Mobile First

The average mainstream videogame industry salary in 2009 came in at $75,573 in 2009, down 4% from 2008, according to the 9th annual Game Developer Salary Survey produced by Game Developer Research.

In the nine years this study has been publicly available 2009 was the first year to see a significant decrease in the average salary.

This year the report reflects the changing face of the game development community, representing the growing independent developer segment and the new business models that are cropping up, including an expansion into mobile game development.

A new section called “The Indie Report” offers insights on the average income and development specializations for indie game developers (those who develop games alone, work with small indie teams, or develop as contractors).

You can find the full low-down on how game developers are getting paid here: http://www.gamedevresearch.com

Highlights from the 110-page report include:

• Programmers are the highest paid talent in the mainstream game industry next to high-end businesspeople, with an average annual salary of $80,320.
• Experience pays! Programmers with 6+ years of experience earn an incredible 36% more.
• Game designers saw a modest salary bump on average, up 3% to $69,266. The design discipline also includes writers, who make an average of $61,786.
• Of all the non-business game development disciplines, production – with a salary average overall of $75,082 – is the most welcoming to women, with 18% of the workforce made up of females.
• Testers tend to have the fewest years of experience, with nearly half having been in the industry less than three years. They are also the lowest-paid professionals, averaging $37,905.
• Sound designers and composers, who earned an average of $82,085, are generally some of the most experienced professionals in the industry.
• The business field as a whole remains the highest compensated group in game development with an average salary of $96,408, even after a nearly 6% decline.

Earlier this week Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk posted an insightful article on the potential for virtual worlds and social games to solve the music industry’s long time suffering by getting folks to pay, once again, for music.

Eliot points out that digital music is the perfect example of a virtual good and that kids (who are the music fans of tomorrow) are already used to paying for digital content through virtual worlds such as Penguin Town. For these kids buying music in their virtual worlds can actually be a game in and of itself.

Eliot uses Conduit Labs’ Music Pets app as an example to illustrate how a game (Music Pets) mirrors our traditional real world music discovery and enjoyment experience; from making recommendations, to collecting music you like, to sharing/enjoying that music with friends.

Conduit Labs, which also maintains Loudcrowd, a social network built around playing music-related games online, believes that games offer listeners a new way to discover music, become more involved as fans, and, ultimately, encourage them to pay for tracks.

“It’s a much broader market than people are currently giving it credit for,” says Nabeel Hyatt, CEO and founder of Conduit Labs. “Games can more easily tap into the social aspect of listening to music, which has always drawn people out to concerts or clubs.”

In the Music Pets game players start by picking an avatar and a room template and then proceed into a simple 2D world. The difference between the Music Pets app and other virtual pet apps is clear from the start – - music. Right before you enter the world you’re prompted with a selection of music that the game thinks you might like. Or if you want, you can type in an artist’s name directly to get started. When you first start off you get a very downtrodden little critter in a simple home outfitted with a set of speakers and it’s your job to make it happy; not by petting, brushing, or washing it, but rather by playing it good music.

Here’s the trick to “getting paid” though… in the Music Pets app, players get everything for their virtual pet and their music collection for free just as long as they are willing and able to spend a whole bunch of time jumping through the games’ hoops to earn points through a combination of effort and time. When they want stuff faster (instant gratification) they have to pay up. Ka-Ching! You just got someone to pay for music! The bigger their music collection, the happier the pets are. Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching!

“The public perception of the value of a song is very skewed and has little to do with its actual price,” Hyatt told Wired.com. “We believe offering fun, social, interactive experiences with music is the best way to monetize.”

In just over one month the Music Pets app has already accumulated more than a million users on Facebook. This is just one example of a viable market for real goods in a virtual world. I believe you will see more and more examples emerge following this model and increasingly more and more of the things we do will take on this game-like experience. It’s opportunities like these where the ability for the game to keep its players in-game to make purchases or top-up their points/credits will be essential. With Mobile First’s in-game mobile payments players never have to leave the game and need only enter their mobile phone number to keep things moving. Pay-up and play on!

Hyatt also presented his take on “music as the ideal virtual good” back in 2008 at the Virtual Goods Summit. You can check out his presentation here.

Ka-ching for D.C. and easy-peasy for D.C. drivers. The Washington Post reported this weekend that starting today 700 parking spots in Washington D.C. will now accept payment through one’s mobile phone – the simplest most convenient way to pay! Nice work D.C.

Once you set up an account, simply dial the service when you are parked in the spot you want to pay for and tell them how long you plan to be there. If you exceed the time you estimated the meter will tell your phone your time is running out and will offer to add more time directly from your handset, without interrupting what you are doing.

The new service is powered by Verrus Mobile Technologies, the same company that brought easy mobile payments to Boston area rail commuters back in December 2008. Nice work guys.

With a mobile phone in nearly every pocket and purse these days, mobile is clearly establishing itself as a simple alternative to using a credit card to pay, whether in a virtual world or the real world.

If you surveyed the mobile punditry a year ago, many would have told you that Windows Mobile was a relic of a bygone “smartphones for business” era. In 2007 when Apple released the iPhone, a new era emerged, smartphones for consumers. Other smartphone players were quick to follow. RIM began referring to its BlackBerry as a “lifestyle device” and soon there was Google’s Android and the Palm Pre. But Windows Mobile didn’t seem to throw its hat in the ring with any effort to catch-up until this year.

I often wondered how in the face of the iPhone’s game changing design and tremendous success, Microsoft didn’t take the cue and combine Windows Mobile with the Zune. Well after 2 ½ years, they finally did, announcing Windows Mobile 7 in February at Mobile World Congress.

Never count out a company as big and with as many resources as Microsoft. These guys know what it takes to get paid, and are willing to throw their considerable weight around to make an impact. Not only did Microsoft correct a fundamental error of approaching smartphones as business devices, they brought in a new element to their smartphone operating system which in itself may be a game changer: integration with massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG). Ka-Ching!

Not only does Microsoft have solid relationships with all the major smartphone manufacturers and a media player, the Zune, which many reviewers say is better than the iPod, Microsoft also is the producer of the Xbox gaming console, something Apple, Google and RIM don’t have. One of the big new features of Windows Mobile 7 is integration with Xbox Live, allowing gamers to play Xbox games on their phones against other players who may be on Xbox consoles or online.

At the moment there aren’t many games yet one can play using Windows Mobile 7, but c’mon, it’s only weeks since the launch. There will be many more. And with MMORPG games being a multi-billion dollar market, Microsoft may have given themselves an edge among smartphone operating systems against the other heavyweights in the market.

Now one has to wonder how long it will take Sony Ericsson to integrate its Walkman phones with the Sony PlayStation. Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching (that advise was a freebie, Sony).

We’ll track how MSFT’s new hook into the smartphone market through MMORPG pays off for them and will watch with great interest as the other players scramble to get paid too.

Mobile Payment solution provides online entertainment merchants the ability to accept secure payments for virtual currency from anyone using text messaging

Mobile First announced today the availability of Mobile First Mobile Payment processing for developers and providers of online games, social networking applications and virtual currency platforms. Now available in 40 markets around the world, Mobile First Mobile Payment lets these online entertainment merchants provide a highly convenient way for people all around the world to pay for their services. The latest product in Mobile First’s suite of premium SMS solutions, Mobile Payment provides merchants the ability to accept payments from anyone using SMS text messaging services, almost anywhere in the world.

Read the full press release here

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