Market Analysis
Index
Size of the estimated market
According to the GfK 10.6 million game units were solid in 2005 with the most popular PC game genre (judged by units sold) is strategy at 43% of all sales (Brand 2005). Now the break down between the consol sales and pc game sales could not be determined, but even if only 40% of game units were sold for the PC, that would mean 1.82 million game units sold would be strategy based – a fair percentage of the market.
From these figures it would be fair to say that the potential audience for the game Gang Land is 1.82 million people (assuming 1 game unit per person). In reality, these figures would never be reached as Gang Land would be developed purely as an independent game, but it shows the possibilities for this type of game.
Games in Direct Competition
All turn based strategy games are in direct competition with Gang Land with the most notable being Civilization IV and Galactic Civilization II. Both these games have been released recently (within the last year) and both have proven themselves to be great games. The key difference between Gang Land and these two turn base strategy games is that Gang Land is designed around a slightly different model. It’s one that merges the concept of the board game Risk, a game called Gangsters and Civilization (Civ) with the idea to create a simpler, yet just as enjoyable game as Civ.
One prime reason that only the die hard gamers play Civ is due to its complexity and huge number of clicks that are required as the turn’s progress. Goetz nicely put it in an article called “Too Many Clicks! Unit-Based Interfaces Considered Harmful”. He states that when initially introducing his friends to Civ they are excited, but they soon find it a chore rather than a game because of the shear number of clicks they have to do each turn (Goetz 2006). A lot of people can relate to this experience, this is where the concept of Gang Land developed from.
It is likely that a viable gamer would start playing Gang Land for the prime purpose that it offers a quicker less drawn out multiplayer aspect with play time expected to be in only a few hours rather than tens of hours for a comparative Civ battle – Civ battles tend to span many sittings. This smaller timeframe will appeal to the casual gamer that doesn’t have enough time for a Civ game. It is also a factor that Gang Land will be at least half the price of the comparative Civ or Galactic Civilization II release.
Another game, Lux, is similar in the way of using an expanded model of Risk which offers enhanced multiplayer game play, but Gang Land is differentiated by setting the game within a city and revolving the game play around a gangster theme with less chance play. It also differs in that Gang Land provides means of generating income that’s not based on how many countries (sectors in Gang Land) are controlled, rather sectors allow the increased income, but does not guarantee it. It is only through extortion that increased money can be realised.