There is no shortage of digital marketplaces in 2015. Many publishers are trying to emulate Valve’s software sales success, but a relative newcomer to the digital distribution battlefield may have just the strategy to succeed where so many others have failed.
We spoke with Anthony Palma, founder and CEO of Kermdinger Studios, about Boondogl - the latest in a growing pool of software marketplaces. In the company’s own words, Boondogl is a “platform-agnostic video game marketplace” that uses web deployment to enable access to a variety of games inside a standard internet browser. While still a bit different than streaming, a technology that’s failed to impress most audiences when applied to active gaming (rather than gameplay broadcasts), Boondogl lets gamers run sizable games without any local installs, lengthy download times or third-party plug-ins.
“Fragmentation is a huge issue in the market. So we wanted to kind of unite the fragmented hardware market, since movies and music have already gone back to platform ubiquity,” Palma said. “We’re kind of the natural evolution of the gaming marketplace.”
Kermdinger Studios didn’t actually set out to make a digital storefront, though. Kermdinger began as an independent game studio but early hurdles put Palma & Co. on the path to creating a platform-agnostic marketplace. The studio was having trouble getting ports of its game running on multiple platforms, throwing a wrench in an intended multi-platform launch strategy, and the (then) current state of web deployment didn’t offer much hope.
“We had looked at web deployment, for games, in the past. But there wasn’t really a place to put your games. There was no store. So we kind of dismissed it at the time,” Palma told iDigitalTimes. “But, end of last year, a lot of the major engines, like Unity, Unreal and GameMaker, said they were opening up web exports…So we started playing with the idea of building a marketplace for native web games.”
There was certainly no shortage of reasons to make the change. For starters, web deployment would drastically cut down on the load times of any Boondogl title, allowing some games to be ready for player input less than a minute after they’re being chosen. An incomplete build of CrossCode, a 2D role-playing game that’s already available on Steam Early Access, loaded in less than a minute during a private demo.
From a consumer perspective, the rise of Boondogl could eliminate the need for players to re-buy their favorite games if/when new platforms are released. Rather than buying the latest HD remake/remaster, Boondogl customers would still have access to games they’ve purchased, provided their new system(s) still has a web browser. Presumably, Boondogl’s multiplayer features would also rise above the digital walls that typically separate console and PC communities.
More importantly, creating a system that could be accessed from any internet-capable device would pave the way for Kermdinger to deliver the seamless gaming experience that so many have dreamed of. Imagine a world where you could wake up and start a game on your PS4, Xbox One or gaming PC, pause the game when it’s time to leave for work, only to resume your session (via phone/tablet) after getting on the train. Maybe you even find a few minutes to play at work, either on your lunch break or a Friday afternoon when your boss is out of the office.
Some of that functionality will be made possible by PlayFab, a company that specializes in providing all manner of online services for game developers who don’t have the time/money/manpower to maintain such services internally. With PlayFab providing backend support, Boondogl will eventually include all of the same features – like achievements, multiplayer matchmaking and cloud storage – that players have come to expect from their gaming services. Cloud saves, in particular, will be vital to deliver the vision of Boondogl presented during our demonstration. Kermdinger Studios will need some big games, too..
“The big thing for us is going to be getting flagship titles,” Palma said. “We need to build a business case to be able to attract future developers. We’re pursuing early adopters, who want to revive some older titles. [Games] that still look great, still have great brand recognition, and bring them to the platform as the initial titles for the service.”
According to Palma, Kermdinger is already in talks with several publishers and developers, including a few companies that the general public is quite familiar with. Unfortunately, those talks haven’t reached a point where the Boondogl crew can begin trumpeting the titles that will help the storefront establish a foothold in the market. The talks are also creating some uncertainty, regarding the launch of Boondogl, with the game’s Q2 2015 launch timeline now pushed back to sometime in late August. Exact timing will depend on the outcome of the company’s ongoing negotiations.
On Day One, Boondogl will be compatible with PC, Mac and Linux, with a small selection of titles that can be run inside of most modern browsers. The team is still working on gamepad integration but Palma says Kermdinger will developer additional tools for things like gamepad support.
Over the next twelve months, the Boondogl team will work to expand the number of platforms on which their storefront can be accessed. The Boondogl team already has a version of its software running on Android; though it’s not quite ready for public consumption, and the ease with which Kermdinger made its new storefront accessible on Android has them convinced it’ll be just as easy to get Boondogl iOS-ready. Eventually, the studio hopes to make Boondogl accessible via PS4, Xbox One and other internet-ready game consoles, too.
“The casual and social markets are pretty much claimed for browsers. So what we’re trying to go after is the mid-core to hardcore market,” Palma told iDigi. “The way we branded it initially, so people would get it really quick, is ‘Steam for Web’. And now it’s more like ‘Steam for Everything.’ We’re looking for games that a gamer, like [me], would want to play wherever I am.”
Fortunately, the team’s vision for Boondogl meshes well with the demands of many modern video games. While the platform will launch exclusively with premium content, meaning games that with an actual price tag, Palma says the Boondogl team expects to see plenty of free-to-play titles content in their marketplace. The company isn’t especially interested in proliferating traditional web games, like the time-killing titles that leave your Facebook notifications inundated with requests, but Palma says he’d love to see a few MOBAs on Boondogl down the line.
Palma says the company isn’t necessarily interested in telling developers what kinds of games they can/can’t make for Boondogl; however, Kermdinger is looking to prove browser games don’t have to be the endless runners, Farmville clones and other mindless time-killers that have become an unavoidable part of the gaming ecosystem. In fact, Palma believes native web games could soon match the quality of PS3 and 360 releases. They might even compare to the PS4 or Xbox One.
But the immediate future might be in unifying a market (VR) experiencing heavy fragmentation before a single product ever reached store shelves. The only headsets currently in the wild were intended to be used by developers, almost all of which are Rifts; however, more than half a dozen companies have confirmed plans to release a VR headset in the coming years. But no one seems to have a real plan for the VR software market.
“The market hasn’t even launched yet and there are already eight devices,” Palma said. “For VR, there are no marketplaces. There is no competition. So we can come in and be the central marketplace for all VR content, across all devices, and be a place where people buy and sell their games for all VR headsets. And I think that’s a particularly interesting opportunity for us.”
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more video game news, including additional Boondogl coverage, throughout the rest of 2015.
