{"id":1477,"date":"2015-10-05T23:52:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T03:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ibetcha-want-network-effects\/"},"modified":"2015-10-05T23:57:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-06T03:57:07","slug":"ibetcha-want-network-effects","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ibetcha-want-network-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"IBETCHA Want Network Effects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite an onslaught of digital gaming, we are beginning to see a renaissance in \u201chobby games.\u201d These games allow greater face-to-face interactions than their digital counterparts and now account for $880m in the US and Canada annually. Check out<\/a> the Economist jumping onboard.<\/p>\n

Despite being unplugged from the internet, these games understand the benefits of creating an online community and leveraging their growing user base.<\/p>\n

One example of this is a card game startup out of 性视界 called IBETCHA<\/a>. IBETCHA combines Cards Against Humanity (CAH) and Never Have I Ever (NHIE) and is played as follows:<\/p>\n

1.) To start the game, each player draws eight BETCHA Cards.<\/p>\n

2.) Each round starts with a new victim and everyone puts down a card that they think The Victim has done.<\/p>\n

3.) The Victim shuffles all the cards and shares each card with the group.<\/p>\n

4.) The Victim then picks one card she has done, tells the story, and whoever submitted it gets the number of points on the card.<\/p>\n

The question for gaming startups like IBETCHA is how to make the leap onto the web in order to capture some coveted network effects. IBETCHA has a several step strategy that is being revealed here for the first time. The plan has been dubbed \u201coperation neTwerk\u201d and will be implemented as follows:<\/p>\n

1.) Create an app. The app will serve as a platform for players of IBETCHA to post their best stories, pictures, and videos playing the game. The app will also have a google chat plugin for friends to play against each other remotely.<\/p>\n

2.) Grow the platform. As more users download the app to hear stories from their peer-group, IBETCHA plans to incentivize users to purchase the game and contribute their own stories. The app will be free to download, but users will only be able to view content proportional to their contribution to the community. For example, if a user uploads a 3-minute video telling a story about himself, he will then have access to a few 3-minute videos of others in his social network telling stories.<\/p>\n

3.) Quality Control. In the early stages, the founders plan to vet every incoming video for quality and propriety in order to reward relevant submissions with additional access to other content. At the end of each video submission users will vote whether or not the video was cool.<\/p>\n

4.) $$$. The founders were not comfortable revealing how this operation makes money. \u201cIBETCHA encourages people to tell their best stories which are often times a perfect opportunity for self-promotion. It\u2019s easier to brag about yourself when your friends are forcing you to do so. We believe there is considerable value in becoming the platform that allows you to shamelessly tell your coolest stories. If we run out of money, maybe we\u2019ll start selling headbands.\u201d said IBETCHA co-founder Erik Westland.<\/p>\n

The primary challenge for IBETCHA is attracting a large enough user-base in order to create the content that keeps people coming back. Once that happens, advertisers are sure to follow. In the meantime, IBETCHA seems staunchly opposed to the idea of advertising. \u201cWe\u2019re not creating this game so corporate America can weasel in and sell you Dodge Neons. We\u2019re doing this so people can have fun and tell kewl (sic) stories. But we\u2019ll also be selling headbands.\u201d said Erik.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hobby games are booming and they're making the jump online in search of network effects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":1479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[391,643,21],"class_list":["post-1477","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games","category-ibetcha","category-network-effects"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/competing-with-network-effects\/","yoast_head":"\nIBETCHA Want Network Effects - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ibetcha-want-network-effects\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IBETCHA Want Network Effects - 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