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  • Article

    Thanks to everyone that came out to the DigiBC Special Event: Partner Opportunities with Papaya Mobile on June 6, 2012. We would like to thank our sponsors for this event: DFAIT and the BC Ministry for Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. A special thank you to BC Ministry for Jobs,...

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    Thanks to everyone that came out to the DigiBC Special Event: Partner Opportunities with Papaya Mobile on June 6, 2012. We would like to thank our sponsors for this event: DFAIT and the BC Ministry for Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. A special thank you to BC Ministry for Jobs, Tourism and Innovation for the wonderful venue (UBC Robson Square) and Peake of Catering for providing breakfast. There were about 40 people in attendance at this event and Papaya presented 4 informative and interesting presentations. With a focus on China’s fastest-growing android market, Paul Chen featured 3 main topics: App Discovery, Tips to Climb Google Play Rankings and The Opportunities and Barriers of the China Android Market. The PapayaMobile team gave valuable tips for getting an app not only discovered in the Chinese market, but also provided insight into how PapayaMobile can help North American developers to break into this rapidly-growing industry. PapayaMobile is the leading social gaming networking for mobiles, with 60+ million users and 300+ games. Papaya provides a platform enabling developers to socialize their games, engaging millions of users across North America, Europe and Asia focusing on the Android market. 


    If you would like to connect with PapayaMobile or learn about similar upcoming DigiBC events, please contact Carly Graham (carly@digibc.org) and we will be happy to help you!

  • Article

    We are in the midst of a global digital revolution, and one sector of digital media that is particularly hot is Mobile Social Games. New companies you have never heard of before are growing...

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    We are in the midst of a global digital revolution, and one sector of digital media that is particularly hot is Mobile Social Games. New companies you have never heard of before are growing into billion dollar businesses, looking for global expansion and generating new opportunities for British Columbia. This sector started in Asia but is now very fertile and active in North America and the rest of the world.


    What is causing all this golden era in social mobile? There are several factors but most prominently rapid growth in smart phones and tablets, advent of new app stores, increasing broadband penetration, preference for digital distribution and success of new social networks like Facebook. Global smart phones and tablet device sales are projected to grow 3X by 2015 while mobile app dollar sales are expected to grow 5X to $35 billion by 2015. Online and mobile game sales are forecasted to grow 15% and 11% per year, respectively, over the next five years. In addition, playing games are the highest use for smart phones at over 60%.


    Will traditional console video games die and be replaced by social and mobile games? Many think so but it is not likely in the next several years. However, social and mobile is definitely growing at a significantly faster pace and will rival console games. Today console games are still a larger market worldwide.


    We all know the largest device players in this market including Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft, but you probably do not know some of these up and coming companies in mobile and social games. Most of these companies are expanding globally and BC should benefit.


    • Zinga – largest player in US for social games primarily on Facebook. Over a $1 billion in revenue, over 200 million active users and a valuation that rivals EA.
    • GREE – Japan’s fastest growing tech company focused on social games with 140 million users, revenues approaching $1.8 billion, highly profitable and a valuation higher than Zinga.
    • DeNA – Another successful large Japanese games company with a large social games network with revenue well over $1 billion, growing rapidly and highly profitable.
    • Tencent – China’s largest online community and games provider with over 600 million users.
    • Woogo – Europe’s largest social games developer with over 30 million active users.
    • Rovio – Europe’s very successful developer of Angry Birds.
    • CrowdStar – Another California social games developer of Facebook games with over 30 million users.
    • EA – A US based traditional global games company you already know that has transformed its operations from mainly console games to mobile and social with great success. EA is now dominating the top charts for mobile games and recently released SIMS Social, a Facebook  game, which soared quickly to the top.


    How do these companies make money especially since most games are free? Gamification and monetization strategies are used to develop fun casual experiences that engage users, influence behavior and build community through rewards, challenges, leader boards and status recognition. There are an estimated 29 different models to monetize such experiences through freemium, premium, subscription, app fees, ads and a combination of these and other models. In Japan, the sales rate per monthly average user is $4 to $5 which is higher than in North America where it averages $1. The expectation is for this rate will increase in North America over the next five years.


    In BC, we are already experiencing growth from this new sector.  With its experienced talent pool in digital media, attractive location on the West Coast and strong connections to Asia, BC is attracting new investments and creating new jobs. The companies listed below are concentrating their efforts in social and mobile games and currently growing.


    • Club Penguin is the largest social network for kids with over 30 million active users and is owned by Disney. The company is located in Kelowna and growing.
    • Gamehouse which is a large games division of Real Networks located in Seattle has invested in social games studio Backstage Games in Victoria and currently expanding its investment in this studio.
    • Microsoft recently announced a new studio in Victoria which will develop new social games.
    • AirG is a Vancouver based company with a global mobile games network of 55 million users.
    • A Thinking Ape escaped from Silicon Valley in search of talent and landed in Vancouver producing a top rated and paid iphone game called Kingdoms at War.
    • Koolhaus Games has been developing top rated mobile games for several years and is highly sought after by large social mobile companies.
    • Loud Crow is a new Vancouver company that has produced several highly rated interactive mobile books that were featured on iphone and ipad. A very tough distinction to achieve in this competitive market.
    • Finger Food Studios is an up and coming Vancouver based mobile games developer with lots of potential.
    • Many others are operating in this space in B.C.


    Social and mobile games development holds great promise for British Columbia. This sector is expected to continue to grow at significantly above average rates creating new high paying jobs and investment.



    By Howard DonaldsonDigiBC.
    Howard can be contacted at howard@digibc.org

     September 26, 2012
  • Article

    TinyCo, a San Francisco based developer and operator of popular mobile games such as Tiny Monsters, Tiny Village, and Tiny Zoo Friends,...

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    TinyCo, a San Francisco based developer and operator of popular mobile games such as Tiny Monsters, Tiny Village, and Tiny Zoo Friends, announced today that it is opening a new studio in Vancouver to expand its development of mobile games.


    Backed by an $18 million investment led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, TinyCo is looking to broaden its team of high-caliber engineers, designers, and artists who are passionate about gaming on mobile platforms.


    "We are thrilled to be bringing TinyCo to Canada," says Laurie Deneschuk of TinyCo. "The wealth of top talent and strong community make Vancouver the perfect place for us to continue to grow.  We see a great opportunity to further cultivate our winning culture, infrastructure, and creative there.  It was an easy choice already, but it didn’t hurt that I originally hail from Saskatchewan."


    Founded in 2009, TinyCo was named one of Pocketgamer’s top 50 developers in 2012 and has been highlighted as one of the first game developers to understand how to be successful with freemium monetization models on Android. Despite its rapid growth, TinyCo keeps its startup mentality, where people have a direct impact on not just the products they are working on, but the way the company operates as a whole.

     August 07, 2012
  • Article
    Posted by  see more Posted by Techvibes Newsdesk on 2012-06-28 10:50:00 AM

    Companies don't crack the Fortune 100 by chance. How is it, then, that so many of them could neglect a tremendously important component of any modern business—mobile?

    Autonomous surveyed more than 220 brands in the Fortune 100 and uncovered some startling results. A staggering 75% have no mobile presence. And of those that do, only 60% actually have a mobile optimized site.

    Now, mobile is certainly more important for some companies than others, but there's no excuse with the budgets of Fortune 100 not to be taking mobile seriously.

    Clearly, mobile is not a fad. And injecting money into mobile isn't spending, it's investing—which means it can be a monetized, profitable endeavour with an ROI, be it direct, indirect, or both.


    SOURCE: http://www.techvibes.com/blog/75-of-fortune-100-brands-have-no-mobile-presence-2012-06-28

  • Article

    Thank you to everyone that made it out for the GSMA Canadian OneAPI Gateway event -- it was a great one! Thank you to GSMA OneAPI and WIP for allowing DigiBC to organize the evening and to the Canadian OneAPI partners Bell, Telus and Rogers. A special thank you to...

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    Thank you to everyone that made it out for the GSMA Canadian OneAPI Gateway event -- it was a great one! Thank you to GSMA OneAPI and WIP for allowing DigiBC to organize the evening and to the Canadian OneAPI partners Bell, Telus and Rogers. A special thank you to Fasken Martineau for providing the venue for the presentation and to Drew Cooks! Catering for the delicious refreshments. Speakers Margaret Tham (TELUS), Pauline Chay (GSMA) and David O’Neil (Evangelist) outlined the benefits of using an API and the ease it provides to mobile app developers. The GSMA OneAPI Gateway is now commercial, and Bell, Rogers and TELUS have teamed together to make both campaigns and mobile app development quicker and less complicated. There were two break out sessions at this event: a Business Track session for Marketing and Product development folks, and a Technical Track session for developers. All the presenters were exceptionally knowledgable and there was great networking had by all those that attended. DigiBC hopes everyone enjoyed this event as much as we did. 


    If you were unable to make this event and would like to know about similar events DigiBC is holding in the future, please check our events calendar. If you would like to get in touch with one of the presenters, please contact Carly Graham (carly@digibc.org) and we would be more than happy to connect you!