Businessmodel of Bigpoint

Customer Segments

Bigpoint provides an online gaming platform and various gaming products designed for the general consumer market. The platform attracts a range of consumers, not just confined to those who identify as gamers. Bigpoint’s platform provides access to a range of games, including various casual and social games that attract a similar audience to that of mobile games, spanning a spectrum of age demographics, as well as more in-depth role-playing games that attract a more dedicated audience of gaming enthusiasts.

Bigpoint is based in Germany. As an online company, however, it is able to serve an international audience. According to recent statistics, around 40% of its web traffic comes from Poland, followed by Germany with 10.71%, Turkey with 5.78%, the US with 4.75%, and France with 3.68%.

Value Propositions

Bigpoint provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• The quality and diversity of its gaming products, with the Company offering a number of high-quality games to its customers, spanning a variety of genres and playing styles in order to attract gamers of all kinds;
• Its accessibility and ease of use, with the Company’s games made available to customers as in-browser offerings, with no download required, and the games being available on a freemium basis, with payment required;
• Its social features, with the Company enabling its users to interact with one another and meet people with similar interests;
• Its technical expertise and experience, with the Company employing large teams of experienced, specialist engineering staff, as well as a team of experienced industry executives; and
• Its international reach, with the Company operating offices in its home market of Germany, as well as in Turkey, South Korea, France, Malta, and the US, and serving an international audience through its online gaming platform. ### Channels

Bigpoint operates a website at www.bigpoint.net, through which it provides information on its various games, services, and operating locations. It also operates a website at www.bigpoint.com, through which it makes a greater range of games available. The Company’s websites also serve as access points to its online gaming portal, enabling customers to sign up for a user account, play games, and make purchases directly through the Bigpoint website. The Company’s games are offered on a freemium basis, with each game having its own in-game store, through which users can purchase in-game extras with real money. While the Company principally offers desktop browser-based games, it also provides a single mobile game, named Hocus Puzzle, that is available on iOS and Android devices.

Bigpoint operates an international network of offices, out of which its sales support, technical support, and engineering teams work. This network comprises seven offices across Hamburg, Berlin, Lyon, Istanbul, Malta, San Francisco, and Seoul. Bigpoint does not operate a direct sales force, as its sales are routed through its various online games; however, the Company’s sales support and technical support staff are available to assist customers directly with issues.

Customer Relationships

Bigpoint operates an entirely self-service online gaming platform through its website. Through this online channel, customers are able to browse games, register user accounts, play games, and make in-game purchases without interacting with members of the Company’s personnel. Similarly, the Company’s offers an entirely self-service mobile game, which can be downloaded independently from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Marketplace.

Bigpoint provides technical and sales support to its customers through its website, where users are able to fill in an online contact form and receive a personalised response to queries, complaints, and technical concerns. The Company also provides a range of online resources to users, including FAQs, technical detail, and account management assistance.

Bigpoint offers a range of social and community features through its games, with users able to interact with one another, play games together, and work together on in-game and external problems. The Company also maintains its own network of social media accounts, through which it is able to interact directly with users and keep them updated with company developments. This includes accounts with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Key Activities

Bigpoint is an online gaming company. It is engaged in the design, development, and marketing a range of online games to consumers around the world.

The Company offers users access to a broad range of games, spanning various genres and styles – including casual games, social games, and role-playing games – that are accessible through desktop browsers or via compatible mobile devices. Bigpoint’s games are free to play and require no up-front costs; users, however, do have the option to spend money on in-game purchases that enhance their gaming experience.

Bigpoint is based in Germany, where it has two offices. It also operates an international network of offices, with locations in the US, Malta, France, Turkey, and South Korea.

Key Partners

Bigpoint works in conjunction with a number of companies in order to effectively produce and distribute its gaming content. These partners include:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of tools, resources, equipment, and services that are utilised across the Company’s operations in support of its development and delivery of online games;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising a range of distributors, including major online companies and platforms, that assist in extending the reach and visibility of the Company’s platform across new markets;
• Content and Licensing Partners, comprising various content creators and broadcast networks that allow the Company to develop games based on licenced properties;
• Technology Partners, comprising various technology and software development partners that support the Company’s games development and platform maintenance operations; and
• Marketing and Affiliate Partners, comprising a range of companies and websites that assist I driving traffic to the Company’s websites, in return for commission on sales. Bigpoint has partnered with several major brands. This includes a deal with China’s Tencent to distribute the Company’s Drakensang online game in China. The Company also has major licensing partnerships with US cable networks HBO and NBC Universal, allowing it to produce games on Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica respectively.

Key Resources

Bigpoint’s key resources are its technologies and intellectual properties, its licensing agreements, its online platform, its IT and communications infrastructure, its sales and distribution channels, its partnerships, and its personnel – notably its technical staff.

Bigpoint relies in part on its various patents and intellectual properties. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified two patent applications in which Bigpoint or its US subsidiary were named as applicant or assignee: ‘Online game system and method’, and ‘Online game system, method, and computer-readable medium’.

Bigpoint also owns and or leases a network of offices across Germany, Turkey, France, Malta, the US, and South Korea, that are key to its activities.

Cost Structure

Bigpoint incurs costs in relation to the development of its games and technologies, the licensing of third-party content, the development and maintenance of its online platform, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

Revenue Streams

Bigpoint generates revenue through the development and distribution of online games. The Company operates under a freemium revenue model, whereby its provides its games to consumers free of charge, providing the option for users to make in-game purchases that enhance or extend their gaming experience. The Company has also generated some revenue through the sale of individual gaming properties.

Bigpoint does not disclose its financial results online. Research did not identify any recent reference to its estimated revenue figures. The Company’s parent company, Youzu, generated CNY 1.54 billion (approximately $228.48 million) in operating revenue for 2015.