WORKING

IN THE
DIGITAL
CREATIVE
INDUSTRY
EE3611

SUM LAU - 1320041

ZARA RENNER - 1305631

1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 Introduction
This business plan is for a Gaming development start up company called N&J. This company provides the programming and
design elements needed for developing a gaming app. We build and launch games for clients as well as create and develop
our own app games that we plan to sell or partner up with companies to launch into the market.
The company entails 3 main sections to bring the digital game products to the market.
A.Collaboration
We collaborate with different game development companies to create a number of major projects, which the work will allocate
to different teams or departments to create the new products.
B.New Development
Based on the knowledge of User Experience (UX), we would like to develop a variety of games that can improve the interactivity.
C.Client Venture
We provide an end-to-end service to the clients as well as deliver a brand overhaul. For examples, produce the digital app
games for existing products, such as Coca-Cola, based on the gamification to improve their digital branding. We will inform
them on the feasibility of their idea and the implementation of the idea that includes important elements such as testing and
user experience design.
1.2 Product / Service
The products this company includes are:
-An actual game app with the investment needed for its development paid by the client.
-The companys own game developed by the team, funded by the company.
-Trailer videos showing gameplay in order to raise extra capital ventures as well as used as an advertising tool.
-Animated user interface which relates back to the product.
Services include:
-Marketing and branding of game created for the client.
-Research and design of idea of client
-Testing prototype of product.
-Working with client and presenting design options for them to have input into the look of the product.
The company however, hopes to provide the games developed as a service as we hope clients will carry on working with us
for any updates to the game. The timeline needed to bring the products to the market range from how big the project is; if the
game being developed is a small to medium project, it will take 50-100 hours on average to complete however extra steps
are needed before it is published such as advertisement and a soft launch of the product will need to be taken into account.
1.3 Industry
The industry began in the 70s with the introduction of commercial arcade games such as Pong and Space Invaders, released
by Atari and Taito, relatively.The Magnavox Odyssey is the first gaming console released in 1972 and following this is the evolution of the industry that came about with the domination of Nintendo Entertainment systems in 1985, with home consoles at
the forefront of this industry. The consoles focus on human to computer interaction with different ones being developed such
as the Xbox and Playstation, which are given two-handed interaction for the players to manipulate game objects.
The concept of mobile gaming console was also introduced by Nintendo with the release of the Gameboy which, with a strong
marketing strategy became the second most popular mobile gaming device in history. Games especially made for the mobile
phone platform became notable in 1998 with the Nokia phone that included a pre installed game called Snake on the device.
This change in the era was huge as people began to use their phones as a tool to pass time by, therefore this addictive game
became extremely popular. Nokias reign ended, however, with the introduction of Apple iPhone in 2007.The implementation

of multi-touch technology on mobile device gave another dimension to the gaming experience due to the direct manipulation interaction with multiple fingers on the device. A major milestone for the industry was the opening of the
App store by Apple. This opened app a marketplace for games to be published, contributing to their success in the
industry. Following this, the Android handset was released with their own version of the App store called Android
market, now named Google Play. This all leads to the current state of the industry with mobile app games flourishing.
The UK games industry is growing with a quarter of all UK games business formed in the last four years with 95%
classified as small start up development companies. Consumer spending in the industry increased by 13% last year,
accounting for 3.9bn in the UK sales. The arrival of Unity, a gaming engine used for game development, opened up
the industry. Business could now release games with a small team on the App or Google store. The few barriers to
entry in the mobile and tablet market makes it easy for developers to create a game and update game content when
needed, with little set up cost involved.
The following figures show the largest platform used for mobile games to be iOS and the elements involved in developing the app. Companies in the industry mainly focus on either traditional gaming platforms such as consoles,
portables, PCs, Macs or just mobile phone platforms.

Figure 2
Figure 1

2. THE BUSINESS
2.1.1 Demographic Segmentation
Age Group:
Different age groups have different preferences when choosing to play a game. In the age group, we focus on 3 main
groups around under 18, 18-35 and 36-49. According to ESA Essential Facts(2015) research, Figure 3 suggests that
the players in 18-35 years are more slightly active in the research comparing to other age groups, which shows that
they constitute 30% of the sample while the under 18, the second high age group, comprise up to 26% of the sample,
which is 4% lesser than 18-35 age group. Besides, the most frequent female game player and male game player is on
average 43 years old and 35 years old respectively.

Figure 3

Income Group:

Different income groups will have different purchasing

power and buying decisions. People with higher income
will get higher incentives to buy the games, so as to following the digital game trend. With different spending patterns
in different income groups, we can decide which group that
will be more willing to spend on our products.
2.1.2 Psychographic Segmentation:
Lifestyle is a key factor for us to divide groups of target customer in game market, especially for the modern and updated brand. Mobile app game becomes more consider in this
decade. The mobile games were mostly put on the smartphones, which either run on an iOS or Android operating
systems. The games mostly integrated on phones, tablets,
notebooks and desktops. Mostly, the app games implement
on a relatively high interactive devices, such as touchscreen
phones or tablets. In the psychological way, the novel gaming
experience on the app games implies the high level of social
status, so that the customers are willing to have this experience due to their hedonism.
There are two game players in the market, which are online
gamers and offline gamers. People who are the online gamers are in the youngest group and well-educated with higher

income, yet offline gamers satisfy with the highest socio-economic status. Owing to the motivations, novelty of different games and real-time factors, the online gamers are more willing to pay for the online game. In order to arouse
the players interest, we should consider a good game quality. There are 4 common elements to form a game, which
are mechanics, story, aesthetics and technology, to achieve a sustainable game development.
In our company, we would like to consider different stakeholders perspectives, so as to form several of tailored design and engineering teams to impart a range of user-centred and user-focused thinking concepts in the products.

2.1.3 Behavioral Segmentation
There are 3 types of players in the market, these are the Game addicts, accounting for 55% of the market, the Time
killers with 25% and Entertainment seekers at 19%. The game addicts play game to fulfil the urge to constantly do
so, these type of players are more likely to spend money on extra features a game offers for example, a new secret
level of a game. With this in mind, it makes sense for games to be versatile in order to stretch the game into multiple
elements to appeal to the largest market. The time killers are users that play games occasionally to bide time, these
users are less likely to spend money on a game, they are likely making use of the many free games in the market.
Entertainment seekers are people that like to play games but enjoy other mobile app options more. As a result of
these behaviours, different type of games appeal to various users.

Figure 4 -This figure depicts the type of games that appeal to different set of consumers based off their behavioural group.
96% of people play games on their phones at home whilst 72% play when commuting by bus, train or car. This indicates how
games have become a part of everyday life therefore it makes sense to invest in this industry as the return back is really high,
cases showing is the success of Candy Crush and Angry Birds.
There are reasons that influence UK consumers to download and start playing an app. Good reviews from users who have
played the game and recommendations from family and friends are the main influence factors. Customer satisfaction is
therefore very important in this market as if a game is of terrible quality in either functionality and look, it will not do well. The
entertainment value is also important as users should enjoy playing the game; the Angry Bird game is an example of a game
that may lack in looks but it has a clear aim in the game, where users try to keep the bird alive for as long as possible, reaching the highest level they can. Beating their previous record with reaching a new level creates the excitement factor which
makes up for the lack of pleasing aesthetics in the game. Another factor that influences users is the inclusion of a demo or free
version of the game. The user is able to test how well the product is themselves and if successful, usually end up purchasing
extra features or a full version of the game.
2.2 PESTLE Analysis
2.2.1 Political Environment
The political factors that affect this product are the policies that surround the protection of the player, under the Consumer
Protection Law. Information and cost about the game should clearly be given, accurately and up-front, before the user downloads, signs up and begins to play the game. Costs that are unavoidable should be stated clearly, being aware of younger users
and catering to them by how this information is presented. The promotions should be clear from game play in order for these
younger users to distinguish between the two.
There are policies stating that information about the app and all its features should be clearly given. This involves a short
description of the product and functions and features it offers, i.e. Languages available, file size and resolutions. Further
information about whether a game involves promotion material of other products or their own should be included in this
description with terms and conditions that give information about the company business. This includes the company name,
address at which it is established, telephone number and email address.
During purchases of items in the game by the user, there are policies in place that state that payment must not be taken out
from account holder without full authorisation given. Personal data collected from the user must be justified by why this data
is being collected to the user and how it will be processed. Security policies are always involved in apps regarding the protection of user data.
2.2.2 Economic Environment
The economic factor that affects the success of this business venture is the state of the economy and how well the industry is
doing in relation to it. Recently there has been a growth in the UK GDP after the recession hit in 2009 and in 2012. Situations
like this would make it very difficult to gain the funds needed to fuel this business. During harder times, banks were unwilling
to loan money and investment into business had slowed down, gaining the capital needed to develop an app would be hard
to do so. There may not even be clients that want to invest their own savings into a game that has no certainty for success at
a time like that.
However at these more promising times, the app store alone is predicted to be worth 31 bn in Britain by 2025. Due to the
success of the british app developing company, King Digital Entertainment (the maker of Candy Crush) and the boom in start

up companies, 30,000 jobs have been created. More jobs mean, consumers have more spending power therefore will more
likely spend money on a leisure product such as game apps. Also clients will be more willing to invest money into getting a
development company for an app idea they may have.
Society is constantly changing and the rapid growth of popularity of social media is an obvious significant phenomenon. This
generation has a relatively higher level of education with respect to the digital knowledge people tend to use mobile devices
and buy the app games, especially on Googles Play Store and Apples App Store. These platforms have become the social
norm with respect to the game industry.
Considering the mobile app download, Android plays an important role as it is one of the major mobile operating system
worldwide. According to Figure 5, it shows the picture of App downloads and App revenue across the platforms of iOS App
Store and Google Play in 2014. Google Play contained 45% more than iOS App Store did. However, iOS App Store could achieve
a higher App revenue while comparing with Google Play in the same year.
Figure 5

Through paying for apps and other iOS-based products, app games are one of the vital category to make the revenue grow.
For examples, Clash of Clans, Game of War-Fire Age and Candy Crush Saga are the top 3 grossing app games in App Store.
These 3 top grossing games are free to download and most of the revenue comes from the advertising and investment.
The role and status in society is also a factor that has influenced UK gamers to follow the trend of playing app games. There
was a survey in 2012 that its findings (Figure 6) showed the availability of free download games is the major factor in the
growth of app game, which contained 70% of the respondents. Also, the improved devices with higher quality in memory capacity and the appealing visual elements in app game contributes to the social trend. They respectively comprised up to 47%
and 32% of respondents.
In relation to groups and families, an individual will be influenced by the people they are surrounded with. 28% of the respondents friends play mobile games, meaning that there is a potential of peer pressure and a sense of affiliation.
Apart from that, it shows different social status affect consumers buying decisions. To those in upper-middle class(relatively
small segment in the society) are potentially willing to purchase the premium game services, there were 25% and 23% of respondents that purchase tablets with charged games.
Figure 6

2.2.4 Legal Environment

The legal issues that app developers face are Entity formation, Confidentiality, Intellectual property ownership and protection
and Terms of Use. Entity formation refers to having a corporation or LLC established for the company to limit personal liability
if the worse were to happen to business. Potential problems are always present therefore it would be a good idea to a legal

entity established. For instance, if the business was to be sued, only the business assets could be taken and personal items
will be protected.
Confidentiality refers to the ideas shared between clients and the staff and how a business goes about protecting them. As
a creative business, ideas are the seed to every product created therefore to prevent anyone from stealing or sharing these
ideas is a NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). Intellectual property refers to all the work created by the company, during the
developing, marketing and selling process. This includes the source code, designs, graphics, app name, app icon, and any
written content within the app. An IP Assignment provision clearly is needed between staff or any clients to legally agree who
owns whatever work is created.
Further steps in protecting the IP is done with the use of Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents that keep things such as the
company name and logo, written or artistic work, processes and new inventions owned by the company.
Terms of use is seen as legal agreement between the user and app developer that occurs when the user plays the game. Its
terms refer to how the app should be used and the consequences of misuse that is also stated and pointed out.
2.2.5 Technological Environment
In the technological environment, the terminology of web, legislation in technology and other digital approaches have been
changed by new technologies, such as Paypal for the transactions and booking system through the internet. In our company,
we mainly use the cost-effective technology to communicate with consumers, such as different social media, and implementation of new programmings. Besides, there are several of sections will be considered in the business plan with respect to
the technological factors.
Organisational Change - keep the employees up-to-date
In the recent research, Apple iOS and Google Android dominated the mobile market and market share respectively. These
two operating systems directly affect the technologies that we use for the app game development. For the long-term plan, we
should consider the quality of the products. By measuring the inherent constraints caused by the latency problems on app
games, the innovative interaction models in devices and the User Experience(UX) and User Interface. We will strengthen the
design and engineering teams for engaging the market trends.
In the business processes, we identify the requirements and evaluating the objectives and goals for the end-to-end services
or products. In the app game market, the vital decision of building and launching an app game is the platform, which is also
included web and native game app. Besides, the languages are used in the game development, such as HTML5, C-language
and other game engine programmings.
Implementing a strategic plan that can contribute to the sustainable game development. For instance, USTWO(www.ustwo.
com) provides a blog on their website for giving the feedback in order to seek the new trends and invest on the systems on
the game apps.
The integrity or reputation of the company is very important. A series of security for the information will be protected through
a highly secured encryption, so as to avoid the system hackers and any other cyber-crime.
2.3 Competitors
Focusing games that have been released and are doing well in the market as well as well known independent game app developers, some strengths and weakness of their product and service can be deduced. There is an oversaturation in the market
of gaming apps with a flood of 500 game per day in the App store. In order to separate this business from the crowd, only high
quality games will be released.
Games that seem to work well are fun in 3 - 5 minutes with minimalistic designs and a unique gameplay. These type of games
are often featured in the App store therefore this company will strive to create games such as this.
2.4 Sales and marketing of product
2.4.1 Product
We collaborate with different game development companies to create a number of major projects, which the work will allocate
to different teams or departments to create the new products. We partner to launch the brand-new app games to the market.
Based on the knowledge of User Experience (UX) on app game, we would like to develop a variety of games that can improve
the interactivity. For examples, the app games with multi-touch capability, which the directness of manipulation of game objects allow the gamers to engage in the game.
We provide an end-to-end service to the clients as well as deliver a brand overhaul. For examples, produce the digital app
games for existing products, such as Coca-Cola, based on the gamification to improve their digital branding. We will inform
them on the feasibility of their idea and the implementation of the idea that includes important elements such as testing and
user experience design. We also act an agency that provide a full package of digital branding.

2.4.2 Price
There are millions app games in the market. It is difficult to let the paid-for app to compete with the free apps. However, there
is a successful price strategy in the market. By taking an example of Monument Valley app game, the company had given
a free trial to the gamers to download for testing the response in the market. After that, the gamers have to pay for the app
game in order to download the digital content. This is In App Purchase where uptake was around 5-6% as 575,608. Based on
this successful plan, our company can introduce a series of levels for the game at the very first stage, which acts as an investment, for arousing the gamers interest. For setting a suitable price, 0.99 will be the starting point. For the advanced digital
content or other premium services, the price will be set at 2.99 or above, which this strategy is based on the Baldurs Gate
roleplaying games.
To monetising an app game, the third-party advertisement can improve the app revenue. There are 5 types of ads can be
applied inside the game. They are full screen, notification, capture from, advanced overlay and banner ads. Different price will
apply on different sizes, frequencies and timezones.
For the service, we charge clients a service fee of 12 per hour, so that the budget for them can be easily calculated when
added to the fee they need to pay for the app.
2.4.3 Position
There are two aspects of this business that need to be marketed, these are the services and products offered by the company.
For the services, the studio will be located in Bristol, this is due to the city ranked number 1 in the most enterprising cities in
the UK by the StartUps organisation. There are financial schemes set up there to help fund small to medium businesses such
as the Regional Growth fund and the Local Innovation Vouchers. There is a high number of independent companies such as
ours located in London, therefore it make sense to offer this service in a location with a moderately low number of competition.( London accounting for 29.8% of app game developers according to Nesta 2014).
Due to iOS holding the most market share, games will be made available on this platform ready for quick downloads onto their
phone. The idea is to publish the game for iOS first and if seen to be successful , ported to other platforms.
2.4.4 Promotion
For the promotion of the service provided, numerous avenues are available to promote both the company and the games developed. Trailer videos of the game including gameplay can be created and posted on Youtube, social media platforms such as
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. A soft launch of the product can be done with the game being uploaded on gaming forums
such as TouchArcade, to gain some feedback for improvements of game developed and to get the company name out there
as well.
Paid advertisement is a strong marketing tool and Google Adwords is a platform used for this. It works by the user searching
a keyword where the advertisement is shown through a sponsored link from this word. Facebook also offers paid advertisement with an extra feature which is targeting the market based on gender, age and region.
For promotion of the service provided by the company, a website and wiki page showing of work could be created. Providing a
blog that keeps up with the latest news industry related as well as including the company into prominent gaming development
communities such as Unity forum or Garage Games.
Being active on social media is another strong tool where a company Twitter, Facebook and Instagram page can be made to
connect with the users and answer any questions or suggestions from them in real time.
There are also networking opportunities in Bristol such as The Engine and Set-Squared that provide technology related
seminars and events. Apple accounts for 3 million downloads from featuring their favourite games on home page of the App
store, therefore getting their attention in order to get editorial features is another method of promotion for the company.
2.4.3 Position
There are two aspects of this business that need to be marketed, these are the services and products offered by the company.
For the services, the studio will be located in Bristol, this is due to the city ranked number 1 in the most enterprising cities in
the UK by the StartUps organisation. There are financial schemes set up there to help fund small to medium businesses such
as the Regional Growth fund and the Local Innovation Vouchers. There is a high number of independent companies such as
ours located in London, therefore it make sense to offer this service in a location with a moderately low number of competition.( London accounting for 29.8% of app game developers according to Nesta 2014).
Due to iOS holding the most market share, games will be made available on this platform ready for quick downloads onto their
phone. The idea is to publish the game for iOS first and if seen to be successful , ported to other platforms.
2.4.4 Promotion
For the promotion of the service provided, numerous avenues are available to promote both the company and the games developed. Trailer videos of the game including gameplay can be created and posted on Youtube, social media platforms such as

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. A soft launch of the product can be done with the game being uploaded on gaming forums
such as TouchArcade, to gain some feedback for improvements of game developed and to get the company name out there
as well.
Paid advertisement is a strong marketing tool and Google Adwords is a platform used for this. It works by the user searching
a keyword where the advertisement is shown through a sponsored link from this word. Facebook also offers paid advertisement with an extra feature which is targeting the market based on gender, age and region.
For promotion of the service provided by the company, a website and wiki page showing of work could be created. Providing a
blog that keeps up with the latest news industry related as well as including the company into prominent gaming development
communities such as Unity forum or Garage Games.
Being active on social media is another strong tool where a company Twitter, Facebook and Instagram page can be made to
connect with the users and answer any questions or suggestions from them in real time.
There are also networking opportunities in Bristol such as The Engine and Set-Squared that provide technology related
seminars and events. Apple accounts for 3 million downloads from featuring their favourite games on home page of the App
store, therefore getting their attention in order to get editorial features is another method of promotion for the company.
2.5.3 Opportunity
The rapid growth of technology and game markets, such as internet, it changes the promotional methods and branding strategies. The low cost of promotion in social media can strike a win-win situation as social networks like Facebook page and
Youtube Channel are free to use as promotional tools for the app games. The power of internet can across the geographical
boundaries and time limitation between countries. The target audience can instantly receive a bunch of information, which
can boost the business.
Googles Play Store and Apples App Store are the examples that provide an in-app purchases, which has given the extra gaming content for purchasing. It can help the company to improve the revenue. Based on the human psychological factors, people
are willing to purchase some gaming components inside the app, so as to strengthen their status a sense of superiority. For
examples, Game of War - Fire Age provides the purchase of game points to the gamers, which can induce the purchase desire
of the gamers who are highly engaged in the game.
2.5.4 Threat
Threats of this business are the high competition already out there in the market as well as new entrants into the market
due to low barriers to entry. As a result users have high buying power which makes it difficult to sell this product. The over
saturation in the app stores will make it difficult for users to differentiate the products out there.
There are high upfront costs related to developing an app which if the games are not successful and do not produce revenue
could cause financial issues, however the return on these apps is huge if successful.
Technology evolves all the time, with versions of programming languages for developing an app subject to change. this could
cause a problem as the staff would need to relearn new features from scratch. An opposing argument to this is that the staff
are already proficient in many programming languages, therefore learning another may not be that difficult a feat.

3. FINANCIAL
ANALYSIS

The team needed for this company goes as follows:

Business/CEO
Project Manager (Market Planner)
App Developer/Analyst
Designer x 2 (UX/UI designers)
Art Director
Programmer x 2
(front-end and back-end programmers - Database administrator to in charger of Database Management System(DBMS Information Security/Networking)
Audio
Total: 8 employees
List of costs to business:
Office space
Electric, Gas and Internet bills
Salary of employees
Workstations needed for each employee
Software needed for production of game
Figures per month:
Company registration
Office space = 500-1000
Electric, Gas and Internet bills =43.59 (add 5% on top on financial spreadsheet) + 17
Average salary per employee = 4791.70 ( 9 working day hours minus 2 hr breaks = payment for 7hrs a day )
Workstations needed for each employee = Estimated 1,200 (fixed cost)
Software needed for production of game (Maya license to use for commercial use, Unreal used for game engine) = 258.33
Developing personal game for business = 20 - 60 k per project (total)
Developing games for client is paid by them and depends on their budget but we get paid per hour for service
We give clients a price depending on how many hours their proposed game will take to make.
At this stage we will be focusing on the small to medium projects.
The cash flow analysis is shown in the spreadsheet on the next page.
4.Conclusion
To conclude, this business plan offers a guideline to how N&J can evolve and turnover a large amount of money(10,000)
due to the vast market available in this day and age. In this generation, the fast-paced technologies motivates us to startup
a game app business as the trend in game industry towards to the mobile devices, such as tablets, smartphones and other
touchscreen devices. There is a great potential to turn a small business to a vast one as the social environment factors have
influenced on people. And leisure is a non-materialistic thing to improve the quality of life of people. According to the ESA
Essential Facts in 2015, it shows that the average Therefore, by using this business plan, N&J Company will reach the business objectives as well as its financial goals.