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Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

8 Types of Social Game

Posted by Tadhg | Mar 20, 2009 | Filed under Personal, Research, Simple Lifeforms, Social Games

This article describes 8 kinds of social game operating today (mostly on Facebook) and provides many examples. We hope it does a better job of explaining what is going on in social games and why we’re so very excited by social games in general.

Social games as an industry is about the conversation. We realised recently that the  conversation about social games is still waiting to be had but it can’t be forced. Social games are still very unfamiliar terrain to most, and so this article is all about grounding that conversation so that it can begin.

We hope you find it useful.

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Startup Diary – Communication Tools

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Feb 4, 2009 | Filed under Personal, Startup Diary

Starting a games company is rarely cheap even in the best economic climates. Game development is often expensive and depending on the platform you choose can easily run to multi-million figures. The questions of cost control, cash flow and opportunities can hang heavy in the air. So how does a new social game company in a bad economic recession stay alive, cut costs, make money and still make quality games?

A good place to start is communication tools. There are many ways that a new company can avoid spending heavily, remain agile and yet still have a viable infrastructure. Many companies now provide free or nearly-free services to startups like us and these services are often very powerful.

This is a short article about how we communicate and do business for free. We hope you find it useful.

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Social Games Industry Overview (08/09)

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Jan 26, 2009 | Filed under News, Personal, Research, Social Games

The social game industry is quickly becoming a significant sector of the games industry and is experiencing explosive growth: $75M was invested in the top three social game companies in 2008 and the top twenty games across MySpace and Facebook recorded over 100M Daily Active Users in January 2009 alone. This article is a quick overview of the sector and we hope serves as a fact sheet for those new to it and interested in what all of the fuss is about. 

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Startup Diary – Tadhg’s Story

Posted by Tadhg | Jan 14, 2009 | Filed under Personal, Simple Lifeforms, Startup Diary

And lo! It begins!

A few weeks ago, I resigned my position as Senior Game Development Manager working for British Sky Broadcasting. It was a good position, working with good people, as a producer over a whole line of interactive TV games, working with great clients such as Denki. I was leaving behind career prospects, a great salary and a benefits package, to join up with a tiny new company named Simple Lifeforms. Simple Lifeforms was formed under the most interesting financial circumstances that have been seen for a generation, with banks collapsing, vast Ponzi schemes being unearthed and the entire world terrified by the prospect of President Palin. It was not what any sane person would regard as a normal time for starting up a company.

There never is a normal time. Alan O’Dea (my oldest friend, harshest critic, soon-to-be best man and co-partner) and I spent many years working on, dreaming of, and occasionally trying to start a company. Yet there was always something in the way:  A realisation that the target market was too small, a lack of skills, a lack of confidence, lack of financing, etc. The time was never right. We knew that we wanted to form a company, control our own destiny and make great games. It was a question of how and when.

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Startup Diary – Alan’s Story

Posted by Alan O'Dea | Sep 27, 2008 | Filed under News, Personal, Simple Lifeforms, Startup Diary

I found myself reading an article entitled Starting a Games Company in Recession by Brett Terrill. The article is personally relevant as I have recently left my role as Business Development Director at Online Game, Virtual World, and Technology developer Monumental Games to form a new start-up company Simple Lifeforms.

Some may question my sanity at leaving such a uniquely rewarding position, certainly when working at Monumental was a dream job where I got to work with an unbelievable team of people which I am glad to all call my friends. Ok you may all question my sanity but leave I did. A fundamental reason for my departure is my belief that social gaming, i.e. games that blend the best features of online games and social networks represent a massive step change and industry shift in the future development of online games.

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