Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
of the technologies used in the network infrastructure (mobile communi-
cations, wireless, Internet); and, last but not least, the highly specialized
implementations of each platform support system, including, for instance,
specifi cations related with the business model implemented (sms, premium
sms, inserting advertising, marketing elements personalized according to
user profi le and/or context).
Taking the perspective of a game developer, from the four main com-
ponents in a networked game: game engine, control and communication
devices, data network and processing systems (Zyda 2005), three of them
have to confront an array of varieties in the mobile environment. The obvi-
ous result is the preference of games developers for a short list of platforms
where they can concentrate their resources and opportunities for success.
THE TECHNO-ECONOMIC MODELS
A successful mobile gaming provision requires the contribution of dif er-
ent players carrying out most of the activities shown. But the high number
of activities and players in the ecosystem increases the transactions costs
(negotiations, agreements) and the development costs (as already men-
tioned). It is, therefore, a rational step that some of the main players try,
and eventually succeed in, integrating as many activities as possible or, at
least, keeping them under some type of control.
Thus, a new approach emerged in 2008 to address it in a dif erent way.
It consists of a “platformisation” of the mobile ecosystem (Ballon 2009),
in which main players group together—in a loosely or tight cooperative
scheme—all the required roles for the provision of the mobile of ering on
a common set of hardware, software and techno-economic specifi cations.
The resulting scheme reduces transaction costs (agreements are typically
predefi ned) and also development costs as far as the resulting platform is
massively adopted by fi nal users. Each platform includes a number of “gate-
keeper” roles (Ballon et al. 2008) as a way to control the evolution of the
platform and to secure the revenues. Adapting the proposal of the same
authors, in the case of mobile games the crucial roles would be: (1) the
development environment, i.e. a set of development and hosting tools for
third-party service developers such as game studios and publishers; (2) the
profi le/identity/context management, a component that manages user data
and user preferences for dif erent situations; (3) the provisioning/broker-
age—it represents the reference point for end-users to retrieve, subscribe
and use games (ownership of an application store as a main example); and
(4) charging and/or billing of mobile games. Control over one or a combi-
nation of these four roles can lead to platform dominance within the eco-
system. Therefore, new platforms are emerging trying to include as many of
these roles as possible in a new type of competition. Platformisation was also
helped by an increasing pressure from demand to enjoy an unrestricted and
Search WWH ::
Custom Search