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ITV hones game strategy

GAMESFORTV: ITV’s new director of brands is planning to get the UK broadcaster’s “disjointed” online gaming strategy “working” within a year before targeting growth.

Paul Kanareck, who joined ITV from FremantleMedia’s investment arm FremantleMedia Ventures (FMV) in 2011, told delegates here that ITV had been “disjointed in its approach to gaming” in the past and his focus for the next 12 months would be to implement a new strategy.

ITV has had mixed results in the online gaming sector, with its ETV-produced Corrie Nation game failing to achieve traction with users despite the strength of the popular drama brand. The company is now developing new digital content around soap Emmerdale with UK prodco Somethin’ Else.

Kanareck lead FMV’s acquisition of digital games prodco Ludia in 2010 but said this had come about due to the company having a “very well-tuned licensing division.” ITV, on the other hand, “had a gaming strategy in the past that was a little bit disjointed. My priority in the next year is to get that working and get the basics working really well.”

Once this is in place, ITV will then look at an acquisitions strategy, Kanareck said during a panel session at C21’s Games4TV conference, held in London at Bafta today.

This comes after BBC Worldwide, whose executive VP of digital entertainment and games Robert Nashak was also on the panel, titled Broadcasters & Games – The Evolution of a Relationship, recently invested an undisclosed amount in US technology firm Spaceport.io to further its own efforts in this space, a move that could spark more consolidation in the interactive sector.

Explaining the acquisition of Spaceport, which is building a platform that allows games to run across mobile and the web, Nashak said: “The company has a special technology that allows them to code once and deploy across multiple platforms. For us, that’s a way to lower our costs of development and optimise our distribution reach. It’s been so far, so good.”

Also during the session, Nashak said BBCWW is developing a Facebook social game based on the works of Pride & Prejudice author Jane Austen. Developed with Legacy Interactive, Jane Austen’s Rogues & Romance will allow players to take part in an adventure that follows Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy after they are married.

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