Feature: David Perry, 'Worthy of Acclaim'

For today's Gamasutra feature, we talk with Shiny founder and former president David Perry about his latest project, a free advertisement supplemented MMORPG called 2Moons for the newly revitalized Acclaim, as well as his thoughts on the future of online gaming and developer investment. Says Perry on the balance of in-game advertising with 2Moons: "Advertising (in general) does suck today! The solution is not to ram advertising down a gamer's throat. I believe it's all about an exchange. We know that advertising pays the bills, but don't ruin my service over it. What I prefer is, if I don't want adverts and they truly annoy to me, then just let me turn them off. If I don't mind the adverts, then reward me. Then advertising could be a win/win. Different people have their own opinions; we respect those opinions by giving choice. I expect many will just turn off the adverts. Some will choose the rewards. (In 2Moons you level up faster if the static advert is on.) I'm happy to work with the in-game advertising companies, to help them improve the relationship between their audience and their clients. I feel that making gamers watch adverts they frankly don't want to see is actually a disservice to their advertising clients. These concepts seem a long way off for TV, but they can certainly work for games. So Acclaim will be the first company to deliver the promise of truly free games. For me this is interesting and could change how people think about funding games. If I fail, nothing changes. If I succeed, then in the future you'll end up reaching in your wallet a lot less." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the topic, including more on Perry's past, his decision to leave Shiny for Acclaim, and on finding new investment routes for developers (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).