting commercial success. But online social interaction is just one small piece of a very large and complex jigsaw; the numbers have real resonance when they translate to sales.

Having looked at how games companies might best set commercial objectives, we then looked at a metric framework with a very memorable mnemonic:

AARRR metrics

• Acquisition – getting the product to the customer
• Activation – having the customer use the product
• Retention – losing customers at this stage is easy, getting the numbers back on an even keel is much harder. This can be the most difficult, but most important, number to maintain and grow
• Referral  - having the customer recommend the product
• Revenue  - making money!

The whole day, from Howard and Eamon’s speaker slots to the hands on practical with the Squares, provided a useful tool to the Prototype Team when assessing the importance of marketing strategies in applications to the Fund and, of course, to our funded companies who could take the learning on best practice to their own projects.

Our thanks to Squared for helping organise a fantastic day.

KG

Over the past couple of years we’ve seen the very real fluctuations in the games industry reflected in the applications we’ve received. We’ve had over 300 applications to the Fund so far, many of which have come from start-ups. We’ve also seen a marked change in the target platforms from our applications; from Facebook and other social media sites making up the majority of platforms from our very first round back in 2010, to iOS and Android being the dominant platform of preference more recently.

The same can be said for business plans and planned routes to market. Studios now have a wealth of options available to them, from freemium monetisation models to funding their project through crowdfunding (Kickstarter being the runaway success). There’s no longer a “one size fits all” approach to games development.

The number of applications we’ve had is testament to the agility of the industry; as big name studios closed, indie start-ups opened.

So what will 2013 bring? Will we see more applications from companies targeting non-mainstream platforms? Only time will tell. We look forward to finding out!

KG

Gillian Marles from the Business Scotland recently visited the Prototype Fund studio and spoke to our Director of Business Development, Paul Durrant, as well as grant recipients Quartic Llama. Focusing on developing gaming companies, the show explores how important the 25% tax relief recently announced in the budget is for the future of the industry.

Listen out for mention of the Prototype Fund and the work we do to support the games industry both in Dundee and across the UK.

Meet some of our funded companies working here at Abertay.

Here’s another introduction to one of our successful applicants. Questions answered by Peter van der Watt, Managing Director, Blazing Griffin.

Who are Blazing Griffin?

BLAZING GRIFFIN is an independent game studio, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 2011, the company is a creative mix of established game developers, experts from other industries, and a wide variety of freelance talent (from film to musical composition).

The company has a strong focus and interest in building and maintaining intellectual properties, with games that interconnect across platforms, exist in a continuity of brand and story, feature creative forms of expression, and support flexible payment models.

In 2011, the company acquired the rights to Distant Star (an iOS title) and later that year “The Ship: Murder Party”, an established title, popular with players and critics alike. Both titles are in the process of being expanded on and further developed.

Tell us about your game, what are you prototyping?

We’re developing Distant Star a 4X Space Strategy Game, a major re-development of our first iOS title Distant Star.

The original Distant Star was reasonably successful and this radical redesign will hopefully propel it forward even further. Art, music, background, story, design and play are all being improved and the game will incorporate a high-level strategic struggle, along with close-up, tactical, vector based combat.

Throughout this all we see a far richer history that the players can explore, and gameplay that is accessible entertaining fun for new players but will draw veterans of the genre into its deep layers of strategy. The best of both worlds.

How do you see the games market changing, why did you pick this product?

There has been a general shift towards mobile in the last couple of years and we believe that this will continue to happen. If people are moving their personal computing more and more to that sort of platform, our aim will be to provide in depth games on those platforms.

Our focus is tablets in the case of Distant Star and what we’d like to do is make a game that people remember fondly in a number of years time as a game they spent large amounts of time in exploring everything the game has to offer.

What are your plans following the prototype?

Our immediate future following the prototype will be to complete the development on the full game that will become Distant Star.

Once that game is released we’ll be adding content to it over the following months while ramping up production on the next game.

Here’s another introduction to one of our successful applicants. Questions answered by Malath Abbas, Artist / Part-time Hustler, Quartic Llama.

Who are Quartic Llama?

We are a games development studio founded by me (Malath Abbas), Tom deMajo, Erin Michno and Ian Reynolds. The team grew from a student group from Abertay University who won the Samsung Development Challenge earlier this year, and I joined the guys when we decided to apply to the Prototype Fund after they graduated in the summer. I originally met the guys during Dare to be Digital 2011 when we were competing against each other! We all chip in on design on a day to day basis, while Tom and I take care of the art and Ian and Erin are the wizards who make it all work. With the help of the Prototype Fund we’ve been able to expand the team by employing two excellent graduates from the Talent Pool, programmer Gareth Robinson and artist Robin Ward. Collectively the six of us are developing games with a focus on strong mechanics and highly stylized visuals and audio.

Tell us about your game, what are you prototyping?

With the help of the Prototype Fund we are currently developing Dama, a free to play social strategy game for mobile devices. In Dama, you get to explore new worlds, collect resources and perform alchemy to create unique and customisable creatures that you can battle against your friends. It has the collection element of Pokémon and the tactics of Advance Wars, with the added creativity of alchemy. We are currently prototyping a vertical slice of the multiplayer mode, making sure we get the art style and mechanics right and more importantly making sure that it’s fun to play! Anyone interested in helping us test Dama should get in touch with us on contact@quarticllama.com or through our website and social feeds.

How do you see the games market changing, why did you pick this product?

Over the past few years the market has been in a state of transition, with new technology and the rise of social media acting as catalysts for small scale development. This has helped create a wealth of new opportunities, with small independent studios like us springing up all over the place, an impressive number starting in Dundee alone. The success of mobile games has been amazing to witness and I think that gamers who are now accustomed to the mobile platforms are not fully satisfied with casual games and are after a more console-like experience. We feel that Dama will bridge this gap between casual and core games by delivering an engaging experience rich with narrative and depth on mobile, while also allowing for flexible drop in / drop out gameplay and integrated social interaction. On a personal level, this is the type of game that I can see myself playing and it’s been awesome working on it!

What are your plans following the prototype?

Once the prototype of Dama is ready we will get it out to external testers for feedback so we can refine and balance our gameplay and gather data from our metric and analytic systems. Following this, our focus will switch to getting the single player side of things done, and we’ll start speaking to possible partners who can help us to take Dama into full development.

Apart from Dama and a few other side projects, our debut game, Moeba, will soon be launched on Samsung bada, to be followed by launches on iOS and Android next year. We’ve had a great reception to the game everywhere we’ve shown it and we can’t wait to get it out!

Keep an eye out on our blog and social feeds for the latest news and updates on Dama, Moeba and our future projects.

www.QuarticLlama.com

facebook.com/QuarticLlama

twitter.com/QuarticLlama

Based on this success the team have now adapted the format to suit other museums, including the latest release for the McManus Gallery in Dundee demonstrating the adaptability of the Quiz Trail platform.

Since the launch of the McManus Quiz Trail there are now QuizTrails for Birmingham Museums Trust and Cass Sculpture Foundation. We at the Prototype Fund team are delighted to share this news with you; The Connected Set continue to evolve their Prototype Funded project to suit the market’s needs, thus maximising the life of the product.

Reed’s top tips from entrepreneurs are simple but clear – work hard, don’t take rejection to heart and be realistic. 

“I never would have thought it was possible for someone like me to set up a business, but then I found myself with a group of friends and we decided to give it a go. It turns out it is possible – not easy, but definitely possible.”

KG