Trip Hawkins believes the last thing wireless gamers want is to play console-style offerings on their phones.
“If you take Madden Football and put it on a mobile device, it can’t possibly live up to the experience the customer is going to expect from the brand,” said Hawkins, who founded Electronic Arts before moving into the wireless space with Digital Chocolate. “If what you’re trying to do is offer an experience that is based on fidelity, it’s going to be disappointing. How can it not be?”
So instead of churning out sophisticated 3-D titles with eye-popping graphics and a high “twitch factor,” Digital Chocolate this week will unveil a series of titles aimed at building communities and connecting users. The game-maker’s first new offering, Mobile League Sports Network Sports Picks, encourages community members to answer questions about upcoming athletic events to earn points and gain recognition. Users can compete and interact in public leagues sponsored by the publisher, or can create private leagues with friends.
The title expands on Digital Chocolate’s mobile community of sports fans, which currently claims 50,000 subscribers, according to Hawkins. Other community-targeted titles in the publisher’s pipeline include AvaFlirting, which encourages users to create avatars that go on virtual dates, and AvaCars, which features cars that can be customized and raced against other users.
“Content creates a context to allow social contact,” said Digital Chocolate’s chief executive officer. “Because social contact is where the value is, fidelity is irrelevant.”
While Hawkins declined to discuss any potential operator deals, the first game in the series is expected to launch in the next few months.
