One of the most challenging difficulties for us to overcome when we started Ahasai Designs was not a technical problem but rather a cultural perception of competitiveness. When we started to conduct research into the app-store; we discovered that there were thousands of independent studios and game developers already in there trying to sell their products. Although the consumer base was large, hundreds of millions units sold, the idea that we had to compete against all of them was intimidating.
How do you even know if your game or game mechanic is unique and interesting when confronted with a vast ocean of applications? It would have been impossible to try them all and create something from those trials which was completely unique. Yet, my cultural bias kept pushing itself into my brain. "To succeed you must be the best. To succeed you must be a top seller. To be noticed it has to be more amazing than any other products."
This idea of being #1 was / is incredibly stifling. How do you start when someone else has already been there? So, I had to sit down and figure out what I wanted from my product. What outcome was I / we looking for? Well, Ahasai Designs wanted to pay its staff, wanted to generate enough income that we could pay our bills and make more amazing games. Then I calculated that to a set, realistic figure and realised we only need .01% of the user base to purchase just one of our products. One time.
That's an incredibly small number and even better than that once I got the past the intimidation of the number of developers out there, I saw that there were developers who I had never heard of making good money. Not sensational Angry Birds cash but good enough to grow their portfolio and keep themselves paid.
Yet major difficulty was accepting that these developers were not competitors. Just because someone purchased their product did not mean that they would not purchase mine. In fact, the price point was so low that it encouraged multiple purchases of a variety of products. The risk for the consumer had almost become negligible.
Most of my life, I've been taught through advertising and word of mouth that the best rise to the top of mountain. That the only reason these people / companies are such incredible successes is because they are better than their competitors. Therefore to become a success, I have to become the best. Plus, I have to believe that my product is better than others. My product makes your product inferior.
I haven't agreed with that assessment since I was 18. But it's culturally ingrained. 'I have to be better than my neighbours, own a bigger car, earn more money' etc. Even though I make a conscious decision to believe differently, years of indoctrination pound away when confronted with the reality of owning your business.
I understand why it's encouraged by the current successful companies of today. To instill the idea into people that success is quality and quality is success is a great way of establishing a psychological barrier to new entrants. It discourages risk taking "I don't know this company, will it be good?" and encourages repeat purchases "I trust this company, I know of them." It builds repeat customers and perceived value of products which allows you to charge more.
So even though I dislike the 'good, better, best' mantra, I still struggled with it. I had to accept that someone purchasing a RPG from a video game store could still purchase an Ahasai Designs' game. That I was not competing against Blizzard or Chillingo, rather we could work with them to expand their game player's entertainment experience.
For us it was a revolution because we good focus on creating good games instead of 'the best game' and tailor our entire company philosophy towards that. Instead of trying to think we were better than our 'competitors' we could realise that we were equal with our 'team mates' who are constantly trying to lift your digital experience.
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