Not Only In eSport: Making A Game Fun To Watch Ohad Barzilay

In the Game Industry since Deepmist, Mytopia, 888, New Legends Worked w/ Dreamworks, MGA, Endemol, Showtime, Lionsgate Academic: Beit Berl Game Studies, IDC Game Program Producer at Sidekick, working on an upcoming Rovio title. Who Am I

Mobile competitive games experience Geared for generating Video In-game Community Management Component. New Legends

Age of Video (& Streaming)

Service for streaming/watching live game sessions Acquired by Amazon for $970M in Aug minutes watched per unique viewer 100m unique viewers monthly 1.8m monthly broadcasters 1m concurrent viewers Age of Video (& Streaming)

Non eSports titles are extremely popular Mobile and PC games in top 10 popular games on YouTube Gaming Lets-Play videos & streams of online stars have massive views Not Limited To eSports

Massive Discovery Channel One big youtuber playing the game can lead to big success So, why do we care?

Doing Let's Play and vlogs on YouTube Has 40M subscribers (biggest on YouTube) Makes ~$7.4 Million a year Responsible for Flappy Bird shooting to top charts Example: PewDiePie

Massive Discovery Channel One big youtuber playing the game can lead to big success Maintain Long Term Interest Develops Brand Loyalty Competitive advantage over competitors & clones So, why do we care?

eSports tournaments Matches played by your fav streamers/tubers (many of same game) Let’s Play videos, Walkthroughs & How-To Creative Content done within games Types of video content is being watched

Narrative based games IF Story is good IF Visually pleasing Mechanics based games Competitive Allow Skill Curve Provide Drama A broadcaster with an interesting personality can make any game work in video. But it can end there. Types of Games being watched

#1: Prime Guideline All Fun to watch games are a Sequence Of Dramatic Moments Which Creates A Story. The Drama derives from the Player’s Actions – from the Spectator Point of View.

Clear Success / Failure Conditions Clear Participants Clear Game Arena Clear Sub Goals (awards bonus/penalty) Complexity: Characters with Different Abilities, Different Game Arena, Time limit, Different Sub Goals. Results in Easy to learn, Hard to Master for players Easy to understand for spectators #2: Simple and Clear Rules

Every game can be broken into these 3 dominant factors: Player Skill: Better control skill = Better outcome Unit Power: Better unit = Better outcome Luck: How Random is the outcome #3: Allow Skill Curve

Allows players to develop unique or impressive strategies Much more fun to watch for players at all levels Allows “Star Players” which become known and attract audience eSport titles aspire to have “endless” skill curve #3: Allow Long Skill Curve

Pleasing to watch graphics Clear, steady view Do not confuse spectators as to Who’s the Player Allies and Enemies Player’s Actions Location on the Arena Damage/Healing Spells/Skills #4: Visually Clear & Pleasing

100% Deterministic games are less interesting to watch 100% Luck games are not interesting at all to watch But allowing – within the rules – some luck can make a good game to a great game. Must be potentially Game Changer Must be within basic Game Rules Must be fair for both sides #5: Allows Uncertainty

A single game session should be around 30 minutes Plan “stop & continue later” points (chapters, episodes, levels etc) Easier to watch (smaller commitment) Easier for broadcasters to plan length of video/stream #6: Short Game Session

Has enough depth and complexity to become a “hobby” Encourage multiplayer (teams, coop, PvP, guilds) Encourage knowledge and know-how between members Allow players to connect in-game or online “Be Ready When They Come” #7: Community Oriented

Basically being watched as a movie Must have a good plot Must be visually pleasing Video also provide solutions to advancing (Walkthrough type) Non-Linear game leads to more videos (with different plot unfolding) Examples: The Last of Us, Life is Strange Narrative Based Games

Rules that apply the most: Sequence of dramatic moments derived by player’s choices = Good Plot Visually Pleasing Allows Short Sessions (Save points, Episodes etc) Dramatic player choices: Meaningful, Opposite choices on a dilemma, Lose A or Lose B, Relationship-Changing decisions. Narrative Based Games

Can be open ended, progression based f2p games (CoC, HearthStone) Can be match/level based (StarCraft, Agar.io) Unlike Narrative games - EVERY game session is different. Competitive (PvP / PvE) – PvP Preferred Mechanics Based Games

Drama can also be generated by: Players/ Teams competing against each other Rare goal achieved (Raids) Spectators know something the players doesn’t Use - but to a limit - cinematic dramatic techniques (Zoom in, Slow Motion, Drums) Give more time between dramatic peaks (or allow player to control advancement) to allow broadcasters more time to speak about the game. Mechanics Based Games

Don’t start a game as an eSport. Make a good competitive game. Professional Players or Teams are extremely important to viewers. Have really long Skill Curve. Match time relay on skill difference but limited in time. Battle clarity – clear damage, not too many explosions, etc. Don’t jump a lot with the camera, and if you must – give viewer visual queues. Do not relay on the minimap. Shoutcasting is a huge part of the eSports experience. Casters need some breaks in the action in which they can offer their explanations and analysis. eSports Specifics

A game is a Sequence of Dramatic moments, creating a story. Simple & Clear Gameplay Rules Allow big Skill Curve (easy to learn, hard to master) Visually Clear & Pleasing Includes uncertainty – anything can radically change until the end Game session is short enough Inclusive – social events, foster community Basic Rules for Fun-To-Watch Games

Thanks Questions? Ohad Barzilay

Special case - eSports