WEBVTT - How Scopely Turns Hollywood IP Into Videogame Gold 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:11.360 which we talked with some of the brightest minds working 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:16.160 in media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety. Star Trek, 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.680 The Walking Dead and Wheel of Fortune are more than 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:24.240 just iconic TV brands. Their intellectual property powering hit mobile games, 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.040 and that is the stock in trade at Scope Lee 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:29.880 in l a based video game business that has made 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:33.400 a specialty of adapting from one medium to another. To 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.479 discuss how this alchemy is achieved, we've got Scope Lee 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.960 CEO Walter Driver here. Thanks for coming in. Walter, so 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:44.040 tell us first about Scope Lee. How big is the 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:48.560 company got? When did it start? Thanks for having me? Um. Yes, 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.280 Scope is uh is about eight years old. We founded 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.680 in Los Angeles, UM and it's now a very global 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.840 business with operations all of the world. UM and yeah, 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.760 we've built up publishing platform too, you know, transform digital 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:05.800 free experiences into long term businesses. And we've adapted some 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.920 well known pieces of intellectual property and some universes that 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.200 people cared a lot about and give him an opportunity 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.320 to engage within a new medium. UM companies seen really 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.720 significant growth over the last few years. We grew revenues 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:21.520 over fifteen x and sixteen quarters from the beginning of 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.400 two thousand and fifteen to UH the Q one of 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:28.000 two thousand nineteen, and it's publicly known that revenues are 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.319 in the north four million dollars at the beginning of 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.280 this year. UM. And we've done that by a launching, 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.200 you know, a diverse range of products, as you mentioned, uh, 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.760 some of some of the pieces of in electoral property. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.559 But we've created games also in partnership with the w 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:48.880 w E, UM with Looney Tunes UM, and we've created 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:52.760 these across a wide range of of gaming experiences, from 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:57.160 massively multiplayer online strategy game like Star Trek to an 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:59.920 asy grenois multiplayer board game like Yazzi. So we've had 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.320 really a unique record of the last few years of 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.680 of launching successful games across a wide range of categories. 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.040 How do you figure out, though, what partners or licenses 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:13.680 to go with, because when you start talking about Looney 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:15.560 Tunes in w w E, it's all over the map. 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.000 And so I'm curious, how do you figure out what 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:20.080 you want to make into a game? What makes a 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.519 good game? Yeah, So I guess at the core what 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.919 scope LE is is A is a platform for personalized 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.160 software based entertainment, right, And when we say that, I think, 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.480 you know, for uh, you know, listeners of a variety. 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.560 I think we believe that, um, you know, a huge 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.359 amount of entertainment time, energy, and and revenues is going 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:42.920 to move from passively consumed experiences to interactive ones. And 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.680 one of the really powerful things about interactive experiences is 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.880 that they can be personalized by each individual user and 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.520 UM and also the creators of those experiences can can 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.200 build technology and tools that help adapt that experience on 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.040 a per user basis. So UM, depending on how you're 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.040 playing the game, we can adapt things to pair you 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.040 with people at your skill level or your stage in 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.239 the life cycle of your experience inside of that game, 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:05.720 UM and really customized the experience in a way that's 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:09.200 more engaging for you. So we start with that publishing platform, 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.400 and then we built content strategies on top of that, 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:15.040 where we think, what can be a decade long plus 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.960 UM thriving business that's gonna have really high levels of 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:21.560 user engagement and monetization over a long period of time. 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:24.320 And you know, we start with that concept and then 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:27.160 we look at what are the opportunities and mobile gaming 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:29.399 and the types of gameplay that we think we're best 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:32.760 suited to pursue UM. And also we look at what 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.920 brands really resonate with UM those types of players. And 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.680 sometimes it starts with with an I P and a 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:40.760 partner who comes to us and says, you know, we 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.560 think we could you could do something great with Yatzi, 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:45.680 which is the case in our partnership with Hasbro because 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.400 we had already had success making dice games with Dice 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:52.200 with Buddies. In other cases, we've approached you know, I 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.000 P holders and said we have a great plan for 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.160 what we could do with your brand on mobile, which 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.600 was sort of how the Star Trek conversation started happening 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.480 with s as interactive UM, and both methods have been successful. Really, 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.080 what we're thinking about is, you know, what can what 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:10.040 can people still be enjoying doing ten years from now UM, 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:11.880 and how can we get buying that and create a 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.320 world class you know, digital experience, you know, in that universe. 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:19.000 I'm curious about the nature of the deal making with 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.080 the CBS interactives of the world. I mean, like who's 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.800 paying and who here are you just sort of you know, 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.240 creating a service for them or is the value of 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.640 the other way? Yes, So I think this the thinking 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.279 around this has evolved a lot over the last few years, because, 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.200 first of all, I think free to play games in 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.520 the Western world are a very new business, right. This 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:42.599 is really in the last decade this is UM started 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.200 to happen. And so originally I think people thought of 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:48.479 mobile game licensing is sort of an ancillary revenue stream 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.479 for for traditional I pholders. And over the last you know, 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:54.040 even five years, I think that thinking has evolved dramatically. 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:55.839 And we're fortunate to work with some partners who have 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.359 been really strategic and how they think about UM the 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:00.760 digital expressions of their brand and and a lot of 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.400 those groups are now thinking, hey, you know, if we 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.440 own something people care about, what is uh, what is 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.680 the long term digital experience where people can come every 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.640 day and spend you know a lot of time engaging 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.159 with this universe and make it really their own personal 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.680 experience UM. And so that conversation has evolved much more 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.080 from a traditional licensing and the revenue conversation to a 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:23.240 more strategic partnership oriented one. So we've looked for partners 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.760 that kind of share our vision around aligned interests of hey, 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:30.159 how do we go build the biggest business around Star 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:33.000 Trek on mobile together possible? And then we customize the 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.279 economic relationship to promote you know, long term alignment of 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.919 our interests. And so in some cases, um, you know, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.640 their primary goals are to uh, to really introduce that 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.039 brand to new audiences, and sometimes it's to cater to 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.120 existing core audience. Sometimes it's usually a combination of both, 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.560 UM and you know, also to uh, you know, to 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.479 have a very profitable business in its own right, but 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.640 one that is also synergistic with everything else they're doing 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:00.760 with those brands. I'm curious how you look at entertainment 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:06.000 space in general though, in terms of the exploitation potential 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.840 of all the i P that's sitting there, both current 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.640 and past. Is it is it is it an over 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.679 harvested world or is it actually under exploited? Is there 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.719 a sense of that? Yeah? I think for for people 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.600 who work in traditional media industries, it's surprising to understand 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:24.080 just how big gaming is. Right. Um, In two thousand 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.039 and eighteen, you know, gaming was estimated to be a 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.279 hundred and thirty billion dollar industry, growing you know, double 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.320 digits uh. And according to the US Chamber of Commerce 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.479 in two thousand and seventeen, gaming was actually bigger than books, movies, music, 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:39.440 and spot services combined. Huge. Um, it's huge, and it's 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.760 becoming more and more mainstream every day. I mean, there's 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.600 two point four billion gamers out there, which is exponentially 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.520 more than they were even five to ten years ago. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.240 Because you know, if you think about it, the gaming 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:52.320 audience in the West used to be sort of limited 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.160 to people who own a console gaming device or people 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.880 who are PC gamers, and hence that being a gamer 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.120 was like part of your identity, right it was there 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:02.919 were somebody who did that or you weren't. And now 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.520 everybody has a gaming device with them twenty four hours 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.680 a day with with smartphones, um. And so it's a 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:12.520 much much bigger industry. And I think people who own 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:14.880 things people care about want to have an always on 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.400 living ecosystem around their brands that people can can come 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.000 in and engage with and the way that they care 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.280 about most. And so I think, you know, it's it's 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.000 really like one of the most fertile forms of media 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.600 in terms of how fast it's growing and how many 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.200 more people are coming into this space and becoming you know, 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:36.880 gamers every day. So I get how big the business is, 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:39.560 but what I'm curious is is how it relates to 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.840 entertainment in terms of the opportunity there. Do you see 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.880 that there's hundreds of entertainment properties that you could be 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.880 making into games and these damn entertainment companies just are 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.520 moving fast enough where it's like, actually, there's not much 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:55.240 out there, And well, I think we're we're very selective 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.760 about our partnerships, right We're both looking for great brands 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.400 and an audience as that care a lot about those brands, 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.160 and also where we can create we have confidence we 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.240 can create a really world class experience. Um and then 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.120 we're also looking for partners who you know, have a 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.160 shared vision of what we're trying to accomplish. And so 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.200 there there are a lot of those opportunities. They're not hundreds, 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.960 and it's it's also not like we're at the end 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:18.640 of the list of things that would would make a 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:20.280 lot of sense. So I think there's a lot of 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.600 opportunity for us to to continue to bring new uh 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.480 new I p s into interactive mobile experiences, but we're 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.800 also going to create original universes as well. So UM, 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.120 while we've had more success probably in transforming things people 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:36.599 already care about into into digital free to play experiences, 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.120 UM will also probably create original worlds and we may 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:42.560 see those go from mobile first to other forms of 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:44.800 media in the future, and it'll be interesting to see 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.160 UM that transition. So uh, you know, I'm getting a 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:53.080 picture here of the dynamic between you guys and the 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.920 entertainment industry, But I want to know where the leverage is. 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.199 In other words, is it companies like yours that are 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:01.240 lining outside the studio doors or is it the studio 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.400 executives lining outside your doors? In terms of getting these 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.640 games made. Yeah, I mean it's an organic process and 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.320 it's happened in both directions. There's certainly people who approach 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:13.079 us all the time with ideas and and properties that 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:14.880 they would like us to make a mobile game. We 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.760 we do turn most of those UM down because we 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.920 are super selective about our partnerships UM and sometimes we 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:23.320 see something that an I P holder isn't thinking about 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:24.760 or is not top of mind for them. But as 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:26.840 soon as we approach them in our you know, articulate 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.480 our vision for it, they're like that makes a lot 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.880 of sense. So I would say the conversations have been 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.800 pretty easy around the market opportunity, whether people are approaching 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.080 us or we're approaching them. UM, there's a lot of 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.880 receptivity from the traditional entertainment industry around gaming, and I 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:44.120 think what what a lot of those executives understand is 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.120 it's a very different business and while it's also media, 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.680 it's it's a different business model and requires a totally 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.120 different set of skills, and so most of them are thinking, hey, 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.160 we need to find great partners to approach this with 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.640 UM and scope is really differentiated itself in that regarding me, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.640 we've want six consecutive mobile gaming franchises that will achieve 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.599 over a hundred million dollars of lifetime revenues, which is 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:09.000 pretty unique across a wide range of ips and gameplay. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:14.319 So everyone from Discovery to Netflix in recent months have 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:18.960 signaled their stretching into the gaming business. Do you think 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.400 that gaming related revenues are going to become more and 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.200 more central to media companies or is it really no 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.240 different than what it's always been going back years Because 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:32.240 the relationship between entertainment video game companies has been there 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.440 for decades. I just think it's changed the law. Yeah, 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.920 I think traditional media executives are understanding how fast gaming 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.400 is growing and how mainstream it's becoming, but they're also 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.560 understanding that in many cases you need to really be 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.160 hyper focus and specialized on being able to execute on 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:49.920 that front. And so I think right now most of 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:53.280 our conversations with media companies are about how do they 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.840 go to direct to consumer and and optimize their direct 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.640 consumer strategy and scope plays kind I'm operating on a 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.240 different actor because we think that they're really exciting evolution 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.560 is going to be providing directed by consumer experiences, and 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.040 by that I mean that that UM software has disrupted 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.720 a lot of different industries over the last decade, and 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.600 it's disrupting media in a in a pretty straightforward way, 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.079 as people are using software to deliver traditional media to 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.439 people in new and exciting ways UM. But I think 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:24.840 the next revolution is going to be that the software 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.960 becomes the entertainment. And if you have UH an entertainment 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.920 experience that is dynamic, then people can it can adapt 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:32.840 to the way people are using it, and the users 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:35.719 can direct their own experience, and that allows people to 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:38.640 have a really personalized experience. It feels unique to them. 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:41.000 That has a lot of value. And also you can 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.280 personalize the business model on a per user basis. So 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.560 all of our games are free to play. UM. You 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:49.000 have unlimited access to the game for free. UH. And 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.640 people choose to invest in their experience, usually by buying 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.199 virtual currency, which they can use to you know, enhance 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:57.400 their experience in a totally self directed way. UM. And 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.440 we find that people really like being able to decide 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.400 how much UH they want to spend it on what 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.480 cadence they want to spend it on. Well, you talk 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.880 about virtual currency, and of course the name Fortnite comes 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.920 to mind. You can't have a gaming conversation of course, 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.200 of course out mentioning Fortnite. But I am curious. You 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:16.160 know how a company like scope Lee looks at that 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:20.720 success and you know or do you guys feel that 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:25.080 the business strategy that you're currently pursuing could set you 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.679 up for that level of success or is that just 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:33.640 a completely different thing that Fortnite is doing what Epic 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.920 Games is doing. Yeah. No, we're super excited about Fortnite 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.680 and its impact on on both the gaming industry and 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.640 UM on players and and people's perception of gaming I 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.160 think it's been a real, um transformative moment in terms 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.960 of how you know, gaming being part of the zeitgeist 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.360 and and really becoming incredibly mainstream. And I think that's 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.880 attracted a lot of interest from uh, you know, people 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.520 in the traditional media as well as investors and and 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:01.800 you know other gaming companies who are thinking about, you know, 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.880 how big the opportunity is here. So I mean, you know, 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.040 it has catalyzed more interests in the space. We saw 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:09.839 twenty two billion dollars of him and A activity and 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.839 gaming in two thousand eighteen and another five and a 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:16.600 half billion of investment in gaming last year. So um, 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:18.679 I think it's catalyzed a lot of interest in this space. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.920 And I think what is unique about Fortnite was that 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:24.760 it was um cross platform and free from day one, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:26.880 and so it was able to reach users on a 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.760 lot of different devices. Um and they built a great 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.200 experience that was really broad and in a new category 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.280 battle Royale games that is probably a twenty billion dollar 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.679 industry this year that didn't exist three years ago. And 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.800 so UM it shows I think, you know how they're 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.080 gonna be new categories of gaming that are created in 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.400 very short periods of time that are bigger than entire 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.600 segments of media within a couple of years um. And 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.400 it also shows this convergence of devices and and business models. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.440 So traditionally console games used to pay sixty dollars to 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.719 buy the game upfront and then there would be a 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.760 sequel two years later. Fortnight is a free to play 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.600 game that is available on consoles but also on mobile 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.880 and and we think the future of interactive entertainment is 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.000 going to be giving people, you know, the experience they 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:11.200 want on whatever device they want, whenever they want, at 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.280 whatever price point they want. Um. And you know, Fortnite 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:18.400 was one of the first products that really delivered on 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.560 that proposition. So clearly there's tremendous upside to be had 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:26.000 being in the gaming business. But you know, you also 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.960 seem to think I also seem to think that when 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.880 I hear about companies that are doing well in the 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.600 gaming business, that there have been some that they're flying 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.880 high today and then they fall tomorrow. Becomes sorry, because 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.680 the trends seemed to change so dramatically and so quickly. 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.080 So how does the company like Scope ly avoid you know, 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.600 being the flavor of the month. Yeah, I think historically 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.200 when people thought about the gaming space, they thought, you know, 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.560 is it are these durable, long term revenue streams, right? 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.960 And obviously in a in a purchase to play environment 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.880 where somebody is paying sixty dollars for a game upfront, UH, 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:05.720 it looks more like the movie business, where there's a 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.240 lot of money made in the first weekend after after 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.720 a launch UM, and so the revenues are not as 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:14.840 consistent and predictable. UM. What we've seen is a really transformal, 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:20.040 transformational evolution in the business model towards free live services UM. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:23.400 And so those live services are really like living ecosystems 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:25.880 where everyday player can come in and different things are 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.880 happening in the game UM, and new features are being 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.400 released every few weeks, and the ecosystem is evolving very dramatically. 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:35.880 And so these are almost more like theme digital playgrounds 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:39.440 than they are traditional games. And that has created um, 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.560 you know, much longer term user engagement and so UM 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.000 we're seeing that. The other reason the gaming is attracting 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:48.080 so much investment lately because people have underestimated how durable 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.880 these franchises are in a live service model. UM. The 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.920 same way we've seen a lot of software companies going 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.920 from from licensing fees to software as a service. You 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.320 see the same thing and gaming and how it's a 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.760 really attractive business mode all if you can create a 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:04.560 durable um uh service for players that they can pay 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:06.720 for over time. And we see it in our products. 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.560 Um So, our dice franchise Yachtzi and Dice with Buddies 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.160 is our oldest franchise's eight years old and achieve record 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.560 revenues last quarter. So you can see these things growing 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.000 eight years in um That's something that I think is 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:22.480 is new for people as they look at this space 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.360 and understand that the things that these businesses can grow 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.320 for a long period of time. And also when you're 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.400 talking about you know, you use the term experience and 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:35.040 it's not just a game. It just makes me wonder 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.680 whether we're going to see sort of different kinds of 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:43.640 hybrid forms of entertainment and gaming. And there's been some 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:47.640 interesting experiments along the way, but you know, you guys 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:52.400 are traditionally taking I P from entertainment that's already been 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:54.760 out there, but have you thought about what happens of 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.840 entertainment and the game launched at the same time. I 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.520 think we'll see all fla verson of that happening moving forward. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.280 And we do talk a lot about experiences because I 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.840 think the other thing is we don't sell games, right, 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.360 the games are free, and we don't sell content either. 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.040 The content is you know, we have unlimited access to games. 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.720 What we offer people a chance to do is invest 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.600 in a personalized experience and uh, and that's just a 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:22.240 different mindset around around media, is that, hey, we we 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.760 created this world for you to come in and customize 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.560 and and invest in however however you want. And so UM, 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.320 I think that is leading to lots of new forms 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:34.000 of gameplay and frankly blurring the line between what is 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.760 a game and what is an interactive experience. And we've 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.200 we've already seen that with you know products and interactive fiction. 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.760 Right is it is it a story if you're choosing 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:44.960 your own adventure and paying to choose different routes, or 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.200 is it a game? Right? It's it's really blurring the lines. 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.000 And I think we'll continue to see more things that 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:54.200 are um broader than than traditional console or PC gaming, UM, 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.760 that are increasingly mainstream experiences for people. Who knows, maybe 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:59.840 by ten years from now, we'll see you know, a 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:03.360 show like West World becomes an actual kind of product 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:07.520 out there's something that really blurs the real and the virtual. Yeah, 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:09.720 I mean I think I think there will be uh, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:14.399 you know, digital interactive versions of things that that people 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:17.600 care about are gonna be you know, manifesting themselves in 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:20.040 a lot of different formats and will continue to see 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:23.280 innovation on that as this becomes increasingly central to people 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:28.280 who own intellectual properties overall business strategy. So your usage 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.840 of t V I P isn't your only Hollywood connection. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.760 You've got some interesting investors from this world as well, 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:37.000 So talk about who's in your camp these days and 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.280 what your investment picture is looking like going forward. Yeah. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.440 So Scope Lee is raised two and or sixty million 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.920 dollars from both venture capitalists and individuals UM and we've 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.640 start to bring people in that we thought understood our business, 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.080 understood where media is headed. And we have a number 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.960 of uh investors that have been with us, you know, 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.920 since the early days, like Evolution Media, which has made 0:18:59.920 --> 0:19:02.679 a lot of investments in digital media space, Great Craft, 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.680 which is an l a New York based firm that's 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.720 kind of focused on digital media UM and then we've 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.040 seen you know, a lot of individuals that are interested 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.280 in this space that come from UM, you know, traditional 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:16.760 media world. So there are a number of UM executives 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:19.920 from from entertainment that have invested personally over the years, 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.280 and we've kind of sought to bring people in that 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.040 we thought UM might be good sources of wisdom, you 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:27.560 know who from and farther down the path in these 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:29.280 other forms of media. As we think about how this 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:31.680 landscape is going to evolve, we think probably there will 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.320 be some key learnings from veterans of other forms of 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.520 media and these There is something to having your company 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:39.640 here in Los Angeles. I know you've got a new 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:43.280 headquarters opening up in Culver City. We do. Yeah, We've 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.359 been growing really rapidly and we are moving into a 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.240 new space and the platform in Culver City. Culver City 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.119 is a very active area right now for high growth 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.680 companies in the media space UM. And we we are 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:57.639 based in l A for a reason. While we have 0:19:57.720 --> 0:19:59.960 operations all over the world. We have offices in Barcelona 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.840 on a, UM in Dublin, multiple studios across Europe and 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.000 in North and South America. UM our headquarters in Los 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.560 Angeles for a reason because I think l A is 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.879 always excelled at creating um you know, cultural phenomenon and 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:16.720 experiences that make people feel something, and now we're just 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.399 using technology as means to deliver that that um you know, 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:24.440 cultural experiences. And I think it's been a place where 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:29.760