The global games market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7 percent to $86.1 billion by 2016, according to market researcher Newzoo. The fastest growing category of the gaming market is smartphone and tablet, i.e. mobile, gaming, which experienced 35% growth and reached a value of $12.3 billion last year. The market is obviously expanding very rapidly and global growth is occurring to a variety of factors. The mobile gaming market is still relatively young and has some growing up to do in terms of revenue models, customer security, gameplay development given the unique aspects of mobile platforms, etc. However, certain companies are already beginning to lay stake to the mobile gaming ecosystem and are attempting to make as big of an impression as Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony and others have in the console gaming market. Supercell has created super successful revenue models with Clash of Clans. Rovio and PopCap/EA have created lovable franchises in Angry Birds and Plants vs Zombies. And we are about to see King, the creators of Candy Crush Saga, about to file an IPO that will put the company at a multi-billion dollar valuation. We would also be remiss if we did not mention the wildly successful game that put Dong Nguyen, an indie developer from Hanoi, Vietnam, on the map, Flappy Bird!!
So how will The Lost Tribes attempt to distinguish itself amongst such a large and growing app market? It will do so by pursuing its purpose with a passion; This purpose is to bring a kid's perspective back to gaming and and allow kids to become an integral part of the bringing to life of a mobile game. Within the broader scope of our purpose, we will distinguish ourselves in the following ways.
- Revolutionizing tower defense games - The Lost Tribes brings you four different perspectives on the story line as you are able to play in four different biomes or environments - the arctic, the woods, the plains, and the desert. This will not only help bring you a story and characters with whom you will come to identify with as much as other games but present unique challenges and opportunities that break up the monotony of traditional tower defense games.
- Mobile is all about social and multiplayer - Mobile gaming and communication have ushered in a new era of gaming, yet traditional game companies are still figuring out how to best take advantage of the unique features of mobile platforms. At Higgy Ziggy we believe that games should be social but not spammy or social for the purpose of increasing user numbers. No, social should be about playing together with your friends. The Lost Tribes will let you communicate and play with your friends in ways never before seen in tower defense games. Multiplayer campaigns are a feature we are exploring for this purpose. The Lost Tribes wants to bring people together in new ways through gaming.
- Our unique customer development process makes the game about what our users want. Throughout the development lifecycle of The Lost Tribes, we will be using a customer development process that prioritizes user feedback and real world ideation sessions with our users. Gaming shouldn't be all about revenue, gaming should be about providing the user with a customizable, unique, and enjoyable social gaming experience.
We hope you will join us on our journey. Leave a comment below with any advice, comments, or feedback you may have.