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Every day I take the train into New York, I see more and more people with their heads bent over some handheld device, playing games. This is not just an anecdotal phenomenon: global video game sales were $52 billion in 2011, and DFC Intelligence projects that number is expected to increase to over $70 billion in 2017. Compare this to music, which only generated $16.6 billion worldwide in 2011, and it will give you an idea of where consumers increasingly are investing their entertainment dollars.

Last week my firm signed a term sheet to lead an investment round for a new social-mobile game studio that specializes in licensing high-profile properties. This start-up had the things we always look for including a solid team with a great track record and an innovative concept that can scale as a business. Since the company makes games, we focused on the issues that we think are critical for success: break-through marketing, unique design for the platform, and an immersive player experience. Monetization strategy was the other core consideration which I will discuss in my next post.

Getting Noticed

Each year, the App Store ingests hundreds of thousands of new entries. Only a handful are highlighted in the store, and even fewer go on to reach a mass audience. In fact, most never see the light of day, which is why over 250,000 app store titles are currently dormant, meaning they have had virtually no activity for an extended period of time. So assuming the game is great to start with, “getting noticed” is the single most important barrier that initially separates failure from success.

There are a variety of marketing strategies to tip the scales in your favor, and we look at these closely when evaluating game concepts. For example, you can attach your game to a known brand. This could be a physical product, a movie, or a celebrity. However, this approach must be managed carefully so the game doesn’t just become an incidental component of a much larger brand marketing campaign. If your game is topical, you can tap a hot news event or trend that is getting broad coverage in the media. Whatever the approach, the game concept must be tightly coupled with the method of marketing it.

Designing for the Medium

Console games use a variety of controllers such as handheld devices, mock guitars, steering wheels, or motion sensors and are usually displayed on a big screen with a sound system. The player is in a particular location, usually seated at a distance from the screen. The menus, navigation, and graphic detail are all optimized to support the gameplay setting. Console game developers have consciously designed their games from the ground up to be consumed in a particular manner.

Tablets have emerged as the new medium of choice for gaming. It is projected that tablets will outsell laptops by 2015, and gaming is already established as the most popular tablet activity. The latest tablets have all the right ingredients for gaming: very high resolution displays, significant storage, and computing power that rivals a game console. We can expect to see continued rapid advancements in tablet technology as consumer investment in the medium grows.

Just as console game developers meticulously built products for the console setting, the next generation of tablet game developers must design for their medium. They have an enviable toolset to work with that includes a portable form factor, GPS, touchscreen navigation, a camera, a microphone and connectivity through Wi-Fi and wireless. The innovative game designs will take full advantage of these features.

Immersing Your Audience

Players of games like Bioshock Infinite or Far Cry 3 are used to mind-numbing graphics and a gameplay experience that draws them so deeply into another world that they become oblivious to their real-life surroundings. The best games have complex storylines with a variety of missions that engage players and hold their interest for hours. It is the anticipation of this experience that prompted gamers to line up and spend $400 million on Call of Duty in the first 24 hours of its release.