The End of the “Casual Era?”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 17, 2014

First things first: so-called “Casual Games?” Not going away. Ever. In fact, you could argue that thanks to mobile gaming, they are bigger than ever. WAY bigger.

What are casual games? They are games preferred by “casual gamers” – the ones who don’t have the depth of interest or time commitment of the hardcore fans. They are often the ‘coffee-break games’ – games you can play in just a few minutes, that have very simple and easy-to-grasp gameplay mechanics, and usually  bright, “cute” graphics that are non-threatening to players. And – until a few years ago – they were often web-based.

And that’s what I think of as the “casual era.” Around 2006 or so, casual games were “It.” Everybody was doing it. Popcap was the pioneer – particularly with Bejeweled but they had a stable of games that were serious moneymakers. And out of the battle royale of casual game websites, Big Fish Games emerged as the top dog. Or top fish. Whatever. Anyway, in what passes for the “indie community,” getting your game on Big Fish was the golden ticket, a lot like getting your game onto Steam is now. A large chunk of the indie community completely hitched their fate to that of Big Fish Games.

It was quite the thing for a while. As more and more “casual game developers” jumped on board, we saw a massive “race to the bottom” price war, clones galore, and new “categories” / genres of games emerge. And we saw a whole ton of indie game studios form, blossom, and collapse.

Well, PopCap is now a division of EA, and has been hurting, laying off employees, and closing down branches. And now Big Fish Games, which has had to close a couple of offices in the recent past, is now being sold to racetrack operator Churchill Downs. It’s for a little shy of $900 million, so it’s not like it’s at a bargain basement price or anything. Rumor has it that their real-money gambling business has been growing even as their casual game business has been shrinking, so the acquisition even makes some kind of sense.

But it’s the “casual games shrinking” thing that’s the issue. Really, what it means is that casual gaming has largely moved to mobile, and that’s not being controlled by these casual game portals. I don’t know the financials or the details. But if there was any doubt that the now-old-school “casual game era” has come to an end, this would be a big nail in the coffin.

What does it mean? Not much, really. In the very short term, it means very little. In the long term, Big Fish Games could disappear tomorrow and not make much of a footnote in the history of the industry – which feels weird to say, as it was such a giant gatekeeping god to indie studios six or so years ago. In the medium-term, however, it could mean a lot to “casual” indie studios that have come to rely on it. But mainly, it just serves as an illustration of the cyclical nature of the industry. There are always new technologies, new trends, and new bandwagons to jump on as a business. Nothing is permanent. But – nothing ever completely goes away, either. There are still studios out there making games for long-dead platforms (and … while maybe not making the big bucks, still finding an audience).

I think game developers would be well-served to diversify – stay agile on platform, but not to throw all their eggs into one trendy basket. And even more importantly – for anybody calling themselves “indie” – not to grow too dependent upon any one company or platform for your own company’s survival.

Filed Under: Biz, Casual Games - Comments: 4 Comments to Read



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