Welcome back to another quick trip through some of this week’s gaming business tidbits.
Profiling Chinese gamers
Quantic Foundry, the Nick Yee research firm that studies online game analytics in part through its own Gamer Motivation Model, published a blog this week that covers the results of a survey of Chinese gamers specifically. Researchers found that Chinese gamers, who have developed relatively isolated from outside influences, are more likely on average to prioritize competition. Interestingly, the effect of gender and age on gaming motivation in China is much smaller – in some cases non-existent – than in the west, once again suggesting these motivations are purely cultural rather than biological.
Brexit and gaming
Over 1300 video game companies and developers across the UK – including CCP, Bossa Studios, Hi-Rez, and Riot – have signed on to the Games4EU letter urging the government to allow a fresh vote on Brexit in order to avoid what they characterize as a devastating effect on the game industry. (via Gamasutra)
“Brexit is a dire threat to UK interactive entertainment. Leaving the EU’s customs union, single market, VAT area and regulatory framework (in whole or part) will rip up the bedrock on which our industry operates and cause us grave harm, based on our detailed analysis available here. This is already causing serious uncertainty, raising costs and future red tape. Post-Brexit our products face the real risk of becoming more expensive, harder to access, delayed or in the worst case cancelled. We fear UK interactive entertainment businesses being compelled to partially/fully relocate to the EU. We foresee greater problems to hiring talent (risking over time a UK brain drain), loss of important consumer rights and cultural diminishment. All when we should be growing our position as a British success story.”
Lockboxes down under
Finally, the Australian Environment and Communications Reference Committee this week issued a 90-page report after a five-month investigation into lockboxes. The paper homes in on the complexity of the issue and suggests that assessment should be performed on a “case-by-case basis,” but seemed persuaded by arguments that lockboxes are essentially gambling and should be regulated similarly.
“However, there was broad consensus that where real-world currency is exchanged… loot boxes may most closely meet the definitions of gambling (both regulatory and psychological), and therefore a range of risks to players may exist.”
