European Citizenship in the 21st Century

November 22

2012
A Serious Urban Game
Team Leader

As undertaken on behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Information Society and Media, Taskforce EuroDeck. The following covers our presentation of our urban game, Europe United, and allow details regarding its development to inception.

Matt Meier
Designers

Maxime JeanAbauzit Jaime Marcos

Communications and Marketing

Bogusia Majchrzycka
Videography

Renaat Nijs

THEPROJECTPLAN
As ordered by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Information Society and Media, operating under the codename EuroDeck, our team of five members have undertaken the responsibility of developing a serious urban game as a method for fostering a more unified European citizenship identity in the 21st century. The task was certainly not a light one to initiate, but nonetheless we took on the responsibility. The following documents the full process that we have ventured upon, from the beginnings of our team, through the actual presentation of our product, and to marketing and finances related to the project.

The What & Why

As requested by EuroDeck, our task is to create a serious urban game that will allow Europeans to come together to form a sense of national unity, a European identity for the 21st century. With the countries of the European Union facing a crisis of identity - Are we representing our individual nations or is the EU itself a national identity? - it is critical to develop a solution to aid with bringing the peoples of the EU together before a possible dissolution were to occur. With a stronger sense of national identity through cooperation via a game, the European Union stands a better chance at having citizens who are more willing to work with each other.

The Who
Our team consisted of five members, four of whom were from different European countries, while the fifth was from the United States. Of the four Europeans, they each came from one of the following countries: France, Belgium, Poland, and Spain. With our team representing a fair swath of different European nationalities, our goal was surely to be set in the right direction. And having the outsider views from European helped to steer our group in an appropriate direction towards a solution.

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Of the target audience, our primary audience, as requested by EuroDeck, was primarily on the 14-18 year old demographic of Europeans, with 18-24 year olds as our secondary target audience. Throughout the process of creating our urban game, we kept in mind our target audience throughout development to ensure that we were creating a game that would be likeable and marketable to those age demographics.

The How & Where

Since EuroDeck has specifically requested for an urban game, we set out to create one that used augmented-reality within a tablet application as a way of playing our game. The game is designed to be played in tandem with four players to a team, who must work together on defeating an enemy that is attacking a European city at which location they are playing. Fuller details on the games workings can be found in Summary of the Game. We went with the approach of creating a game based around the concept of war; in our findings - detailed in The Research Process - we discovered through history that warfare tends to unite peoples together in no previous way once thought possible. In this way of thinking, we decided to have the game play out as such in warfare, which allowed for cooperation between players to achieve victory against the nameless enemy. The game is also designed to specifics European cities. Since there are many large cities across the European Union, the game is designed to be catered to a specific city where the players will gather to play the urban game. The gamemaster holds the responsibility of setting up the game based upon the city that will be the playing field. Further details to be found in Summary of the Game.

The When
Our first process in our time schedule was to find the elements that help unite a people together; our first two weeks of meetings were undertaken exploring this issue. Once we had settled on the foundations of our game, we then moved on to researching our target audience and ascertaining their likes and interests. Once this process began, we then moved into the concept and designing phase of our multimedia process.
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Our first steps began with a simple mock-up design of our augmented-reality application. At the time, we had not yet established all of the features and workings of the game, but nonetheless found this early design process helpful in guiding us in the right direction. Into our second week into designing, we created an early business/project plan, as well as a timetable, that put us in the right direction. The four weeks that followed were spent redesigning the elements of the application and refining the game itself (rules, weapons, equipment). During this period of time, we presented to EuroDeck on our current status with the project, which gave resounding approval at our progress. The remaining weeks we spent gathering our designs from the two designers, ensuring that each of the elements they created separately meshed together, from a design perspective. Final aspects of the game were established, with those new aspects going into the design, based upon feedback we received from EuroDeck.

THERESEARCHPROCESS
Our process towards developing the urban game began with some basic research, which we deemed critical to understanding how we wanted to approach this game. We began our research with a roundtable discussion regarding each others specific cultures and social environment, trying to identify the unique elements that relate to our national identity. A good portion of our first meeting together revolved around identifying these important elements as we felt it beneficial to understand how to unite those cultures together. After learning of our different cultural views, we delved into a little historical research on Europe itself, specifically looking for points in its history where certain various European nationalities became united together. This lead us directly to Europes history of war, where in desperate times many countries would come together and unite to fight a common enemy. Examples of this occurring can be found in the Napoleonic campaigns of the early 19th century, as well as the First and Second World Wars. With warfare being a common theme
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towards unity in Europe, we decided to run with the concept of a game based around warfare. We next followed up with how the game itself will be played. We settled on the use of tablets utilizing augmented-reality as this appeared to be a tantalizing way of approaching our urban game with the latest in technology and gadgetry. Given that our target demographics are tech-savvy individuals with a penchant for adopting new technology, this would appear to be a perfect blend to go with in development. And with first-person shooters being a popular video game format today, with such franchises as Call of Duty being extremely successful among our demographics, we went with our game being an interactive first-person shooter, tying it with the warfare theme.

SUMMARYOFGAME
A nameless enemy has descended upon Europe attacking from city to city. As cities fall, Europeans must unite together to defend their cities - cooperation is key to their survival. They must stand united to survive - they must become a Europe United.

How It Works
Europe United works around the concept of having two teams competing against each other. Each team will consist of four members, with as mixed nationalities as possible being encouraged via the gamemaster, who will set up the teams. These teams will not be competing against each directly; instead they will work separately on combating the enemy that is attacking their city. We felt that developing a game where two teams are directly combating each other was not the soundest method to fostering a European citizenship, especially with the long history of warfare that Europe has suffered through amongst its nations.

The Enemy
The enemy itself is one without any specific nationality nor face; keeping it ambiguous will keep any connections to current negative world regimes from being established. The
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enemys actions will be controlled by the gamemaster - the gamemasters actions are to seek out each teams supply posts and attempt to destroy each one. The goal for the enemy (gamemaster) is to destroy all of the supply posts and win. It must also be noted that there are only a finite number of enemies in the game; their health does not regenerate when they are attacked. The positions of the enemy are also not readily available on the map unless they begin attacking a team member/members or when they are attacking a supply post.

The Gamemaster
The gamemaster is the person who controls certain aspects of the game, from planning to actual execution of the game. It is their responsibility to establish placement of supply posts and weapons across the urban environment for the teams to protect and collect, respectively. And as stated previously, the gamemaster also establishes teams with a penchant for mixed-nationalities (if applicable), as well as controlling the actions of the enemy through the course of the game.

The Supply Posts

Throughout the game, the enemy will frequently make attempts at destroying a teams supply posts. These supply posts, scattered throughout the city, are necessary for the teams survival: ammunition for weapons and health vials are gathered from supply posts, which also serve as a location to revive low health after being attacked. Supply posts can be completely destroyed by the enemy and must be defended by the team at all costs. Any damage to a supply post can be repaired by team members using their shovel, with more members chipping in to repair making the process go by quicker.

To Survive
Teams must defend and repair their supply posts, as well as using them to revitalize their health and gather ammunition and health vials. And teams must make a concerted effort to seek and destroy the enemy to ensure victory.

Time Limits
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The games runtime will be 90 minutes. During the course of the 90 minutes, the teams must defeat the entire enemy to win. If the enemy, however many, are still alive at the end of the 90 minutes, they will lose the game.

To Win
- Keep supply posts intact - Be the first team to defeat the enemy in under 90 minutes

The Equipment
Overall, there are seven different pieces of equipment throughout the game. Four of these items are specifically weapons used to combat the enemy, while the remaining three include a shovel for repairs, health vials, and ammunition for the weapons.

The Weapons
There are four distinct firearms used throughout the game. Their listing and functions are as follows: 1. MP5 a. Submachine gun b. Effective damage as long as the enemy is visible to the player c. Deals 20% damage to the enemy d. 5 shots to bring down an enemy 2. M1911 a. Handgun b. Effective damage out to 20 meters from the player c. Deals 15% damage to the enemy d. 7 shots to bring down an enemy 3. Grenade a. Effective damage in a 10 meter radius b. Deals 50% damage to the enemy
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c. 2 grenades to bring down multiple enemies d. The player and other team members can be hurt if not under or behind proper cover 4. Knife a. Effective damage to within 5 meters b. Deals 10% damage c. 10 hits to bring down an enemy Regarding the weapons, the knife is the only weapon that the player will start out with at the outset of the game. The remaining weapons must be gathered from across the map by the team members (weapons can be exchanged with members if necessary and only within a 5 meter range). The MP5 and the M1911 will both have ammunition when they are first acquired, but further rounds must be gathered at the supply posts.

The Tools
Of the three tools that players have, only one - the shovel - is available from the beginning of the game to all players. The shovel is vitally important to the players as it is used as a means to repair supply posts that have been or currently under attack by the enemy. Health vials are another important tool that can be found in the game. These can only be gathered at supply posts and are in limited number. Health vials allow players to heal while away from the supply posts, freeing them from being grounded near a post. These vials can also be traded amongst team members when needed. And ammunition is the last of the piece of equipment to mention. Grenades, MP5, and M1911 all fall into the ammunition category. Ammo can only be found at supply posts, but are not limited in number.

How to Play
The game will be played on a tablet with a rear-facing camera; the addition of the camera is a necessity since augmented-reality is a major component for playing the game. The tablet should also have a connection to a cellular network that will allow locations of the
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player and other team members to be displayed on the map correctly. GPS-capable tablets may also work in this function as well. All actions and interactions are done through the tablet, from fighting, healing, repairing, and communicating with team members. The augmented-reality view is the default view when playing the game, with all other functions working above that view. It should be noted here that it is highly recommended that tablets have a case to protect the gadget from potential drops and scrapes that may be encountered when playing the game. Overall, strategy is the key element in playing Europe United. Players must coordinate with each other on offensive and defensive strategies, which include attack plans and defense maneuvers. Since the enemy is intelligent, as it is controlled by the gamemaster, working together as a team is key to surviving and winning.

THEMARKETINGPLAN
With the target demographics having a huge presence online in social networking, our primary focus should be in social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is a great source for creating pages for the game, where users can view what the game is about, discover other players, and make progress towards establishing a game within their own city. Twitter is another excellent source to utilize for marketing, as it is a great way to get people talking about our product. This particular social network can act as a mouthpiece of communication, giving users and curious persons and heads-up on upcoming events. Twitter is also the most direct way with communicating to users, providing only 1-degree of separation from the (potential) player to the game developers. Social networking is also a great way to spread the game through word-of-mouth use. The benefit of going with such a method is that it is free once the word is out and gets people talking about the game without guidance from us. By going through word-of-mouth, the potential to spread the news about the game is greater, and social networking only makes this possibility a far-reaching reality.
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Outside of social networking, advertising online through Google is another viable and very suitable course towards marketing our urban game. Googles AdWords is based upon a cost-per-click (CPC) method, wherein we can specify certain keywords that will allow our game to show up in certain Google results pages, depending upon the users keyword search. This course can have a high degree of visibility to a user through Google. Europe United may also be marketed through the app stores available, primarily Google Play and Apples App Store. Visibility of our product will become greater over time as more and more users download the app onto their tablets. Reviews brought upon the users in the app stores can also further the word-of-mouth of Europe United. Personal sellers is another method of marketing that we have considered. Since it may occur that certain members of our target demographic are not familiar with the game, it would be in our best interest to use in-person marketing to show potential users on how the game works. With language barriers being a possible source of miscommunication, having personnel that can engage on a face-to-face level and in the potential users native tongue will be beneficial in gaining interest. This hearkens to our goal of having mixed nationalities working together; getting players on the same page and working together, regardless of language barriers. Our last method to consider in marketing is outdoor advertising, such as graffiti ads, billboards, and posters. Graffiti ads - such as what was undertaken in the summer of 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises - are an effective, and cheap, method at gaining consumer interest. Posters at specific locations, such as bus stops primarily near schools when applicable, would go far in communicating our game to our target demographic. The use of billboards, while expensive, may also be a viable method when targeting the secondary demographic of users (those that are primarily driving cars as a method of transportation). Our approach to using all of the marketing types lies in the AIDA-model. The AIDAmodel uses four distinct concepts to market our product to our target audience. First, using

awareness, we get our target to see the game, primarily through social media. Next, we
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generate interest, which makes the target actively seek out information regarding the game. Twitter is a great resource for generating interest, primarily by getting the target to talk about the game. Afterwards, desire is established, namely through the use of personal sellers. In this method, the target audience can see how the game works and begin to feel the urge to wanting to play it. Lastly to come is action, which leads directly to the audience to play the game. Having the game available through the app stores will go towards inciting action.

THEFINANCIALANALYSIS
A definitive financial analysis was difficult to conclude as there were many phases of research and design in our product that led to the creation of Europe United. Exact costs are hard to pin down because of fluctuations in the market, which can lead to a wider and wider range of cost differences. Many of the costs here are presented on an abstract level, since definitive answers are hard to come by at this point. Keeping in mind that the project was being developed for the European Union, it was asserted that costs are deferred to the government of the EU. However, we believe that educational values of the game are very promising and it will attract potential sponsors and some private donations later on. The following is our list of finances, as reviewed upon the full process of creating Europe United, from inception, development, to marketing:

Tablets
The premiere tablet to use here would be the iPad, specifically the third generation of the popular tablet. We configured the cost based upon the number of tablets to be used in the game, which would be numbered at nine 4 for each team and 1 for the gamemaster. The total estimated cost is rendered at 3600, though that figure may be lower in the nearfuture for third generation iPads as newer versions are released down the road. The overall cost of the tablet purchases may increase as the game spreads to different European cities. As new hubs of gaming are set up, new purchases will need to be made to
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keep up with demand. There is the possibility of receiving discounts through Apple, as this is an education-based activity. However, the cost of those savings is not known. Demand may also fluctuate depending on if players already own a tablet that is capable of playing the game based upon the required specs. This factor is also not known and can widely change as tablet adoption progresses.

Cost of Development
As our game is only at the prototype mock-up stage at this time, full development into the game would be required. This is another cost that cannot be pegged definitively, as it depends on the studio that is leased to develop the game, as well as their method of payment. Factors to consider are the number of man hours put into development and whether payment is down on a cost-per-man hour basis or lump sums. It is expected to be a costly stage, with much financing needed early on to support development.

Intellectual Property Rights

To ensure that our game is protected through copyright, it is wise the go through the process of IP (intellectual property) protection. As done through Brussels, headquarters of the European Union, it would be roughly 40 with a notary to write up a document that spells out clearly all the rights to which are owned in Europe United.

Cost of Marketing
Undoubtedly the most expensive of all aspects in finances, marketing will prove to be a massive monetary expense. Beginning with social media, the cost is inherently free from the start, since its only a matter of setting up a Facebook page and a Twitter profile. However, when it comes to promotion, a Facebook page can start at 60. The costs for promoting a Facebook page varies between CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per thousand). The CPC method would be inherently more expensive on a larger scale, so it is recommended to use the CPM method, which also has a greater chance of reaching out to our targeted

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demographic. The total cost lies in the wiliness to bid, which can quite low (and possibly unsuccessful) to incredibly high (but with a high potential of succeeding). Twitter promotions run at a higher cost than its Facebook counterpart. Promoted trends on Twitter are incredibly high, roughly at around 92,500. While this may not be a viable method due to the prohibitive cost promoting a Tweet, however, is more manageable. Promoted tweets are based upon a CPE (cost per engagement) basis, similar to the CPM method. The minimum cost here is around 11,600, which will run higher depending on the wiliness to spend more.

Cost of Testing
The cost of testing is something that should not be overlooked. These costs may come into play during the development cycle of the application, depending upon the studio that is hired to create the game. If such a studio uses an integrated approach in development, than expect the costs of testing to be factored into the cost of development. However, if such is not the case, the testing the application with another party may be required to ensure all parts are working. It is not known exactly what such a cost would be, but it is not expected to be of much of an expense.

Cost to Deploy onto Google Play and Apple App Store

Between Google Play and Apples App Store, Play is the cheaper of the two, though we will be using both platforms. With Play, the only cost needed is to register as a developer, which will run to around 20. In Apples case, that cost of registering is around 77.

THEFINALCONCLUSIONS
With all aspects covered in the previous pages, it is hoped that our proposal is most pleasing to the taskforce EuroDeck. We humbly believe that Europe United is a great tool to use among 14-18 year olds and 18-24 year olds, which will help go towards developing a stronger European citizenship as the 21st century continues on.

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By embracing augmented-reality technology and melding that with the tablet form factor, we believe we are creating a winning and sustainable model of fun that combines the latest in technology with action commonly found in todays first person shooters. Using the elements of strategy and communication will go towards fostering communication between team members and building new relationships on the foundation of an exciting game. Our marketing approach is seen as being an effective mode towards engaging our target audience, especially when combined with the AIDA-model form of marketing. The 4step process should be a strong arm in gaining traction in an advancing mobile gaming arena, where many users in the target group are looking for entertainment. And financial aspects should be achievable in the long term. Costs may be expensive initially, but the benefit of using Europe United as an educational tool should prove helpful when it comes to funding our venture. By using primarily online means of marketing to the target, costs will be much lower instead using more traditional media, such as television and magazines.

On behalf of the Directorate-General for Information Society and Media, as conclude our proposal.

Matt Meier Team Leader

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