Introduction
In this task I am using secondary qualitative and quantitative research to help measure, Identify and understand the audience profile for star wars battle front. Audience profiling is important because it gives the game developers the opportunity to make choices which is targeted for their audience.
Secondary Research
Star wars battlefront is a series first launched in 2004 but has been updated recently in 2015 and is the third major release in the Star Wars: Battlefront sub-series. The game includes first and third person shooting based on the film franchise star wars. The game revolves around two armies the Galactic Empire versus the Rebel Alliance the Maps take place in the Star Wars galaxy, with battle zones varying in theme and size.
Star wars main target audience was for all star-wars enthusiasts from different age ranges, they basically wanted the same audience who enjoyed the star wars films to enjoy the star wars video games. This means that there target audience could of been from 12 years old to 50 year olds because the actual audience for the star wars film is an audience for all ages for instance the star wars films includes enough excitement to engage children as well as enough thrill, romance, drama and lovable characters for adults.
Below you can see a game play off online mode of the new star wars: battlefront. You can see how detailed the level design is, it has dynamic lighting and vivid textures. Although you can tell the game play is 'arcade like', it has no violence or gore involved in the game.
Star wars main target audience was for all star-wars enthusiasts from different age ranges, they basically wanted the same audience who enjoyed the star wars films to enjoy the star wars video games. This means that there target audience could of been from 12 years old to 50 year olds because the actual audience for the star wars film is an audience for all ages for instance the star wars films includes enough excitement to engage children as well as enough thrill, romance, drama and lovable characters for adults.
Below you can see a game play off online mode of the new star wars: battlefront. You can see how detailed the level design is, it has dynamic lighting and vivid textures. Although you can tell the game play is 'arcade like', it has no violence or gore involved in the game.
"We had designed it to be a much more accessible product to a wide age group," Jorgensen said, noting that it's one of just a few teen-rated shooters on the market. "So, an eight-year-old could play with his father on the couch, as well as a teenager or 20-year-old could play the game and enjoy it. It is more accessible. And for the hardcore, it may not have the depth that they wanted in the game." - http://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-battlefront-may-lack-depth-ea-exec-admits/
As you can see above there is a quote which I found on a website which explains how star wars battle front was purposely designed to be more of a chilled co -op game which children, teens and adult can all enjoy and play together however on this website they also stated that star-wars isn't difficult enough for the hard core gamers. Although this isn’t exactly true, I have done enough secondary research to know that the game play is defiantly leaning more on the side of hardcore first person shooter players than children.
I do agree that star wars target audience was for a wider age audience because the actual game play of star wars isn't to complicated and it is basic enough for children to play for example it doesn't have any in-deep customization. However seen as the game is 90% online the game has turned into more of a competitive game than it originally thought it would, making its audience smart, strategy players who can easily dominate against the casual players which star wars didn't expect. So even though star wars target demographic was for star wars fans and it wasn't designed for hardcore gamers and is in fact one of the first person shooters to be teen-rated but because the game is mostly online, it has slowly turned into a game which is more about beating the competition than a game where 'an eight-year-old could play with his father on the couch'. Below this there is a quote which I have found on a website whilst doing secondary research.
At the bottom there is a graph from IMDB user rating's for the star wars battlefront.
According to this graph males play the game a lot more than females do which is surprising seen as most video gamer's are actually more female than male and battlefront included woman storm troopers to give the game more of a gender diversity. I read on the guardian article online about how more females and 45 + year olds are now begining to play video games more than adults, teens and children.
The study also reveals there are now more people over 44 years old playing games making that 27% of the whole gamer population. Three years ago the percentage was only 49%, The reason why the female and older gamers population in gamers is now increasing is because off free games, usually on mobile apps. In the article it states; 'Not only do games fail to represent that 52% of players identify as women, the fact is that women in games – as characters, and as creators – are still barely visible.' However, it is understanding as Male console players make up 63% of players compared to 37% of women, and the men are still the main FPS demographic with 66% of males playing the genre compared 34% of women. Whilst men only make up to 46.5% of RPG players compared to the 53.6% of females. In the MMO market, men are still the majority with 66%, but two of every five players are female.
Star wars battlefront's audience age is spread across a wide variety of ages, just like they targeted to. Although in this graph it says that only 71 of the players who have voted are under 18 whilst 491 players are aged 18-29 and 253 are aged 30-44 years old. This means that the game is mostly played by the older generation which could suggest that children could actually be getting 'pushed' away by more skilled, older players who think of the game as a competitive game. This means that star wars battlefront did not achieve their target audience age for example, they wanted children and adults to feel comfortable whilst playing the game together although this didn't happen according to this graph.
Starwars battle front wanted children, teens and adults to be able to play this game together although starwars battle front has been given the Pegi rating T which means young teens such as 16 year olds because of the violence enacted by playable characters Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. This was surprising because the Star Wars films from which Battlefront draws its inspiration from have typically carried softer classifications and have all been rated a U by BBFC in the UK.
I do agree that star wars target audience was for a wider age audience because the actual game play of star wars isn't to complicated and it is basic enough for children to play for example it doesn't have any in-deep customization. However seen as the game is 90% online the game has turned into more of a competitive game than it originally thought it would, making its audience smart, strategy players who can easily dominate against the casual players which star wars didn't expect. So even though star wars target demographic was for star wars fans and it wasn't designed for hardcore gamers and is in fact one of the first person shooters to be teen-rated but because the game is mostly online, it has slowly turned into a game which is more about beating the competition than a game where 'an eight-year-old could play with his father on the couch'. Below this there is a quote which I have found on a website whilst doing secondary research. "I'd have to say that the original release was an equal playing field for players of all levels. Casual players were just as effective as experienced FPS players because many of the weapons and star cards were strong. Now I feel the game have shifted to where smart, strategic players dominate against the casual players. In today's version of SWBF the casual player or anyone just buying the game doesn't stand a chance." - http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/forums/discussion/42986/intended-audience-and-changes
At the bottom there is a graph from IMDB user rating's for the star wars battlefront.
The study also reveals there are now more people over 44 years old playing games making that 27% of the whole gamer population. Three years ago the percentage was only 49%, The reason why the female and older gamers population in gamers is now increasing is because off free games, usually on mobile apps. In the article it states; 'Not only do games fail to represent that 52% of players identify as women, the fact is that women in games – as characters, and as creators – are still barely visible.' However, it is understanding as Male console players make up 63% of players compared to 37% of women, and the men are still the main FPS demographic with 66% of males playing the genre compared 34% of women. Whilst men only make up to 46.5% of RPG players compared to the 53.6% of females. In the MMO market, men are still the majority with 66%, but two of every five players are female.
"Based on interviews with 4,000 UK residents, the research asserts that women now account for 52% of the gaming audience, up from 49% three years ago." -https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/17/women-video-games-iab
"Over half (56%) of people aged 45-54 have played a video game in the last six months, as have 44% of 55-64 year olds and even a third (32%) of 65-74s." https://www.iabuk.net/about/press/archive/more-women-now-play-video-games-than-men
"The reason why more females and older gamers population is now beginning to grow is because of free games, usually on mobile apps. One third of respondents, overall, cite trivia/word/puzzles as their favourite game genre – compared to over half (56%) of women at least 45 years old and half of women aged 25-44. Action/adventure/ shooter games are the next favourite, cited by 18% of all respondents, rising to 45% of 16-24 year old males and 26% of men 25-44." - https://www.iabuk.net/about/press/archive/more-women-now-play-video-games-than-men#1ewvFcxsLejItqGY.99
Star wars battlefront's audience age is spread across a wide variety of ages, just like they targeted to. Although in this graph it says that only 71 of the players who have voted are under 18 whilst 491 players are aged 18-29 and 253 are aged 30-44 years old. This means that the game is mostly played by the older generation which could suggest that children could actually be getting 'pushed' away by more skilled, older players who think of the game as a competitive game. This means that star wars battlefront did not achieve their target audience age for example, they wanted children and adults to feel comfortable whilst playing the game together although this didn't happen according to this graph.
Starwars battle front wanted children, teens and adults to be able to play this game together although starwars battle front has been given the Pegi rating T which means young teens such as 16 year olds because of the violence enacted by playable characters Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. This was surprising because the Star Wars films from which Battlefront draws its inspiration from have typically carried softer classifications and have all been rated a U by BBFC in the UK.
Links
http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/forums/discussion/42986/intended-audience-and-changes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Battlefront
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3702328/ratings
http://www.iabuk.net/news/33-million-uk-game-players
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/04/17/star-wars-celebration-star-wars-battlefront-will-let-you-play-as-a-female-stormtrooper
http://www.brokenjoysticks.net/2016/01/13/star-wars-battlefront-faults-equality-falls-short/
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/17/women-video-games-iab
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-11-16-why-is-star-wars-battlefront-a-pegi-16
http://www.8bitdad.com/2015/11/23/what-parents-need-to-know-about-star-wars-battlefront-get-your-kid-a-fake-id-19466/
http://slickdeals.net/f/8389849-ps4-star-wars-battlefront-39-99-take-50-off-ea-sports-game-fifa-madden-nhl-nba-live-target