Entertainment, excitement and relaxation is the order of the day for Fort Mason Games, a newly launched, San Francisco based social mobile games organisation.
At helm is Kate Gorman, a Zynga veteran who became the firms youngest director of product at 25, who has placed a focus upon creating titles that are artificial intelligence-based, social and designed to aid players to relax and de-stress.
Following on from its debut mobile app Confetti Casino, CB spoke to Gorman about the launch, how Fort Mason is to stand out from the crowd, the rise of social gaming and gender equality.
“Fort Mason Games was founded with the vision to create an online, social, casual gaming community“
CasinoBeats: Why did you decide to launch Fort Mason Games? How much does past experience help?
Kate Gorman: Fort Mason Games was founded with the vision to create an online, social, casual gaming community. We’re creating a portfolio of mobile games across many casual genres that are redefining real-time social gameplay and networking for the casual games industry.
Zynga was a great place to start my career. They were a cornerstone in the success of Facebook’s gaming ecosystem, and a pivotal player in mobile gaming. Their data-driven approach to product management allowed me to grow their slots category from $0 to $300 million in revenue.
However, always knowing that I would start my own company at some point, I decided to leave Zynga in order to bring a fresh perspective to mobile gaming.
CB: Operating in such a saturated environment, what is to stand FMG out from the crowd?
KG: The social casino market is only saturated with extremely similar products lacking real customer insight and innovation. There is always room in any crowded market for a new, cutting-edge product that consumers will love.
Fort Mason Games is unique and innovating in many ways. Our incorporated social network allows players to find other players, make new friends, and keep those connections across multiple Fort Mason Games Apps by creating a friend graph and cross-game gifting. A game-changer and an industry first, we are creating a community and environment where players will be able to relax and socialise in the virtual world.
“We’re redefining ‘social’ gaming”
Fort Mason Games is built to be customer-centric first — from our AI optimisation to our user experience design. We collect data and use AI to create personalised experiences that match players engagement, preferences, and activity to maximise their in-game playtime.
Looking specifically at user experience, Fort Mason Games was the first in the social casino industry to allow play of all machines in portrait or landscape, giving players more freedom to play on a phone with just one hand and richer visual experiences with toppers in portrait.
CB Social gaming is very much on the rise on a global basis, how important is this aspect of what you offer?
KG: Mobile casual gaming is already intertwined into everyday life, with bite-sized sessions taking place throughout the day to provide entertainment. As mobile devices continue to become more prevalent and powerful, always-connected experiences will also become more common and desirable.
Players will want to see their games follow this trend, as well as facilitating more connected experiences. At Fort Mason Games, we are unlocking the potential to broaden your gaming network, to create new connections, and, most importantly, provide real-time social features. We position our products as online communities first, crafting an environment that is always positive, upbeat and lively. We’re redefining “social” gaming.
“I hope my work encourages more females to exude confidence, take leadership positions and find opportunities”
CB: It has been previously stated that there is a determination to “help reclaim an industry dominated by men,” what was meant by this?
KG: Mobile devices have democratised gaming. According to a recent study by Google Play, 65% of women in the U.S. are playing mobile games. However, only 27.8% of the gaming industry is female.
There’s a clear, increasing demand for new types of games as new populations are beginning to enter the casual mobile gaming market. For instance, in social casino, 70% of Confetti Casino players are female.
By thinking deeply about our customers and understanding how each customer is different — gender included — we can create more inclusive experiences. For example, I’m very passionate about the representation of female characters in games.
CB: How do you hope to contribute to the gender equality conversation?
KG: As a female in computer science and the gaming industry, I’ve always seen my difference in perspective as a huge value add. I’ve always seen my combination of technical skills, people skills, my ability to empathise with players (especially female ones), and passion for gaming as a combination that gives me a very unique perspective.
I hope my work encourages more females to exude confidence, take leadership positions, and find opportunities to create games they are genuinely interested in playing. The greater the diversity in perspectives — not limited to gender, of course — the more inclusive, and, ultimately, broadly appealing games will be moving forward.
