Confirming the Market and Improving Engagement

There is, indeed, a market for serious games, but with no more than ten to twenty store-shelf-viable products available internationally, the serious games market is not currently retail-friendly. The market may never become commercial-centric until developers and clients show interest in and agree there is a very real necessity for serious games that involve a more refined focus for training smaller groups and individuals. Serious games are currently devised around large-scale “mainframe” activities, events, and projects. The government agencies and private sector entities which fund serious games development do so with the training of their own specific workforces as their primary goal.

Not everyone can or wants to play a game that trains people, in a range of roles, on how to construct a freeway overpass, or how to run a busy shipyard, or how to run a hospital triage unit. These types of scenarios would obviously be too overwhelming to individual users looking to pick up a commercial job training product at Best Buy.

Imagine, however, a training product that shows owners of conventional automobiles a step-by-step detailed process of how to convert their gasoline engines into hybrid gasoline or pure electric propulsion systems . . . at half of the proportional cost a dealership would charge for a new hybrid vehicle. This type of training just happens to be offered – right now – in blueprint and video format through a variety of public Internet sites run by ordinary, everyday private citizens. A certified serious game of this engine conversion would provide a much crisper, 360 degree real-time 3D representation of the bare minimum garage environment – a fully-articulated and personable mechanic to guide you, the appropriate and highly-visible safety measures, the necessary tools and engine components – than anything currently available from any of those web sites.

This simulation would be complete with properly-labeled viewable-and-printable high resolution images of every component and procedure involved. You would also have the ability to halt the simulation at any point and ask the mechanic more exclusive, hardcore questions about any part of the operation, or to select any particular item in your virtual body shop and zoom in / orbit around that item for further investigation. This description is just the beginning of what type of training and results could be achieved with this serious games concept, because there is also the issue of expandability, where higher-grade real world components and work environments could be added to match larger-scale attempts at the same (or enhanced) version of the procedure.

Another small-scale serious games concept example would be training for how to build and install your own water filtration system for your home, again, at a much lower cost than a commercial provider would demand.

These small capacity concepts for serious games – depending on scope – would take a limited amount of time and resources to develop, similar to the requirements of a casual game. Imagine the attention and potential clients this might attract from aftermarket auto parts distributors / manufacturers. Imagine this serious games concept as an individually-wrapped product also available in locations like Chief Auto Parts, Ace Hardware, Lowes, or Home Depot. Commercial serious games do not have to reside only with other fellow game products at Best Buy, Toys ‘R Us, or Game Stop. The growing onslaught of online sales and distribution, however, makes the desire of store shelf space almost pointless. Manipulate "The Matrix" like Neo. “Quaid – Open your mind. Open your mind!” – Kuato from "Total Recall."

The current serious games market also requires a few changes in the standard client engagement policy. Early serious games developers used to almost tease potential clients with their polished entertainment software products, and, then, wait for the interested-yet-naive funding sources to knock on their doors. Game developers must now be the “professional aggressors” with clients who represent an unbelievable opportunity that most developers have never had with modern day publishers: beginning their business relationship on equal footing – regardless of who is paying and who is developing – with a mutual effort to study and draw up a logical plan for the concept, and, ultimately, with the developer being able to respectfully educate the client on what resources are truly necessary across the board for the success of their product. A serious games client who has already been through this process a time or two will be that much more pleasant and appreciative of the detailed planning and execution associated with most-but-not-all game products.

Serious games clients – objectively – are not yet completely familiar with the behavioral tactics of the 800-pound entertainment software publishing gorillas loathed by developers throughout the galaxy. Serious games clients are true professionals (from academia to banking to medicine to military) who more often than not are willing to do (or are insistent on doing) things by the book, from A-Z. "Let us play it by ear / table it until later" is not a popular theme among these clients. They are actually willing to listen and learn, so that they are on the same page with developers from beginning to end. Developers must engage these clients and show legitimate unwavering interest in transforming their desired subject matter and goals into flexible, successful, and expandable products. These clients will respond well, if not immediately, and they will be even more intrigued by a developer who has actually researched them, first, and then, approached them with their own training product proposal.

Some entertainment software publishers – to be clear – have been attempting to improve upon development relationships that continue to be unreasonably lopsided in favor of publishers. While this is always encouraging news, the serious games market gives game developers a grand opportunity to replace a sometimes painful client history with a brand new experience. “The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” – John Connor from "Terminator 2."

Another important change to client engagement involves never underestimating their understanding of the tasks you are performing for them. These clients may hail from a non-gaming background, but they are sharp, and nine times out of ten, they will have performed in-depth due diligence on you and the concept(s) they need realized. They know exactly what they want, and they require your expertise on how to properly execute the conversion of a serious games concept into a fully-functioning simulation that will be a major part of the training backbone for what could potentially be tens of hundreds of thousands of personnel (whether through a carefully-staged rollout or all at once). While such hardcore serious games are, indeed, a large component of a client's overall training program, it must never be forgotten that no matter how in-depth the simulation, it will (almost) always be secondary to invaluable hands-on experience.

One other change to client engagement – in the mode of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" – involves never appearing like a snake oil salesperson. I have been involved with multiple entertainment software and serious games developers, where some are on-the-level with their clients and others have tested the patience and professional threshold of their (otherwise kind and willing) clients and lost them for good. While this occurs in all industries, it is good to remember there will always be more game developers in the sea than clients.

Serious games clients may be interested in arranging a contract to purchase your original IP in support of similar high-level product concepts which they have yet to push forward on their end. Thoroughly studying up on your client's background – as stated earlier – could potentially result in multiple IPs changing hands. You certainly want fair value for your IPs, but you do not want to become greedy with these clients. They need their products to serve a legitimate, long-term purpose – with the minimum promise of enhancements and the maximum promise of brand new products to fill a market void year-in and year-out.  Do not expect them to deviate from this pathway, either, especially if your clients are not commercially-minded, such as government agencies.

Regarding clients that happen to be government agencies, while taxpayer money may be more productively invested in serious games (which can potentially help re-train hundreds of thousands of people), rather than keeping a mistake-ridden auto manufacturer alive, you should not expect government subsidies or outright bids on your development studio anytime soon.  Government agencies – just like their private client counterparts – are not interested in funding internal development teams.  It is simply not good business, and keeping development efforts external, of course, ideally allows for competitive bids from equally competitive and talented developers. These clients want you and your team to perform the work for them (not as an internal agency component that – due to potentially unproven ROI – could easily become a federal budget cut victim).

They are not interested in your proprietary game development technology. They want you to perform the work on any potential product sequels. They will certainly let you know if they cannot imagine a future without your team or your technology. You can attempt to request more funding for any follow-on work in order to reclaim any R&D costs that went into the creation of your development tool sets and core technology – and the client may be amenable – even though it will be a rare occurrence in this day and age for an established developer to have to generate new core game engine technology for a serious game.

Regarding the recovery of development costs, it is certainly worth noting that serious games and royalties have been thus-far mutually exclusive.  Serious games developers are typically compensated through milestone payments or one lump sum. You can expect this arrangement to remain this way especially – for example – if a government unemployment agency decides to utilize a massive server farm through which the unemployed can train from home, free of charge, on any available serious game in that agency's catalogue.

No monthly subscription fees, and, in turn, no royalties for anyone, either. While a successful partnership with a serious games client – on multiple projects – can establish the familiarity and trust necessary for enhanced funding to become a given, the very best thing you can do as a developer is simply make sure you and your legal council are paying attention during the negotiation of your first contract, rather than daydreaming about how much better the fancy figures may be with the next one. Either way, you have a pleasant and trusting business relationship to nurture, as you have experienced the unsavory alternative.

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