Companion Gaming: Strategies for Cross-Platform Releases

The rise of smartphones, tablets, and a diversity of casual and hardcore gaming platforms now means that there are a variety of places where an interested gamer can consume a game brand. It is increasingly likely that a player will have multiple of these devices and will use them all for gameplay. What are the ramifications that this new reality has on the development of a successful game brand? If you assume that a player is going to want to play the game on different platforms, how can you leverage the game properly for each market and technology? How should the different implementations relate? Where is a simple port needed, and where you need a completely new design? This panel explores the current experimentation and the future possibilities inherent with cross-platform game release.