14 DAY TRIAL // In the coming year one analysts believes that the video game industry will see a shift from platforms like Facebook and Google to custom game portals that will be controlled by the developers and publishers themselves.
Speaking to IndustryGamers, Scott Steinberg of TechSavvy Global, who is both an analyst and a marketing expert, stated, “throughout the coming months, count on seeing more developers stepping up their efforts to avoid being shackled exclusively to one platform – hardware, software or otherwise. Several may even seek out or begin to create their own custom game portals, rather than allowing themselves to be beholden to giving providers such as Google or Facebook a significant share of revenue and/or sharing user information.”
He added, “Likewise, you can also expect to see publishers making more of an effort to integrate persistent features and multiple points of connection into their games. To this extent, bank on more titles arriving that provide persistency and portability across platforms and devices, letting you readily switch from set-top box to handheld, ultrabook to smartphone, depending on context and connectivity.”
The last part of the analyst’s predictions seem a bit off when talking about 2012 and might take 5 or 10 years to become reality but he has a point when it comes to the need that developers have to control as much as possible the way that players use to access their video games.
We have seen something similar happen in 2011 with publisher Electronic Arts and its launch of Origin, the digital distribution service that mostly carries its own games and has been positioned as a rival to market leaders Steam from Valve.
So far Origin has had limited success, despite the fact that it is the exclusive digital distributor for such a high profile game as Battlefield 3, so other custom made gaming portals might also face an uphill struggle.