Hey Garth,

I emailed this to you as well, as the Hypertext links do not work as I created them here in a PM. Apologies for the unsolicited email.

I have great faith and hopes for MWO and this is something I feel strongly about (As well as have experience with)
Please give it a read and do with it as you will. And please forgive me, as it's been awhile since I've created such a document.

Although it probably doesn't need to be said (I'll say it anyways) I'd love to help in any fashion I can.

Cheers

-Andrew S Helmer



Piranha Games Interactive & Infinity Game Publishing

Solaris VIi Tournament and ESport Proposal
March 2012



Piranha Games Interactive & Infinity Game Publishing

1Introduction

    Piranha games’ upcoming Free to Play Title, Mechwarrior Online, has the potential to capitalize on the recent ascent of Electronic Sports.

2PROPOSAL



Executive Summary

    Featuring balanced, team focused first person tactical gameplay, beautiful visuals, and intense visceral combat, Mechwarrior online is perfectly suited to benefit from the increased exposure electronic sporting tournaments provide. By developing game systems to support this endeavor and cultivating the community and other aspects in order to use the competitive nature of their title to garner a larger fan base, promote increased media coverage, brand loyalty, and revenue.

    Proposal Title

Solaris VII Tournament , working title.

    Project Parameters

    Project Period (start date): (01 / 03 / 2012)
    Project Period (end date): (Product Life)
    Note: Timeline implementation and cost of the necessary tools in the Crytek 3 Engine are outside the scope of this document.

    Marketing Potential of the Proposed Project

Anecdotal evidence suggest that tournaments organized and ran by their respective development and publishing companies can expect to see an increase in player base involvement, potential media coverage, and revenue.
The subscription based MMO, EVE online . whose playerbase was reportedly in the area of 360,000 monthly subscribers as of April 2011 1, set a record back in June of 2010 with 60,453 concurrent streaming viewers during their Alliance Tournament.2 Although no publicly available data exists, it is probable that the record has since been broken. The Alliance tournament videos posted to YouTube regularly see views in the 30,000 and 40,000 range.

“With the [Edit: F2P ] League of Legends Season One Championship over and done with, Riot Games has announced that the event's live coverage drew more than 1.69 million viewers. The final match between team FNaticMSI and Against All Authority brought in 210,000 unique viewers by itself.” - Joystiq

Those companies who choose to build partnerships with various Professional Gaming leagues can regularly see even greater numbers.

“NEW YORK—June 13, 2011—Major League Gaming (MLG), the world's largest professional video game league and largest provider of cross platform online videogame competition, shattered previous MLG records delivering more than 22.5 million stream views of the Columbus Pro Circuit weekend of competition, nearly double the reported 11.4 million NFL.com video streams consumed during the weekend of the 2011 NFL Draft. Viewers from 164 countries watched four live streams during the three-day, double elimination tournament online at www.majorleaguegaming.com for a total of more than 2.2 million hours of video consumed. Rebroadcasts of all Columbus Pro Circuit matches are available on MLG.tv.” 3
Major “on site” tournaments , such as MLG, Intel Extreme Masters, WCG and Dreamhack , see attendance ranging from to 90,000 to 270,000 as well as live video streams watched by millions. These tournaments and their partners also enjoy advertising from companies such as Intel, Dell, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Dr. Pepper.4


05]Section I : Background

05]Section II : Proposed Content / Programmes

05]Section III : Business and Marketing Approach

05]Section IV : Key Performance Indicators

05]Section V : Expected Budget and Deliverables

05]Section VI : Appendix

05]Section VII : Additional resources



Section i - Background

As of June 2011 the video games industry was valued at $65 Billion dollars , surpassing the film industry. With thousands of tournaments around the world and millions of dedicated videogame fans, the gaming industry is growing, evolving and maturing into a common staple of entertainment.
According to game designer and writer Jane McGonigal, a half-billion people on earth play video games an "hour a day," of whom 183 million are American. In fact, 97 percent of American young people ages 12 to 17 play video games. Five million Americans play at least 40 hours a week. Extrapolated out this accounts for nearly 1.8 Trillion hours spent playing video games a year.

The emerging Free to Play market is a viable ,growing business model that employs no up front cost to consumers and allows for a massive audience base.
Mechwarrior Online offers a unique experience that , much like the World of Tanks phenomenon , should grab gamers attention once released.
However, due to the number of free to play titles in development as well as the number of already existing First person tactical shooters, the market share is fragmented in a very competitive marketplace. Anything that can separate Mechwarrior Online from its competitors in terms of gameplay experience, or perceived worth in the publics mind will add value to the title. This translates into higher brand loyalty and increased revenue.
This proposal targets not only the “hardcore” existing Mechwarrior audience, but also the competitive gaming audience, as well as the casual gamer who would enjoy spectating an exciting match much as they would traditional sporting events.


section II – Proposed Content / Programmes


The proposed content would include a fully integrated demo recording feature. The demo recorder allows users to save gameplay, take screenshots and fast forward, pause, slow down, or rewind the videos. It also allows for limited editing functionality as well as a playback of the game from any perspective of the map, including first person , third person, and commander views. It could also possibly allow the player to upload their clip to YouTube.5
Such a feature would alleviate the need for end users to use 3rd party software to record matches from their first person view only, with better end performance and video quality.
As the demo is saved at the conclusion of the match it would address the concern that such an option might be used against its intended design and hurt the competitive gameplay of the match participants.
An alternative Spectate, or Commentators, view would also be of benefit as it would convey information about both teams at a glance making it easier for the spectator to discern the relevant information quicker. Information displayed in this Commentators mode would be as in-depth or as restrictive as needed at the time used. A wide variety of information options should be available.


Section III - Business and Marketing Approach

    Marketing Plan

The additional interest of Mechwarrior Online through community and PGI generated video content by using the intended proposed additions is 4 fold.

    Allowing any player to record, edit, and upload their matches generates free advertising of various degrees of quality. Allowing users to feel a greater connection with the game, and spend time with other members of the community. Generating a longer lasting loyal player base.
    PGI controlled special events (First Clan contact, Battle of Tukayyid, etc) recorded, edited, and uploaded .These events could be actual matches with the Developers, or staged battles used as marketing to progress the current storyline and provide for exciting gameplay videos of a high quality.
    An officially sanctioned and PGI ran Tournament, Solaris VII, on a 6 month or yearly basis. Involving a to be determined number of teams in a bracket style tournament held over several days. These matches would be recorded, edited, commentary added, and posted. Live streaming and “professional” commentary would be an eventual goal.
    If PGI so chooses and the player base is there, the eventual involvement in a one of the aforementioned gaming leagues. Bringing an even broader audience at the expense of sponsors and advertisers.

    Business concerns/ Expenses

Although content would be initially community generated, it would require a lot of involvement of the Community Manager and a few dedicated staff members (Or Community volunteers) to organize and run PGI sanctioned tournaments, generate special content, general community moderation and involvement.
The role of Community manager in recent years has expanded to a large degree into a marketing position. This is now on top of being a Social Media guru, end user advocate, communication expert, and forum Nanny. Large franchises (E.G. Call of Duty) use their community manager at conventions, interviews, as a “face of the brand” ,and a generalized goodwill ambassador.
Although, presumably , PGI does not have the marketing budget that the Call of Duty juggernaut does, with the involvement of the Community Manager in the competitive aspects of the game, addition exposure could be generated relatively cost effectively.
Over and above the actual cost of developing the proposed game systems, the cost in man hours dedicated by the Community Manager and any additional support needed would need to be considered.


Section IV - Key Performance Indicators

    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Although judging the success of the addition of the proposed features would be after they have already been implemented , it is still beneficial to track if PGI is justified, financially, in the production of additional video marketing and tournaments
KRIs would include,
YouTube hits on official PGI gameplay videos
Total Youtube hits including the PGI, MWO, Mechwarrior keywords.
Forum traffic and new members
Tournament involvement from the playerbase and additional store revenue slightly before, during and after.
Concurrent and total unique streaming video hits during broadcasts
Involvement in a larger ESports organization and possible revenue generated.

Section V - Expected Budget and Deliverables

    Estimated Budget Breakdown

Cost proposals shall provide a detailed cost breakdown of all direct costs covering the above-the-line, production and post-production, including cost by task, with breakdown into accounting categories (labour, material, travel, computer, sub-contracting costs, labour and overhead rates and equipment), for the entire project and for each calendar year.
All unknown at this time.
Item
Qty
Monthly Cost
Duration (Months)

Item Total Cost

Operational




Manpower
- Local
- Foreign




Equipment
- Hardware
- Software




Materials and Consumables




Others


Total Project Cost


Section VI - Appendix

Name
Garth Erlam
Title
Community Manager
Job Description
Engage in social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other associated media related to the community.

Write press releases and news articles for posting to websites
Forum moderation and interaction
Scheduling community-related events
Serve as the first point of contact for the community and news entities
Network



Name
Unknown
Title
Assistant Community Manager, Tournament and Esport Liaison
Job Description
Engage in social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other associated media related to the community.

Write press releases and news articles for posting to websites
Forum moderation and interaction
Scheduling community-related events
Serve as the first point of contact for the community and news entities
Network


05]Section VII : Additional resources

    Watch me Playing, I am a Professional: a First Study on Video Game Live Streaming
    What are ESports video
    Interview with George Woo : Event and Sponsorship Programs Marketing Manager, Intel (Horrible sound quality)
    Intel Extreme Masters
    Coverage of the DOTA2 Tournament (Worth Watching the first 11 minutes of character selection)
    List of improved Spectating ideas from Valve (Some great ideas here!)
    EVE online Tournament w/ Commentary.