Marketing Analysis : Gree, Inc.

The mainstream gamer enjoys games but may not finish every game they buy and doesn't have time for long MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) quests. The mainstream gamer represents approx. 15% of the gaming market.

The market for board games has seen annual increases of 10-20 per cent over the last decade, leading some to suggest we are in a “board game renaissance” (Carlson, 2013).

In game purchase refer to items that a player can buy for uses on different types of games. Clash of Clans is the top grossing game on the play store applications. The play store application is Google’s online store for downloading music, games, movies, e-books, and variety of android applications. Candy Crush Saga is the top in-game purchase for the Apple. The Apple store is for the IOS applications. The revenue from in-game purchases provide incentive for the developers to update a game frequently as well as the products available. Google is consider is an advertising company. Google sells advertisement. Google is so successful at selling advertising because of the Google search engine. The spam emailed on advertising is one way

As noted in the case, “the growth in the apps market is closely tied to the growth in the market for mobile devices, both smartphones and tablet computers that are connected to cell phone networks.” Revenues from mobile apps have been on the rise and forecasts indicate a continual increase. Forecasts were made for revenue from mobile

However, GameStop is still at a disadvantage, because there are such a large number of competitors in the industry. Buyer’s bargaining power are high, since there is no brand loyalty in the industry. Customers are very well aware of the market price of a product and will look for the best deals they can find. Suppliers have high bargaining power since suppliers can choose to integrate forward and sell their products themselves. The success of the retail gaming industry is very dependent on the availability of supplier’s goods. Additionally, since there are low barriers of entrance, substitute products and new entrants often appear in the market. Since most competitors in the industry do not have a strong presence, the expected retaliation towards new entrants is low. An increasing popularity of smartphone games and social media games such as Farmville on Facebook, allows customers to play against friends. Although these social media games do not offer the same experience as a video game, the fact that virtually no switching cost is associated with switching to a competitor’s game and since they are so cheap compared to video game disk and consoles, can easily drive customers from video gaming to online gaming. (Exhibit 2)

Future growth expectations for the Video Games industry have been significantly moderated, as the picture of the market for gaming on mobile platforms becomes clearer. Since mobile games are sold at much lower prices compared to traditional console and PC games, their rise may foretell a slowdown of the video game market in the United States. While the recent launch of the next generation video game consoles is expected to rekindle interest in the more expensive console gaming market, the rise of low-cost, low-margin mobile gaming market may weigh on the overall gaming market. Consequently, this is expected to pull revenue downward as consumers pay less per hour for gaming entertainment. Revenue is expected to reach $47.4 billion in 2019 as a result of the expanding population and an increased percentage of Americans

The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video and computer games. It includes video game consoles, game software, handheld devices, mobile games and online games. The video gaming industry has been growing exponentially in recent years with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo competing for the higher profits in the market. This essay will analyze each of the five forces acting on the industry: threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and the competitive rivalry among existing firms. Then it will be determined if the video game industry is still an

Zynga Inc. (Zynga), is a provider of social game services with 240 million average monthly active users over 175 countries. The Company develops, markets and operates online social games as live services played over the Internet and on social networking sites and mobile platforms. The Company’s games are accessible on Facebook, other social networks and mobile platforms to players globally, wherever and whenever they want. It operates its games as live services. All of its games are free to play, and it generates revenue through the in-game sale of virtual goods and advertising. In March 2012, the Company acquired New York-based social game developer OMGPOP, makers of the cultural hit mobile game, Draw Something, and

General Mills is a company that has strategically developed and growth through mergers and acquisitions. Mergers are the fusion of two companies that join forces to compete in the market. There are two types of merger: Horizontal merger on which the company acquires a competitor and vertical merger, on which the fusion is with a supplier. Acquisitions, on the other hand occurs when a company buys another company and become the property of the buyer. Thorough study of the market has made General Mills maintains a leader position on the food industry through more than 100 years in the market. According to a business encyclopedia, Strategy is a plan a company develops to reach a determine objective and reflects the company’s strength,

The lifestyle of a hardcore gamer is to be antisocial around human beings, but through the connectivity of the Internet to be social and build friendships and relationships through video games. Xbox has created a live chat while playing video games to verbally speak to the gamers or instantly chat. The social class gamer is divided by the income category that they fall on. Upper and middle class have the ability to spend money on new consoles in the gaming industry, while the lower class does not have the funds to invest in all of the new consoles that are released. The most important key point of the demographic component is the behavior of a gamer. It is important to have a strategic target plan for any new consoles; however, behavior gamers are the marketing targets to any new innovation. Behavior gamers are the most loyal consumers and it has a significant amount of the profitability to the company. As a result, the three different components makes up the target market and is very crucial to be strategic with the plan and know the potential

Sometimes it seems like the computer game industry is dying, crushed to death by its own bulk. Every year more and more gaming companies get gobbled up into huge conglomerates like Electronic Arts, companies that mostly put out trash that is technically and visually impressive, but devoid of concept and content. However, there are some small gaming companies that buck the trend. While mostly just small groups of programmers and artists, some are huge unions of fans who, irritated with the dropping quality of computer games, have decided to use the power of the internet to get together and to produce games tailor-made to their personal preferences.

• To enter the game industry is difficult because new entry should possess high technology skill, high capital and well distribution, it’s not easy to new entry.

From Jewel Quest to World of War Craft, gaming has become a nook online. Combing power socials networks such as Facebook, a social network game was developed. Zynga, an American company is the provider of popular social media games today. Zynga was founded in July 2007, and headquartered in San Francisco, California by Mark Pincus. Zynga became one of the world’s fastest growing companies online. Zynga the name originated by the company’s CEO Mark Pincus’ late African bulldog, Zynga. The company uses a bull dog as their logo. Zynga launched its best known game, Farmville on Facebook in August 2009. Farmville reached 10 million daily active users within six weeks of the launch. As of January 2013 Zynga reached over 265 million daily users. Zynga had reached three of the top five games on Facebook which included Farmville, Texas Hold’Em poker and Chef Ville. Advertising on Facebook was fairly low, buying traffic was cheap. Many of Zynga games were played by desktop. Zynga was doing fairly well but soon everything changed and they could not recover back. “We founded Zynga with the simple premise that people could put play back in their lives,” Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said at the start of the event. “We have a lot further to still go to accomplish our mission of connecting the world through games.”(Mark Pincus- CEO of Zynga) Zynga games are available on almost all major platforms which include, Apple IOS, Google Android, Google plus +, Facebook and

The video game console industry is a very competitive segment. This segment requires a keen eye on product development as well as strategic product marketing and a rather large logistics arm to ensure rapid distribution to targeted areas. Video game industry in the US, which is hugely driven by retail sales of software and hardware, registered revenues of USD ~ million in CY'2012. Even so with the advent of new video game players in the industry, the revenues decreased by 11.7% compared to

Alphabet games need to supply customers with a quality product and service is the primary culture value. The case study shows that more than good looks are needed to make great video games, this shows that quality is very important and strive to stay ahead by investing in developments to advance their products. An example of this is also shown again in the case study; As video games have become more life-like, the company has pursued the concept that the games world may also react in a realistic manner. The work hard play hard culture will have a positive effect on the management approach at alphabet games. The case study shows that the need to align to the principals and ethos at Alphabet games has been a primary concern when requiting, but the underlying need for passion and quality has always been a minimum requirement in staff. This type of culture is characterised by high levels of activity, employees are motivated by the lower risk decisions and fast feedback on their performance.