Unleash the unexploited potential of GaaP phenomena like Fortnite and Minecraft to explore how they're disrupting business models, reinventing engagement models and testing grounds for emerging tech - ReadyCode provides developers with a convenient shortcut for joining this revolution!
Imagine popular games like Fortnite, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V or Roblox as images of excited children playing them and completely engaged by building and fighting within vibrant virtual worlds these games provide. While platforms of this sort have certainly seen tremendous rises in their popularity among younger demographics, labeling them solely as sources of entertainment would do an injustice to what these platforms really represent - they provide much needed educational benefits as well!
Serious developers need to shift their perspective and recognize the immense power of Games-as-a-Platform (GaaP). GaaP platforms have emerged as transformative forces within business landscape, unleashing innovative business models and dramatically altering audience engagement tactics, while acting as real world testing grounds for technologies predicted to revolutionise society in coming decades. No longer should these platforms just be considered fun or games but leverage technology as tools for greater innovation to open up opportunities that never existed before.
Dynamically Changing Game Development
At times, major publishers like Activision, Blizzard and Rockstar (in Grand Theft Auto V in 2017) have attempted to restrict modding within their games as it poses a potential threat to game source code; this has created significant outrage within communities of gamers. When Bethesda introduced paid mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2015 it caused massive controversy; Steam became inundated with negative reviews for both paid mod bundles as well as Skyrim itself following this announcement.
Some companies have taken an outdated approach in fighting UGC or mods; others have adopted this trend wholeheartedly.
"Modding has long been part of the gaming industry since its dawn." -- Pawel Wilk, CEO of Ice Code Games (the rapidly-expanding developer & creator of Hard West II).
GaaP disrupts this model with continuous game evolution driven both by developers and communities alike, offering open-ended experiences, regular content updates and feedback loops at its heart. GaaP benefits can range from reduced sequel dependance for continuous revenue to the ability to run playtesting on an expansive scale with deeply engaged communities proving invaluable assets in its implementation.
Users and revenues of these platforms tell an eye-opening tale. Roblox or Minecraft remain popular examples of games with user generated content (UGC), showing game modding has proven an enormous source of income - Roblox generated $2.2 billion of revenues in 2022 while Minecraft boasted 600 million active players with 22 million copies sold every year. Overwolf recently announced royalties paid out to creators as well as an innovative fund designed specifically to foster game community creation around modding.
Partnerships between businesses have revolutionized how they connect with target audiences. Gone are traditional, static advertisements; instead these partnerships draw on each brand's shared values and creative power for greater engagement with target customers and deeper trust-building processes. Gucci's virtual experiences on Roblox demonstrate this phenomenon beautifully while showing their willingness to embrace cutting-edge platforms such as Roblox.
Collaborative endeavors create far greater returns than immediate sales can yield. When brands come together on new or trending platforms, not only are they selling products but they're shaping brand perception as well. Partnerships allow more daring experiments with messaging - whether this means appearing modern, playful or conscious of social trends - these ventures send messages directly to audiences interested in becoming better understood by brands they support - creating lasting loyalty that goes far beyond simple one-way advertisements ever could.
Beyond Entertainment and Marketing: Serious Applications
GaaP offers promise beyond pure entertainment: its use could offer tailored learning experiences through simulation and gamification; for instance, Skoda's marketing campaign in Roblox which also educates kids about cycling and driving safety rules: this could be seen as one example.
GaaP provides a safe platform to explore emerging technologies like AI and VR in an engaging, dynamic user-filled environment. Professional development also benefits from GaaP; industries reliant on spatial design (such as architecture or manufacturing ) can use these platforms collaborative prototyping/visualization tools, while companies can create safe simulations to train, onboard employees or test hazardous scenarios without incurring real world risk; some businesses are currently testing onboarding zones within Spatial, an UGC tool powered by Unity game engine for onboarding/training scenarios using UGC technology (some companies experimenting with onboarding/training zones within this tooling).
With user-generated content tools in GaaP spaces, professionals can rapidly develop tailored scenarios for any industry imaginable without incurring costly one-off software development expenses; making training and simulation available even to smaller businesses.
Developer Testimonials - ReadyCode as the Bridge
Many game developers wish they could reach the level of popularity or capabilities seen on these platforms, yet traditionally doing so required extensive overhauls to their codebase, taking months if not years to implement successfully. ReadyCode dramatically reduces this process - our unique combination of in-game editing tools and infrastructure enable game studios to open up their game to modding within weeks allowing communities to express themselves creatively while increasing content variety for longer engagement periods and providing that evergreen quality sought by most game studios.
ReadyCode understands that community-created content needs discoverability to flourish, which is why our deep integrations with platforms such as CurseForge, mod.io and Steam Workshop make discovery simpler for modders as well as new players alike.
"UGC's impact on game is unparalleled: mods have made their debut on consoles and mobile for the first time ever, alongside in-game UGC discovery tools that put creator economies to work. At mod.io we do our part to meet pipeline, safety, discovery, community and marketplace requirements - yet implementing support for creating UGC remains challenging - it's exciting that ReadyCode is making strides toward solving this." - states Scott Reismanis, CEO & co-founder of mod.io.
Creators can share their work easily on established marketplaces, reaching more of an audience quickly. Players, meanwhile, can easily browse and install mods offered by communities to enhance their own gaming experiences - creating an atmosphere that rivals that found in true Games-as-a-Platform environments.
Conclusion
It's high time we move past age-based stigma when it comes to platforms like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox. Adopting a Game as a Platform mindset has numerous advantages - from innovation and community engagement to real world applications - with potential long-term implications like seeing UGC-powered games not as an outlier but the new normal in game development - therefore any small shift towards GaaP could open doors you hadn't considered previously and let's welcome the potential that UGC offers game creation! Let us embrace what UGC offers us!
