2014 BUS1345-1 Anela Tomac [ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN NEED FOR SPEED] Levi Johns 6778849, Fahmiad Miah 6786867, Nathan Bowern 6814867, Mark Gawlikowski - 6833164
INTRODUCTION Need For Speed is the most successful racing video game series in the world and is also one of the most successful titles in video game series, selling over 140 million copies since the first Need For Speed launched in 1994. Each game of the series has been at least nominated for awards and has won Best Racing Game by over 9 popular rating websites including Destructoid, Game Chronicles, Game Informer, Gamer s Pack, Hardcore Gamer, PlayStation Universe, Game Critics Awards and the most popular game rating website IGN. Need For Speed was developed by Electronic Arts (EA). EA is an entertainment software company and has been around since 1982. EA employs 9000 people across the world as of March 31, 2012. EA is introducing the newest addition to the worldwide famous Need For Speed series. Need for Speed: Own the World is going to be released on March 21, 2014. The expectations for this game are through the roof because of the hype over the graphics high quality. As it is inevitable, the trends of today will become the trends of yesterday. Trends in the social, demographic, economic, technological, and competitive environment are always changing. There are ten trends in particular that are currently affecting the console video game industry. To maintain our success with Need for Speed and keep up with these spontaneous trends, we brought together an excellent team of marketing managers to forecast the future of Need for Speed through conducting an environmental scan. TARGET MARKET Need for Speed: Own the World is targeted towards both male and female gamers between the ages of 15 to 35. Need For Speed does not have any major source of violence, sexual content, or discrimination. We are proud to present the game to young adults as young as 15 years old. Need For Speed is aiming for avid gamers who are strictly fond of racing games. Need For Speed: Own the world is a completely new concept and is the most revolutionary experience in its entire series. Our target market will be gamers that prefer high resolution graphics and fully interactive gameplay. The game presents itself with the latest cars of this time and realistic like graphics with the option of motion gaming where the user can use gestures which allow the user to enjoy the game with a real life racing experience. Furthermore, the game is being developed for individuals that have a passion for fast cars, a winning and dominating personality, and an urge to explore a revolutionary racing experience. 1
SOCIAL/DEMOGRAPHIC: ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN There have been numerous events and media towards constant playing of video games resulting in anti-social behavior. Studies have proven this statement to be true, which is why many parents do not allow their children to engage themselves with video games at a constant manner. Nowadays, gaming culture has developed strategies of gaming in such a revolutionary way that while playing the games you are not only engaging with the game but are also interacting with numerous gamers and users around the world through online gaming. Online gaming has changed the entire concept of playing video games. Most games, today, have online features such as multiplayer, game sharing, chat room, and even voice chat. Furthermore, in the grand scheme of things, gaming has become a very extremely popular leisure activity for adolescents, especially among males. Need for Speed: Own the World has not only been targeted towards males but also towards female adolescents. Through ratings and social responses, it has been analyzed that not only teens are attracted to such gaming content. The concept of racing and customizing cars in a virtual environment also appeal to people such as car enthusiasts and/or even mechanics. However, many adults with such profession may not even understand the concept of video gaming, but the fact that their interest lies in such virtual content is a huge social factor for the market and industry of gaming. Social factors in video game culture also include factors like social pressure or in other words peer-pressure. Popular video games don t necessarily always receive their fame from advertisements and promotions. People often tend to learn about the newest games and technology from their peers. Many decisions the peers make regarding what games to play are often based on reviews from friends and family, or even online discussion forums, which shows how the entire concept of video gaming culture and trends are spread across a huge structural social network. SOCIAL/DEMOGRAPHIC: RECOMMENDATIONS The world of video gaming has already advanced itself into a social environment. Video game engineers have gone the extra mile to cover all aspects of social networking and interaction within their games. Some may argue that the social features built into the games are not of their satisfaction, which is why our goal is to develop a more user friendly and socially adapted interface within our game. Such features will allow the users to directly link their gaming profile with their own personal social networking profile such as Facebook and Twitter. This will allow users to broadband their gaming statistics and share whatever they re doing with whomever they want. All in all, racing games are often assumed to be targeted towards males due to the fact that demographics have shown that males have a relatively higher interest in cars and anything to do with operation of a vehicle. However, nowadays a significant number of females happen 2
to share such common interests, which is why our games will be developed with the key focus on unisexual interests and cultures. TECHNOLOGICAL: ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN The video game industry is rapidly increasing across the globe. People who walk this earth, our society, and the society of the future are becoming more adaptive with technological advances. Gamers are anxiously waiting on the edge of their seats for the upgrade or version of a particular video game. They are so anxious for the upgrade because they know the power of technology and to know enough that the quality (graphics) will only get better. For every upgrade, our consumers are always expecting more than the last update; therefore, the price they re willing to pay will increase. Need For Speed: Own the World will be the best of quality Need For Speed game. There are a few trends that fall under the technological factor. The first technological trend is motion gaming. Motion gaming has become well known for its exhilarating experience while playing a racing game. The traditional game controller that comes with the console is replaced with a steering wheel, joystick, and two pedals to accelerate and slow down. Motion gaming is increasing in popularity and has received exceptional feedback because of the cool affect of driving a real car. Gamers really seem to enjoy the motion experience. It will only be a matter of time before motion gaming becomes apart mainstream video gaming. TECHNOLOGICAL: RECOMMENDATIONS The Media and Entertainment industry is one of the fastest growing industries in North America. The advancement of technology will change the video gaming experience immensely. Because of the growing popularity of motion gaming, it is in great suggestion to include motion controls in Need For Speed: Own the World. This is a great opportunity for the game, as it will attract new gamers to the game through its motion controls. Because of the rapid movement of technological advances, we recommend that Electronic Arts hire more people in information technology. To create the best quality racing game, there needs to be a solid crew of people who are good at what they do. 3
COMPETITIVE: ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN Need For Speed has an ongoing trend and that trend competitiveness. A lot of people like a good competition every now and then. Another trend is competitiveness with other systems by providing different brands of vehicles for different console systems. The competitiveness in Need For Speed comes from trying to win first place, like all games, and is a challenge that is difficult to achieve. Most players will continuously play the game until they reach their goal of winning first place. After they ve won first place, the adrenaline in the players blood starts pumping making them eager to take on more difficult challenges. There are a few other racing games that are competing with Need For Speed: Kitchener such as Forza; another popular racing game in the community. More people strive to play action racing arcade games, which are games like Need For Speed: Kitchener. Forza is more of a driving simulator game that is less popular in the community because of its constant repetitive gameplay. COMPETITIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS Achievements in the game that reward the player for their competitiveness to win races would be very good to keep them involved with the game. We could also add a leaderboard to show who the best is. To see your name on the top of the leaderboard is a great feeling to gamers that have played their best to achieve this feat. I feel that if we continue to have an action packed driving adventure game and possibly add more crashes it would bring more people in on the action. With this game we offer different cars and objectives specifically for different systems. This can make people want both systems and two copies of the game to try out both. We could increase sales with this optional choice because some people might actually want both. If we make a deal with both system companies, we could make more money. We feel that with this method it would bring a great amount of profit to the company. CONCLUSION In conclusion, as a successful entertainment software business we must keep up with the trends in the social, demographic, technological, and competitive factors. Consumers are buying video games every day and or goal is to meet their expectations and satisfaction regarding the quality and entertainment experience. Our marketing team has forecasted the future of Electronic Arts for the Need For Speed series. We have developed new marketing strategies and ideas to implement towards the game in its future. 4
Bibliography Dalton, James G. The Basics of Environmental Scanning. The Center for Association Leadership.2011. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://www.asaecenter.org/resources/anowdetail.cfm?itemnumber=111955. Brox, Ricarda-Marie. The Influence of Social Factors on Gaming Behavior. University of Twente. 2011. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://essay.utwente.nl/60988/. Routledge, Clay. The Social Benefits of Video Gaming. Psychology Today, June 7, 2010. Accessed February 11, 2014. www.psychologytoday.com/blog/death-love-sexmagic/201006/the-social-benefits-video-gaming. http://www.ea.com/ca/about-us. My games target audience. Ozmaydius. November 4, 2009. Accessed February 11, 2014. http://ozmaydius.blogspot.ca/2009/11/my-games-target-audience.html. http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/a-growing-gold-mine-39127/1# 5