It's a sign of just how big casual gaming has gotten: today start-up WonderHill announced its intent to go into the space and create strictly "family-friendly" titles that are still enjoyable to players of all ages, particularly 30+ users likely to have children of their own. WonderHill likens its approach to how Pixar constructs its critically-acclaimed but still child-friendly and financially successful films. The company launches with $7 million in Series A venture capital funding from Charles River Ventures and Shasta Ventures.
In an email to Virtual Goods News, WonderHill CEO James Currier stated he intended to bring experience gained in working with virtual currency as a member of the board of directors for Second Life operator Linden Lab to WonderHill's games. He states that virtual currency and goods will in fact be a focus of monetization for WonderHill, as an alternative to extensive use of advertising. He hints that ads may appear in the future, but they will appear selectively and be used to "enhance gameplay and community."
WonderHill's press release trumpets a company that intends to compete head-to-head with casual game giants like Zynga, Playfish, and EA's Pogo.com. From most companies this would be mere bluster but WonderHill has the talent to go with it. Along with Currier and co-founder Stan Chudovsky's significant experience in creating profitable web start-ups like Tickle.com, WonderHill's Chief Creative Officer role will be filled by Nick Rush.
Rush is the casual gaming world's superstar designer, comparable to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. He comes to WonderHill after tenures with EA's Pogo and iWin.com. At Pogo, Rush created some of the portal's must popular games as well as the lucrative Club Pogo subscription service. At iWin, Rush took part in the creation of major casual hits like Jewel Quest, Mah Jongg Quest, and Jojo's Fashion Show. Going back even farther, he was one of the creators of the highly successful You Don't Know Jack game series and the famous Flying Toasters line of screensavers.
It should be easy for WonderHill to leverage its existing user base toward new games as well. Currie says the company will now focus on single-player Flash games to balance out the existing social games (and hiring developers to do it). However, while the games may be different, he says that they'll all share the same virtual wallet. In other words, success and commitment in one game makes it easier to try another.
But the style of the games likely won't change too much.
“There are plenty of violent, edgy, competitive games out there. That’s not what we do. Our games focus on cooperation, communication, creativity, nurturing, and making the world a better place,” Rush said in a statement.
WonderHill's gentle image is key to how the company expects to turn a profit. While EA's Pogo portal is family-friendly, WonderHill's current games Dog World and Green Spot are operating in the wilds of Facebook and MySpace. Top casual games for adults in this sector usually focus on themes that most would consider at least a little unsavory, like gambling, organized crime, and fantasy violence. WonderHill's betting that they can draw more players in the long run with more upbeat and socially conscious games that incorporate donations to charity as gameplay mechanics.
This is probably a safe bet-- in most other mediums, the G-rated and "family friendly" properties are usually the ones able to rake in the most money. Even in the gaming sphere, family-friendly Nintendo routinely out-earns and out-sells the more teen boy-oriented Microsoft and Sony platforms. Given that precedent, it doesn't seem impossible that one day cute and cuddly WonderHill could manage to outearn current casual gaming top dog Zynga-- which could already be making $100 million a year.
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