Diversifying NCsoft's portfolio

[Admin]

I know that in the last thread, it was mentioned that NCsoft needs to diversify their portfolio. It wasn't a very in-depth discussion, so would some of you be able to give me a better idea of the current situation, and the potential things NCsoft should explore doing?

[GAMER1]

I can start off. Right now, NCsoft has a portfolio of seven core online games, with names such as Lineage, Lineage II, City of Heroes, and Guild Wars falling under this umbrella. On top of this, the company has a game portal site named playNC with an additional seven games on the platform; however, these games would fall under the casual gaming category. As of September 2006, the company has 1,355,920 users playing Lineage, 1,117,017 users playing Lineage 2, 172,420 users playing City of Heroes, and an additional 2,447,000 accounts for Guild Wars. This lineup has allowed them to be prepared for the growth in online games, but not in the mobile game sector that has seen even higher growth factors. It is imperative for the company to tap into this sector, while not ignoring the casual game area that is close to dominating the online game market.

[RPG4LIFE]

I think that NCsoft needs to leverage their star-studded development team in order to capitalize on the increasing market demand for casual games. I've heard from many different people that within the company, a culture of "perfection" resonated with leadership and developers. They feel as though the games they make are works of art - meticulously crafted and detailed forms of art, and entertainment, developed with bringing joyful lives to players in mind. This culture, and the extreme talent within the development ranks, is a significant sustainable competitive advantage for the firm, and I think it needs to leverage it in order to tap into the casual game market that was discussed in the industry overview.

[AMERICANGAMER100]

I think tapping into the casual game market is a very prudent decision, and one that will definitely pay off. I had a conversation once with CEO Taek-Jin Kim, and he explicitly told me that "it is true that casual games have a much bigger advantage. For supplementary income as well, such as item sales, advertisements, and character business, it has a much bigger potential than MMORPG". The emergence of casual games started in 1999 with CCR's Fortress 2, which attracted a crowd focused on light users, the majority of whom were women. After this, the market for these games exploded. NCsoft already has a platform dedicated to the more casual gamer - playNC. Having this infrastructure in place is a good first step for the company. For gamers like us, the casual game won't really matter or appeal. Having said that, the best way to hopefully get more people to join us in MMORPG games is to have an integrated platform with both casual and MMORPG games, and utilize the development team they already have in place to improve the platform and add casual games that could entice these casual gamers to try the more committed games that we love.

[GUILDWARPLAYER99]

Jumping off of what AmericanGamer100 said, I think another way that NCsoft can improve the diversification of their gaming platform to respond to changing consumer demands is to invest more heavily in a mobile gaming platform. Despite the fact that mobile games account for a relatively small portion of the overall gaming market (4.2 and 7.72 per cent in the global market and Korea, respectively). However, the growth rates for this segment is the highest in the global market, and second highest in the international market. The fact that it doesn't have the market share quite yet, but is still growing significantly, is reminiscent of NCsoft establishing a strong presence in the online game market with Lineage back in the day. I spoke with an industry expert who told me that the reason NCsoft is so recognizable today is because they pioneered the online game market with Lineage. The same opportunity presents itself today. NCsoft can leverage their playNC platform towards making a mobile version, equipped with games developed by the team's cutting edge development team. This will allow NCsoft to keep customers online longer. When they are away from their online platform, they will have the ability to play games on their mobile devices of the same calibre and attention to detail of the company's online games. This will help prevent cannibalizing the company's customers, and will give them the opportunity to be pioneers yet again.

[LINEAGE4LIFE]

Great points everybody!! I just have one more small point to add to the diversification discussion. NCsoft should really pay more attention to the second-generation one-source multi-use model (OSMU) model. The company has been so concentrated on developing games, and then publishing them worldwide through their various subsidiaries and networks, that they have completely ignored the OSMU mode. Us Lineage players would love some merchandise of the game!! Better yet, a TV show based loosely on the story would be amazing, and another way to keep devoted players of the game with the NCsoft brand and not leaving for a competitor who does a better job fulfilling this product desire.

[Sponsored content]