Dark Side of Casualness

March 2nd, 2007 Jun Sok Huhh Posted in articles |

As you already know, the casual game in Korea is not Poker/Puzzle-like but easy to learn action-based game. many experts here has asserted that subscription model be replaced by micro-payment model with free-to-enter. It is not hard to guess that micro-payment model matches casual games very well. The larger use base is, the higher revenue the company get. It's simple economics of online gaming.

But, most of comments on this misses one point. It is two hidden engines that make users and their sponsors to pay money. The one is age differential, and the other is sex differential.

At first, Let's see the age part. As I already told in a previous article, the purchasing power of the tween and the teen in the game is decisive in profitability of casual games. The source of funding, however, is not from themselves but from their parents. Games targeted for this population tend to fix prices of items not so high. Expensive items make more sense of denial on parents' side. So, proper strategy is making it cheaper but more frequently bought. Small payment does not seems serious at the time of paying, but the sum in total can be considerable. In Korea, Maple Story is typical in this respect.

Secondly, the relation between the sexes is another factor that makes players pay items. How could this influence item purchasing in games? Let assume that a group of female players gather at a game/site. This would pull male players around it, and it is matter of time that networks externality effects. The Cyworld in Korea owes its huge success partially to this logic. In this context, gifted items from man to woman are the main source of revenue.

Recently, The Audition is gaining nice performance by practicing this logic in the game. An unnamed person concerned confirmed that ARPU, Average Revenue Per User, of the game is around 2.5 times as large as other popular casual games with micro-payment. Also interestingly, items purchased are not functional in the game, but decorative. So to speak, items have no real effect except for the visual.¹

How about above two sides mingled together? Parental love is unconditional, but relationships between man and woman may get ugly, from time to time.

An article by Korean gaming web-zine reported that there were some sexual crimes related with the game. A large part of them is sexual violence/abuse between couple in the game at the real world. We cannot blame the game solely for these evil acts. But the game and its playing practices might provide some grounds for them.

There is couple system in the game, called "Au-An"(meaning Audition An-in(lovers)). After it, a couple can take another step into the virtual married. They can play a virtual wedding ceremony with congratulation of others. Many virtual couples are made by this system. But the dangerous point is that this in-game relationship makes a strong excuse such as "We are lovers", "We are already married" for contacting in the real world. Many acts of sexual crime are more easily committed under color of virtual relationships(an excerpted translation from the article).

It is a serious side effect from two sides of casualness mingled together. If most of users be under teenage, sexual issues could scarcely be raised. If only adult users be permitted, problems would be also alleviated. Regulation by age cannot easily be done because the look of the game does not contain any serious sex-appealing contents. In a word, the problem is not at its look, but subtle game design and playing practices of players.

Recently, GRB, equivalent to ESRB in US, made a decision that the rate of the game should be pended. The reason for it was that the limitation of money charging per month is different from that at the application document. The GRB said that 3M KRW, which is ten times as large as the limit in the document, can be charged. An GRB staff concerned told me that they had also grasped problems above in the game but have some trouble in regulating on this account. Some local game analysts blamed the GRB's decision for restricting the freedom of creation, but some others looked the decision as positive for protecting teen-age gamers.

1. In the respect of game management, this is very cost-effective in that there is no nuanced balancing issue with decorative items. [back]