Broadband's fun and games

Gaming is emerging as one of the hot markets in the broadband world, as both cable operators and telcos develop competitive product offerings. But instead of targeting hard-core gamers — typically young men — broadband service providers are looking at a broader market of casual and on-demand game players, more than half of whom are women.

Verizon is counting on games as part of its FiOS package and could be developing its own game console as part of its new Verizon-branded retail products. Cable players like Comcast also are offering games on demand. The National Cable Television Association announced that it will include a Cable Games Arena and conference sessions on the business case behind gaming as part of The National Show in April. Turner Broadcasting System, meanwhile, already offers GameTap, a broadband video game and entertainment network.

A primary reason for the interest in games is the incremental income, said analyst Daniel Briere, president of TeleChoice. “The basic applications that IPTV has targeted are going to be hard to make a lot of money on because there is going to be so much competitive pressure,” he said. “It is going to be all these other applications — particularly commerce-add gaming — that will generate additional revenue.”

But broadband service providers aren't targeting today's users of high-speed broadband for PC-based and console-based gaming, according to Yoav Tzruya, vice president of products and markets strategy for Exent, a supplier of subscription-based games to Verizon, Comcast and others.

“Broadband service providers are looking at the broader market, which is more than 50% women, who don't necessarily have the latest PC or care about what the latest game is,” Tzruya said. “They care about a wide variety of games they can play easily.”

For the gaming industry, adding broadband to the mix provides a new release window to what has been a single commercial opportunity to make a market splash, he said. “Movie producers have three windows — the theater, the DVD and broadcast,” Tzruya said. “Gaming has traditionally had only one.”

But Briere questioned whether broadband providers wouldn't focus on higher-revenue games, which may be the gambling and more competitive role-playing games that men prefer. “That's where the money is,” he said. “These will really take off in the high-definition world.”