SCEA Home’s most-downloaded items in December
Data courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment America
Sony has been kind enough to provide HSM with another peek into the consumer trends of the North American client base, and the results are extremely fascinating. For the month of December, here are the top ten most-downloaded virtual commodities in SCEA Home:
Please note that this list was compiled prior to the Lockwood Gifting Machine being released in Home; at present, HSM has no data on whether or not that affected any of these results. However, the data present here does reflect some interesting trends:
1. Gaming items chew up nearly half of December’s list. It appears Hellfire Games struck it big with Novus Prime (see HSM’s review of Novus Prime for a more in-depth examination of the experience), but with the current game capped at twenty levels, we wonder what the staying-power of these virtual commodities will be. Mass Media, meanwhile, walks off with top honors, as the Midway sequel is clearly proving Sony’s “freemium” model to be a successful venture. While we at HSM would prefer to see Sony view Home as a social network for gamers rather than a games platform, the money is what does the talking.
2. It appears that LOOT’s EoD technology is proving quite a hit with consumers, as the Hollywood Hills House continues its strong performance and the Amaterasu Yacht takes the bronze medal in its release month. The long-term success of EoD, once the novelty of it wears off, will depend on the content it offers; with compelling programming, it’s entirely likely that EoD will continue to appear in private spaces for some time to come (a somewhat truncated version of it is already in place in the Mansion, set to be released in mid-January). Amaterasu, meanwhile, offers the first private space that moves (albeit on a set track) through its setting, which is an exciting step forward in personal-space design.
3. Virtual pets appear to still be big business; of particular note, however, is that Hellfire’s “mini mech” virtual pet is not on the list. While the inflatable whale is itself not a virtual pet, it does add virtual whales to the Amaterasu space. What HSM is curious about is whether or not the Amaterasu has had an effect on the sales of the “Cabin Boy Trout Trouble” game.
4. Given the strong performance of Disney Interactive Studios’ Tron Apartment, can we expect to see more Disney offerings in Home? Here’s a hint, Disney: develop a Home public-space version of the End of Line Club, complete with Daft Punk soundtrack. Trust us, it’d be HUGE.
5. It’s interesting to note that aside from the spacewalk blaster pistol, there isn’t a single virtual clothing item or accessory on the list.
6. Here’s a question for Sony: how exactly are the grosses split between SCEA and the developer of the commodity being sold? Hellfire Games, for instance, had a huge month in Home. For every Kunai Infiltrator they sell, how much of that money is going to Hellfire, and how much of it goes to Sony? Or does Sony have other methods of generating revenue from the space which have nothing to do with virtual-item sales?
Now that we’re out of the holiday season, and the kids are heading back to school, it will be very interesting to see what emerges atop the January list. Our guess: the Mansion personal space will take top honors.
January 2nd, 2011 by NorseGamer | 5 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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Of the ten, I have purchased five.
I think Sony is finally figuring out the secret to effective Home monetization: create a challenging, interesting game, and make the basic version free. Then offer for-pay DLC to enhance the game experience. Also provide significant unlockable content for successful game-play, some of which can only (or more easily) unlocked by using the purchased content.
One wonders what the actual bottom line is, in terms of profit, from the recent pay-to-play games. I suspect it is significant. Which means we’ll be seeing more offerings like this in 2011. Home is changing from a social network to an arcade.
Jack Buser, in a recent interview, mentioned that Home’s focus was shifting away from “a social network for gamers” and towards being more of a gaming platform. While on the surface I dislike this — because it’s the social elements that make Home so addictive — I think I figured out why.
For those users who are capable of holding an intelligent conversation, the social elements of Home as they presently exist are enough to keep us coming back. But let’s face it: there’s a vast chunk of the user population that lacks the social skills, tools, enculturation, literacy or world experience to be able to hold a conversation deeper than, say, “Do u have a bf lol”.
So, to keep that rather large chunk of the population not just coming back, but spending money, you’ve got to put the emphasis on games. And the formula is precisely as you described it, Seal.
Virtual commodities are a high-margin business. Whereas a blockbuster movie has about a month to recoup its production and distribution costs (not taking into account DVD sales), a game like Sodium One or Novus Prime can continue to rake in healthy profits for a much longer span of time, even though the biggest grosses are in the first month.
I do hope that 2011 brings some enhancements to the social elements of the Home experience — new emotes, dance moves, etc. — but I’m not holding my breath. Although we *do* have a rather interesting article on this topic, written by a guest contributor, which I’m about to publish in the next week or so.
Of those 10, have personally purchased one -- a blaster pistol. Ha ha!
Purchases in Home are rare for yours truly. Most purchases are made for clubhouse furnishings and/or avatar enhancements.
Really have little time for games within Home since most Home time is spent doing Homeling things
H. Hills, Amaterasu, Steve, & whale. I also bought the Cabin Boy bundle to unlock dolphins for the Amaterasu. As someone who can only play turn-based games, I wouldn’t have otherwise bought C. B. By the way, I have sailed on fishing boats & cruise ships. Amaterasu is close to those experiences. It is a *great* game & almost certainly will last as my favorite space. Other spaces are merely short-term games.
its a shame that sony seems intent on leaving a large portion of its consumer base in the dark,cold and shivering with pockets full of cash.While the list is half gaming related the other half is made up of items and apartments that r in the social networking realm.It will b a crime against the laws of capitalism if sony totally ignores this very large and very willing 2 spend cash segment of home.Im still not sure y both views cant b fully endorsed by sony,arent there enough ppl working there 2 fully back both views?4 sony 2 put all of its eggs in 1 basket might make sense 4 the short term but if they want ppl 2 stay in home 4 the long haul socially interactive ideas r the way 2 go.This emphasis on short term games makes home seem more like carnival,and 2 many its much much more.Id like 2 c more things that blend both elements,EA poker was the best example i can think of on home that did this well and its a shame its gone,a game that does this the right way will b a cash cow that could b milked 4 months if not years.Which brings me 2 a concern of mine,with all the focus on short term games,Whats going 2 happen 2 home when the ps4s come out?Im hoping everything will transfer over seemlessly,apartments,items,avatar looks,but havent heard anything on that yet.I cant imagine sony would want 2 hamper ps4 sales by making the transfer hard or impossible,but short term games wont b missed as much as my ideal game described above,almost every former EA poker player gets misty eyed thinking about that game.Yes i know about that stuff being saved online,any1 whose had a corrupted hard drive does,but that doesnt mean sony will make it accessable on the new ps4s.If any1 has heard anything about transfering our home stuff 2 the next generation please let us know.