Just got a couple of insider info from a reliable source that might give us the impression that the Philippine Online Gaming industry is in a bit of a trouble right now. Two of the biggest online gaming companies, Level-Up & e-Games, are showing signs of it.
First stop is e-Games (IP e-Games Ventures Inc. ) which has recently finalized its initial public offering (IPO). According to a source, this was a strategic move by the company to generate fresh capital.Apparently, the free-to-play model isn’t doing very well in the Philippines. There are a lot of subscribers but the players seemed to shy away from buying in-game items so not a lot of revenue is coming that way.
Second, Level-Up Inc. has also made some drastic “corporate restructuring” in the company that affected close to 50% of the workforce. Majority of the people affected by the recent lay-off came from the marketing department and the sales department.Level-Up’s newer games like Hello Kitty, KOS: Secret Opertions and several others aren’t meeting the monthly quota and have to be eventually dropped from their roster.
What’s making it look worse is that in other markets like Brazil and India, Level-Up is doing good. It’s only in the Philippines that growth and sales aren’t doing well. On the other hand, the Level-Up! Live annual events still bring in a couple million pesos but that’s just a once a year affair.
Online gaming companies have shifted their revenue models from pay-to-play to free-to-play with the promise of increased user base and in-game purchases (gamers get to play for free but are enticed to buy virtual items). Looks like this model isn’t working in the Philippines.
This article originally appeared at - yugatech
