At our Startup Asia Jakarta 2012 conference in Indonesia, we heard from Evan Spytma, the regional director of PopCap Games for Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Our editor Charlie Custer asked him about how the company intends to localize in the region, as well as some general discussion of PvZ and their other titles. Below are some paraphrased highlights of Evan’s talk.
#11:06: When we were developing PvZ we knew it would be a success because the feedback in the studio. This was the first time we made the jump into tower defense, and there was some talk internally about if this was the direction we wanted to go. But once the employees started playing it, they were really excited, they couldn’t want to get the next build. We could not have predicted the success so far, and we look forward to growing more in Southeast Asia.
#11:08: With all of our games it really starts with the studio and the local employees and branching out to their families. They play the game and give feedback. We give it the grandmother test, we give it to Jason Kapalka’s grandmother and let her try. If we can have children and grondparents as well as our accounting and legal team playing, then we feel it can be a success.
#11:10: In terms of localization we first appreciated the need for it four years ago. Before moving to APAC, we set up studio in Shanghai in Asia for Asia. It needs to be fast and nimble to address local need. China for China, in Japan for Japan, with local people on the ground for the correct business models and artwork for our games. Traditionally we launch in English, and then after launch much of the success ramps up throughout the years. We don’t have the need to recoup dev costs in the first 12 weeks. We can see, in what markets are it popular. Then we can see if we want to put people on the ground to develop further.
#11:12: Localization is something we are considering in Indonesia, I’d almost say it’s a must here.
#11:13: I think we start with cultural references that we can tie in. Our Japan team has launched Pop Tower, and it has been on the GREE network for I think eleven months now [with great results on the charts].
#11:16: (On piracy) When we first started to move to APAC, we had James Gertzman come to China, and he showed us many CDs from there and said “See we are already in China.” So if we don’t go to the market, then someone else will fill that vacuum. We partnered with Meters Bonwe and sold clothing there. There was a line outside the stores there and we had lines wrapping around buildings, with people taking photos with our mascots. We’ll continue around the freemium model, but no longer are we building a $20 game but maybe a $20 game one dollar at a time with micro-transactions.
#11:19: Int his model of in Asia for Asia we can be more flexible with our IP. It’s almost a testing ground where we can do fully localized versions. In terms of future IP, we always have addition IP in the works, and that’s something that we’re always working on. Some people say we polish the pixel too much in terms of taking years to develop, but then it become an evergreen [property] that can [go for a long time].
#11:23: (Any upcoming plans for Indonesia?) I would expect that within this year you will see enhanced versions of PvZ for Indonesia as well as merchandise that you will see in the country.
#11:24: (Charlie asks about how social games affect people, and potential negative effects) I think about four or five years ago, gaming was more of a hardcore experience and people were debating what was a ‘casual’ game. And we did some studies on this internally and hired independent research companies, to see the effects of PopCap games on our users, asking why they play PoPCap games. And we were the first to show that casual games are actually beneficial. We need time to relax, and Bejeweled is not a game that’s going to stress you out. […] I think this is more of a concern with hardcore MMOs than with casual games. But we are indeed concerned with any effects that our games might have on our fans. For example, the violent aspect of PvZ with peas shooting Zombies and body parts falling off we had to make sure that was done in a fun way. But yes, we do have these type of discussions internally.
This is a part of our coverage of Startup Asia Jakarta 2012, our startup event running on June 8 and 9. You can follow along on Twitter at @startupasia, on our Facebook page, on Google Plus, or via RSS.