5 ms·

CEO of PopCap games: How I Did It

100 points by mjh8136 16y ago

acangiano 16y ago
The money quote: "Facebook didn't even exist when we started the company. The iPhone didn't exist. We've adapted and changed and rolled with everything that's come our way. We've constantly integrated our approach to games." Evolution is one of the most important words in business.
- s3graham 16y ago
  Being a game developer (though in the "old-style" console/PC part), I thought this was the money quote: We don't track the resources that go into each game. If it's a great game, it's worth a lot of money. If it's a B+ game, it's essentially worth zero. Troll through the average list of new releases in a week and you can clearly see that most people/groups/publishers either don't agree, or don't get this.
  - theycallmemorty 16y ago
    Or they know when they have a B+ game and want to cut their losses and get whatever sales they can for it.
  - p4r4d0x 16y ago
    If it were that cut and dry, Wii shovelware-type games wouldn't be made. Clearly there's money to be made, just perhaps not AAA level returns to be had.
stevefink 16y ago
Plants vs. Zombies is quite possibly the best game on the iPhone, hands down.
- jacoblyles 16y ago
  I disagree. Angry Birds is the best game for any platform, ever.
amichail 16y ago
PopCap: what do you think of my DropZap and upcoming DropZap 2 games? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNaM22Oulwg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNaM22Oulwg (DropZap 2) http://dropzap.com http://dropzap.com
nathanlrivera 16y ago
"We decided from the start to make our games incredibly fun and easy so that they appeal to everyone." For me, that is one of the most important lessons to take away from this. Keep it simple, keep it fun and engaging, and the users will love it. The rise of Minecraft has reinforced this point of view in my mind.
- benologist 16y ago
  Fun and engaging are ridiculously hard to quantify. :P
NathanKP 16y ago
I really appreciated the following quote: When Dave started, we were focused on creating new games instead of supporting revenue streams from each game. Dave changed that. Part of the reason why PopCap has been so successful is that they have properly branched their games into new devices and areas, from Facebook games, to iPhone, in-flight entertainment, etc. I think that is a good lesson for hackers. If you aren't making enough money from your app, perhaps you just haven't expanded enough horizontally. Many of the best apps these days have iPhone/iPad/Blackberry versions so they can be easily accessible at all times.
ramy_d 16y ago
We're never perfect. We're always pretty good, but we're always trying to be better. words i live by
matthew-wegner 16y ago
The story title is currently "CEO of PopCap games". Vechey isn't the CEO, but a founder. He actually left PopCap for a few years to pursue his interest in film (before returning to the company). Dave Roberts is the CEO, who fits the "adult supervision" CEO stereotype reasonably well. He's an older, business-savvy guy the three young founders brought in: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=62018 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_i...

100 points by mjh8136 16y ago

The money quote: "Facebook didn't even exist when we started the company. The iPhone didn't exist. We've adapted and changed and rolled with everything that's come our way. We've constantly integrated our approach to games." Evolution is one of the most important words in business.

s3graham 16y ago
Being a game developer (though in the "old-style" console/PC part), I thought this was the money quote: We don't track the resources that go into each game. If it's a great game, it's worth a lot of money. If it's a B+ game, it's essentially worth zero. Troll through the average list of new releases in a week and you can clearly see that most people/groups/publishers either don't agree, or don't get this.
- theycallmemorty 16y ago
  Or they know when they have a B+ game and want to cut their losses and get whatever sales they can for it.
- p4r4d0x 16y ago
  If it were that cut and dry, Wii shovelware-type games wouldn't be made. Clearly there's money to be made, just perhaps not AAA level returns to be had.

stevefink 16y ago

Plants vs. Zombies is quite possibly the best game on the iPhone, hands down.

jacoblyles 16y ago
I disagree. Angry Birds is the best game for any platform, ever.

amichail 16y ago

PopCap: what do you think of my DropZap and upcoming DropZap 2 games? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNaM22Oulwg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNaM22Oulwg (DropZap 2) http://dropzap.com http://dropzap.com

nathanlrivera 16y ago

"We decided from the start to make our games incredibly fun and easy so that they appeal to everyone." For me, that is one of the most important lessons to take away from this. Keep it simple, keep it fun and engaging, and the users will love it. The rise of Minecraft has reinforced this point of view in my mind.

benologist 16y ago
Fun and engaging are ridiculously hard to quantify. :P

NathanKP 16y ago

I really appreciated the following quote: When Dave started, we were focused on creating new games instead of supporting revenue streams from each game. Dave changed that. Part of the reason why PopCap has been so successful is that they have properly branched their games into new devices and areas, from Facebook games, to iPhone, in-flight entertainment, etc. I think that is a good lesson for hackers. If you aren't making enough money from your app, perhaps you just haven't expanded enough horizontally. Many of the best apps these days have iPhone/iPad/Blackberry versions so they can be easily accessible at all times.

ramy_d 16y ago

We're never perfect. We're always pretty good, but we're always trying to be better. words i live by

matthew-wegner 16y ago

The story title is currently "CEO of PopCap games". Vechey isn't the CEO, but a founder. He actually left PopCap for a few years to pursue his interest in film (before returning to the company). Dave Roberts is the CEO, who fits the "adult supervision" CEO stereotype reasonably well. He's an older, business-savvy guy the three young founders brought in: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_id=62018 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?entry_i...