Thursday marked Ohio University’s first annual Business of Games Summit. The summit was an immense success, with over 800 people in attendance throughout the day. From 10:30am-7, guests were treated to panels, an expo floor, a case competition, and individual speaker talks.
Opening remarks were given by Chris Volpe, CEO of Multivarious Games and Co-founder of the Ohio Game Developer’s Association. In his speech, Volpe touched on many points, from the immense growth of gaming culture to what games mean in terms of how society functions today. “We don’t need people to play games or love games. We just need them to respect the industry,” Volpe remarked. This is how professionals who design games for a living will be taken seriously. Respect for their craft will lead to a flourishing industry. After becoming increasingly more unhappy in his medical career, Volpe decided to take the plunge into game development, and now feels incredibly fulfilled in his creative career. He is doing things that make others happy and says the key to success is helping each other succeed. “It doesn’t look like any other state is doing what we’re doing in Ohio,” says Volpe after attending GDC in San Francisco. This is how we know we are on the cusp of a great boom in the entertainment world. No other state represented at GDC was showing as much promise as Ohio.
Game development hubs like Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland connect with each other to share the resources needed to make great games, and build each other up to ensure success. Other states are more competitive and focus on a world where one city must come out on top. The tone of Volpe’s speech was centered around the Midwest becoming an increasingly more important part of the game development scene, and the Ohio Game Developers Expo has shown that importance over the last 5 years, with attendance growing from under 1,000 attendees to hopefully over 4,000 this year. Chris Volpe, like many others, believes in the power of games. As the industry continues to expand to accommodate virtual and augmented reality, there is no end in sight to the world’s love of games.
The first panel, “A Developer’s Roadmap” was moderated by GRID Lab student, Austin Drozin. Panelists were Phil Tibitoski, creator of popular game “Octodad”; Joe Wilmon, Developer Relations Manager at Unity; Karl Henkel, creator of Pro-builder for Unity; and Reed Erlandson, co-founder of TopStitch Games. The theme of this panel was an elaboration on what it takes to make a game, along with the hardships and successes of doing so. After listening to each panelist, it was clear that creating a game your audience will love is no walk in the park. As Joe Willmon said, “When you get to the end of making a game, you HATE that game.” Endless hours go into perfecting and marketing your product. Sometimes, developers get lucky and their game goes viral, acquiring thousands of downloads, and other times it isn’t so cut-and-dry. During his creative process, Phil Tibitoski always paid attention to what made sense for the game. He had a clear vision, and was ready to prove it would work. He remarks: “There is no point in having ideas without the skill to make them happen,” so find a team that shares the same vision and is willing to listen to whomever is in charge. “You have to have a person that makes the calls, and the rest of the team has to trust that person wholeheartedly,” Erlandson says.
All panelists were in agreement that there will always be heartache; a moment where you have to throw out everything you have and start over, but you will emerge stronger after the dust settles. Not only must your team understand the vision for the game, but you all must understand the game’s niche audience. Listening and interpreting criticism is a valuable skill. Don’t try to tell people what to do and where to go when they’re playing your game. Just observe them and be able to translate: “Put more enemies in level 4” to “This level seems easy, so what can we do to make it better?” says Willmon. Karl Henkel adds that it isn’t bad to treat people with kindness and respect, either. As for trends in the industry right now, downloadable content and microtransactions are taking the world by storm. Ease of use when purchasing creates a seamless gaming experience, and whenever DLC’s are available, players are quick to jump on them. Anyone from any demographic can create games, and there are incredible free resources open to everyone. Once you have the passion to create, and the vision of what you want to make, nothing can stop you.
Separating the two panels was a “Women in the Digital Game Industry” discussion by ILMxLAB Production Manager, Daria Fluor-Scacchi.
She has found throughout her career that for her, bigger company equals better attitudes. There are more women to form alliances with, and a larger support system. The discussion addressed sexism in the industry, and how men and women can work together to improve their workplace environment. As she reacted in awe at the amount of women on ILM’s campus, Fluor-Scacchi was told that, “Women run this company.” That is when she knew she was home. One inspiring statistic she discovered was that companies do better financially when there are women present on the board. It is important to speak up for what is right to end discrimination, and to continue youth outreach in order to recruit aspiring female developers and programmers. Finding male co-workers that aim to support women’s successes is important, along with being able to take criticism and building a reliable support network.
Fluor-Scacchi urges to keep in mind that it is not frowned upon to challenge decisions that do not have intentions of equality. This will keep the workplace balanced and productive. As a closing thought, she lists successful women to look up to, such as Jane McGonigal and Jade Raymond, both well-known female game developers. Whatever it takes to become a leader among your peers, Daria Fluor-Scacchi has done and will continue to do for other women in the game development industry. She has quickly become just as important of a role model as the game developers she listed.
The second and final panel of the day was “Digital Games as a Spectator Sport,” moderated by Director of Ohio University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Paul Mass. Panelists included Tony Farwell, Founder of GovX and CEO of Fruition Ventures LLC; Dino Hall, SportsMEDIA Technology Business Development Manager; Austin “Shot” Lonsert, professional eSports player; Dana Kawar, COO of FlipSid3 Tactics; and Taylor Ward, CMO of Matcherino. Panelists spoke on the importance of eSports in the entertainment industry, and what can be changed to make them better.
As the eSports audience continues to show exponential growth, it is important to have these conversations. “Millennials are now the largest demographic ever in the U.S. The implications are massive for eSports now more than ever,” says Tony Farwell. As time goes on, the world is tuning in online more than ever, and Millennials are leading the pack. With 20% of YouTube views being recaps of eSports events, now is the time to get into the industry. Farwell goes on to explain Twitch.tv and its role in the boom of eSports. The popular streaming site is now worth $1 billion after only 6 years since launch. Dino Hall sees great potential with fantasy eSports: “We want to help broadcasters and developers lower the barrier to entry and take deep dives into what makes players unique to better understand the game that’s being played.” There is a clear connection between viewers and athletes in fantasy sports leagues, and this same relationship will work its way into professional gaming as its popularity skyrockets.
Austin Lonsert began playing League of Legends his Freshman year of college, and quickly rose to the highest rank. After not doing well in his classes due to passion for gaming, he had a conversation with his mother about becoming a professional gamer. He then began his work with a Heroes of the Storm team; his current team being “Flame is Lame”. Since then, his team went undefeated against 490 teams in the “Heroes of the Dorm” competition, and have won or vied for many more titles with cash prizes. During the panel, he stressed his concerns with the payment system for eSports players, lamenting that some are not even paid minimum wage. Even after the drama of salary and teammates butting heads, Lonsert has built a strong bond with his mother and has faith that eSports will reach their full potential because of people like those in the MIdwest, and those people all around the world who show support for players.
Dana Kawar, who has been around since the beginning of the eSports scene, remarked: “We are at the stage where things are coming to fruition for eSports as live entertainment because that’s what people want to consume.” ESports are now at the point where they are in direct competition on the same level of viewership as professional sports. Also, creating games specifically for eSports use is becoming a trend in the industry, and to do so, one must make their game “easy to play, hard to master,” in the words of Taylor Ward. All panelists were in agreeance that although there are bumps to smooth out, eSports are the entertainment of the future.
To end the day, Joshua Hong gave the keynote speech. Hong is founder of K2 Network and has also held many management titles in the entrepreneurial world. His speech highlighted what it means to be an entrepreneur in society today, and how you can take that knowledge anywhere. His speech gave insight on his experience with success and how anyone can attain it, even if you are from less tech-centric areas like the Midwest. His knowledge of marketing and entrepreneurship was an inspiring call to action for aspiring developers in the audience.
During the entire summit, the exposition floor was open, with more than 10 visiting companies displaying their games or technology. Upon entrance, each attendee was given two wooden coins for investing in one of the exhibitors. At the end of the day, the coins at each table were counted and the winner was given a prize and bragging rights. The winner was Ohio-based GuessworkVR, a team showcasing their virtual reality game in which the player tries to plug holes that are gushing water to try and keep rooms from being filled. The case competition was another event that yielded a prize-winner, happening during the Women in the Digital Game Industry talk. Participants were to come up with a three-minute pitch to present to a panel of judges that would best describe the plan of action for a proposed entrepreneurial idea related to the business of games.
With over 700 attendees at the final count, the first annual Business of Games Summit was an immense success. The GRID Lab and Center for Entrepreneurship are already looking into possible dates for next year, and hopes are high for the summit to grow in size for years to come. The day was packed full of inspiring speakers from across the country, and attendees came away with all the resources they need to make it as game developers and entrepreneurs in the Midwest. Together, we all can start something great, and put Ohio on the industry’s map.
OHIO GRID Lab 