From among the seemingly endless array of emerging digital platforms, Scope Seven has chosen to hitch its star to the digital video recorder.
The El Segundo company wants to become a major player, literally, by developing and marketing video games to individuals using the TiVo-like devices that are built in to cable or satellite set-top boxes. Customers could download the company’s games much like any other TV program.
“We think that DVRs are going to be huge,” said Brian Ring, general manager of Interactive Content for Scope Seven. “So that’s where we’ve started and it happens to be extremely pioneering stuff that no one else is doing.”
DVRs are already in use with cable and satellite companies like Time Warner and DirecTV, which provide them as optional services. The actual DVR machines are set-top boxes that can be programmed to record film and TV programming.
Scope Seven has created an interactive component for these DVRs that will allow consumers to play Scope Seven’s video games. The customer can play by himself, and Scope Seven envisions an interactive network in which customers can play against others anywhere in the world.
Scope Seven President Duncan Wain hopes that the spread of high-definition TV sports broadcasts, which are popular with the young males who drive game playing, will provide a boost for interactive gaming. Consequently, his company hopes to piggyback its offerings onto real events and points to one of its games that is based on the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament. The clips and statistics featured in the games could be updated on a daily or even real-time basis, Wain said.
The overall field of interactive TV has significant financial potential.
Creative bent
Since its inception, Scope Seven has focused on providing creative services to the entertainment, toys/games and education industries. For the past several years, however, Scope has specialized in designing and producing interactive content for digital video recording platforms.
Most are video-clip games delivered directly to consumer set-top DVRs. They mix video clips with a range of casual game elements such as trivia, puzzles, word games, entertainment and adventure activities. The games usually cost anywhere from $19.99 to $50, depending on how extensive and in-depth they are.
Some of the games Scope makes are based on films and television shows, including games based on the Walt Disney Co.’s “High School Musical,” the DreamWorks films “Shrek,” “Over the Hedge” and “Madagascar” and MGA’s “Bratz” characters.
One of Scope’s major initiatives involves creating games for pre-schoolers, through its Zoooos line, which features game stations with brightly colored buttons designed for toddlers.
Current Zoooos titles include “San Diego Zoo Animal Explorer,” “Thomas & Friends Ride the Rails,” “Bob the Builder Can You Build It?” and “Spider-Man Interactive.”
All of the toddler DVDs are created under the direction of Emmy-winning designer and Scope Seven advisor Billy Pittard.
Betting on future
Tech industry research guru Kagan Research LLC forecasts ITV revenue to hit $2.4 billion by 2009, up from a projected $864 million in 2007. This would include games, T-Commerce and interactive audiences. Kagan predicts that this would be modeled on the three biggest sources of revenue in the interactive area: gaming tiers, television commerce from home shopping networks and interactive advertising possibilities.
“If you look at the Kagan projection, you will see that they divide interactive TV into games, advertising and commerce (i.e., shopping),” Ring said. “We’re already a leader in games but we’ll be building all of those categories.”
Mike Goodman, a videogame analyst with the Yankee Group, isn’t nearly as bullish.
“Essentially what they’re doing is set-top box gaming and depending on the games, there is certainly some potential for limited success,” Goodman said. “But there isn’t truly a DVR video game market. The entire market for set-top box gaming in general is close to non-existent. It’s so tiny that it doesn’t move the needle in terms of revenue.”
Yankee Group estimates that in 2006, there were 18 million DVR subscribers in the U.S. By 2012, the organization anticipates that number will have grown to about 54 million, representing roughly 45 percent of the U.S. households.
“Of that 54 million, what percent will play set-top box games?” Goodman asked.
