Interview

Speaker Spotlight: KingsIsle Entertainment VP of marketing Dave Rosen on marketing in a jam-packed app store

Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd

Speaker Spotlight: KingsIsle Entertainment VP of marketing Dave Rosen on marketing in a jam-packed app store

Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC London and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

In today's Speaker Spotlight we're talking to KingsIsle Entertainment VP of marketing Dave Rosen ahead of his talk on 'Marketing after the Feature'.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about the company?

Dave Rosen: Established in Texas in 2005, KingsIsle Entertainment is a proven MMO hitmaker that is bringing its unique vision to mobile games. Its newest mobile game Animal Cove has the signature light-hearted story, depth and polish gamers expect from KingsIsle.

Driven by a spirit of innovation and experimentation across genres and themes, the privately-held game company publishes accessible, high-quality games. Its award-winning game Wizard101 is currently in its 10th year and has entertained millions of players around the world.

What does your role entail?

I oversee all marketing for KingsIsle's entire portfolio of games. This includes the current MMO's and mobile games as well as working with our development teams on future game concepts.

My department covers the full spectrum of marketing from user acquisition and community to e-mail marketing, app store planning, retail marketing and more.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

I grew up loving games and even worked in a Babbages (a long-dead GameStop precursor) in high school but I never thought about the business of how they get made and sold.

In graduate school I got the chance to intern at Electronic Arts which totally opened my eyes. Once I realised that there were ways for a non-engineer to work on games I was hooked.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

Be proactive and do your homework. There are a lot of people who want to work in games because they love playing games. What will separate you is showing that you don't just love playing games but you are thinking about the process of making/marketing games.

When someone reaches out to me to learn about what I do and they've actually given real thought to potential marketing challenges I might they instantly get more respect.

And of course everyone in the industry is busy so you need to go find them then be prepared to ask more than once (respectfully) before you get some of their time.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

It is getting harder and harder to get games to market profitably. The sheer volume of games available paired with the capacity for top games to spend in supporting their growth means you need a rock solid plan to generate enough revenue to fuel marketing if you want your games to have a chance.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

The mobile games market will continue to evolve to look nearly identical to the HD console market. By that I mean you will see a top five to 10 games that achieve massive user and revenue numbers and then an increasingly steep drop off where it is very hard to make money in the middle of the market.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

It's gone from being all about boxed games sold at retail where what was on the cartridge was the final game to a totally live experience.

Being able to fix issues, extend experiences and ultimately have games live for years beyond their release completely changes the experience of marketing.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

Looking forward to hearing from a wide array of games makers about how they've conquered the challenge of getting noticed in this jam-packed marketplace.

Find out more about Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 on the website.