As part of GamesOnDeck's regular Mobile Q&A column, we spoke with Gamevil USA president Kyu C. Lee and Starwave vice president Stan Liu about the company's partnership, which allows Starwave to publish the Gamevil developed title Traffic Mayhem in North America, as well as the importance of new IP and the future of the mobile games industry.
GamesOnDeck: Can you tell me about how the Traffic Mayhem partnership between Gamevil and Starwave came about? Is there a specific reason this title is being published in North America by Starwave?
Kyu Lee: Stan requested to meet with our company during E3 2005. We showed him a catalogue of our games, and he showed interest in this game.There were two factors in why he picked the game - that it was original and casual.
Stan Liu: It's interesting because as I remember it, Kyu and his team wanted to show me several other titles and I kept going back to this traffic game, saying "tell me more about this title!" It just really jumped out at me right from the beginning - the fun, original subject-matter, graphics and mechanics were such a perfect fit for the mobile platform. Kyu seemed pretty surprised because he didn't think it was right (in its original form) for North America but we addressed that issue through a few graphic and control tweaks to tailor it for the domestic audience. When we showed the title to the carriers, they loved it and felt it was refreshing and addictive.
GOD: Traffic Mayhem is obviously a new IP. Although the game is reviewing positively, what kind of a marketing push is feasible to give to a mobile game that lacks name recognition? Does it make sense to do any outreach or marketing beyond PR?
KL: New IPs are tough when you are competing with established brands. The title name and descriptions are very important for markets like the US. The lack of user based mobile gaming communities in the US has made it more difficult for word-of-mouth to spread for original IPs. In Korea, we've been doing online and offline promotions, TV-commercials, etc... to get the name out in the market and we'll have a better idea on what kind of method works in the US by doing more trials on promotions. Personally, I haven't really seen effective small budget marketing here yet, but we'll figure out new ways that can work in the future.
SL: I think we have to remember that today's mobile gamer is already savvier than just a couple of years ago so the power of a quality product shouldn't be overlooked either - as evidenced by Skipping Stone, another non-branded, yet successful title. In terms of traditional marketing, we are always experimenting to see what is most effective in this space - from demos to ad-buys. Additionally, with Starwave's branded titles, we work with our licensors on cross-promotional efforts and timing. I don't think anyone has found the "silver bullet" just yet - but as an industry we are testing out various avenues during these early stages
GOD: What does Gamevil USA's formation mean for future partnerships like this Traffic Mayhem publishing agreement? Is it unlikely that we'll see any Gamevil-developed titles published by others in the Americas?
KL: Since we have now established our presence here in the US, we will be reducing the amount of partnerships with publishers here. But, we will still be continuing to work with major publishers for other territories that we don't have direct presence.
