GDC 2013: The Observer Friendly Game

I recently watched a talk given by Sean Plott at the Game Developers Conference in 2013. The main point Plott made was that developers need to keep in mind how easily community contributors could make video content with their game, and the magnitude of the effects this could have on the marketing of a game. Here I would like to share some of the more interesting notes I took away from the talk.

Importance of video content for marketing

• Twitch.TV - 45 million unique views a month
• Average viewing time over 90 minutes
• Video showing gameplay, conveys the actual game well
• On YouTube, 50% of views for a game are on brand-released content
• Other 50% is community made
• Community created content is 'free marketing'
• Particularly useful for free-to-play games not after lots of day one sales

The community

• Two types of content producers:
• Influencers - Can bring the most people in to see a game
• Amateurs - Can become influencers over time and with support
• Two types of content watchers:
• Community members - Are devoted to the game and consume the most media surrounding it
• Outsiders - Important to try to bring in to the community

Shaping the game to allow for this

• Technology - The technology used by the community to stream or record content should be compatible with a game
• Most streaming software focusses on the use of core 1 on processors
• Most streaming is done in windowed mode games.
• Vertical Sync works well with encoders
• User Interface Art
• Clear space to set webcams on a stream
• Clear space to place overlays on a stream
• Easy to customize UI shown on a stream
• On screen summary information
• When a new viewer tunes in to a stream of a game, will they know the important information they need to understand what is going on? 
• Game Mechanics that make people watch
• Skill Based games - watch to admire others play, or to see the style they play differently from the viewer
• Linear Games - Everyone has the same experience for the most part, less reasons to watch someone else play it.
• "Mind Mechanics" - A large amount of the experience a player has playing card games is mentally considering options, viewers can also do this when watching a card game; as if they were playing.
• Clear Break Points & Language
• Games being broken into chapters
• Building Conversations
• Giving a clear language so that people can discuss the game easily
• Being broken into discrete parts allows this
• Discrete is better than continuous
• Observer Angles
• Can be more interesting to have a separate view from players
• Information Asymmetry
• Creates narrative tension

Now, of course, these are notions that I shall not likely be playing with myself in any games I make for quite a while, but as an avid eSports enthusiast and participator, I find this discussion of making a game more easily streamable and viewable to be particularly interesting.

-http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1019701/The-Observer-Friendly