Olympus Games has created a social marketplace for uploading and downloading user-generated modifications to games known as “mods.”
Seattle-based Olympus Games says its Gmod market will let hardcore video game fans upload their own mods for popular games such as Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion or Portal. Mods often recast an environment for a game with a different art style or theme, or they provide new maps for multiplayer combat. If the site takes off, Gmod could corral a small but enthusiastic community that would be a lucrative target for advertisers or gamer-focused promotions.
There are rivals out there, such as IGN’s File Planet, which has a large section dedicated to game mods. That site gets a lot of traffic as it is a part of the overall IGN community, which attracts millions of gamers. Another rival is Curse.com. But Skylar Kreisher (pictured), chief executive of Olympus Games, said in an interview that he believes his company’s focus on mods will help it compete toe-to-toe.
Kreisher said Gmod will encourage more people to create mods and upload them to the site. He also believes that Gmod could become a nexus for paid mods, not just the free mods that are all over the web. If gamers download the Gmod client software, they can expect to be able to install mods without problems.
The big problem with mods is that they are very difficult to install. Gamers have to find them at a lot of different gamer fan sites. They have to download them into a folder and then install them in a multi-step process. Sometimes the installations don’t go well and they can ruin the user’s computer. Or sometimes they come infected with malware.
Olympus Games says it will scan each file and integrate the mod into its client so that, from within the client software, installing a mod is a simple and safe one-click process. Users can come to the site to see which mods are the most popular or discover new ones they haven’t heard about.
The site is in closed beta testing now with about 2,000 gamers. They are uploading hundreds of mods, and there may be around 1,000 on the site now. There are roughly 70,000 mods out there on the internet, estimates Kreisher. They include new maps, levels, characters, environments, items, vehicles and other things. An open beta test is expected around May.
Gmod could increase the demand for mods among casual gamers, since it will make the process of installing them easier. The company was originally founded in 2005 and has experimented with various ideas. It has been working on the Gmod idea for more than a year. By year-end, Gmod expects to support mods for more than 50 games.
Is the market big enough to support a business like this? Roughly two-thirds of American households play games. About 4 million PC users actively use mods today, according to Olympus Games. Kreisher hopes that number will double in the next three years.
Olympus will make money via a combination of advertising and subscriptions, with the subscription costing around $9 per quarter. Players can pay for a subscription and have access to the installer to get all available mods easily. Or they can watch a short ad whenever they download something. One of the obstacles for monetization is that game companies often don’t allow mods of their games to be sold for profit, so they must often be given away for free.
Kreisher has nine years of experience in games, most recently at Solid State Networks. Colin Christianson, former CEO of Tenacious Ventures, is chief marketing officer. Lee Powers, chief technology officer, was a founder of Adept software. Twelve people are working with the company, including a few part-timers and contractors.
Game development veterans Chris Taylor and J. Mark Hood are advising the company. The company has so far raised angel funding and is raising a seed round right now.
