GVIVOR PLAN

Gvivor Business Plan

For Potential Investors
Jack McGrath

2014

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VISION BACKGROUND GOAL PEOPLE FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES COMPETITION MARKETING FUNDING MEASUREMENT JUMPING SHIP SURVEY RESULTS

PAGES
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Executive summary
Business Concept Gvivor is a proposed game-mode/competition opportunity based in the popular online game Garrys mod it will be based on the popular U.S T.V show Survivor and will feature 18-20 contestants battling it out for a grand prize of $200 by the shows end. We believe this is a good idea as no known people have pursued this opportunity in this game before and we as a team believe that it is an opportunity ripe for picking. Garrys Mod was released 2007 and for a time was relatively unpopular however ever since late 2012 the games sales have been hitting record breaking heights and especially late 2013 and early 2014 has seen a massive increase in Garrys mod players and we believe that now is a perfect time to create something other than what is expected by the Garrys Mod fan base.

The competition will consist of 6 key features: Market In the current Garrys Mod market there are hundreds if not thousands of servers running the same gamemodes (TTT, DarkRP, PERP) and we believe now would be a great time to introduce something new to the community, something everyone would find refreshing and exciting. Whilst there are many attempts to create something different in Garrys Mod many fall short for one reason, they are uninspiring and unoriginal. They are all inspired by popular games such as Fallout, Metro 2033 or even the mega seller Call of Duty. Our idea although it is inspired by something its an entirely different beast altogether, it incorporates the ideas set by the original T.V show and translates them into a game like no one has ever done before. The main problem with playing a game mode based on Gears of War in Garrys Mod is because quite simply, 90% of people who play Garrys Mod could probably just walk into another room and switch on their console and start playing Gears of Way, they dont need to play it on Garrys Mod to have fun. This introduces our unique selling point, 2 18-20 players in one season A $30 pay-in Fun and exciting challenges every episode An interesting, ever changing game to play in Plenty of twists, turns, exciting and reasons to play Amazing maps created by the community to be used in the competition

because unlike Gears of war, or Call of Duty, not everyone in the world has had a chance or will ever to play in one of the highest rated reality shows of all time, Survivor Gvivor proposes to fulfil this childhood dream of playing in one of the highest rated game shows of all time, but this time, from your bedroom. It will be accessible to everyone in the world who owns Garrys Mod, it wont interfere with everyday life unlike the actual T.V show and wont just be another copy and paste game mode. It will be something everyone will have access to and will be something everyone can be excited about. Target Markets Our Primary target market is everyone that plays Garrys Mod. Unlike a real world service Gvivor can target everyone and anyone who can access it without risk of alienating a certain crowd of people. Our secondary target markets are people who havent actualy played Garrys Mod before and maybe want to make a new venture. Financing BND $300 will be required to cover all expenses for setting up of our website, server, hiring and custom built services. Once everything we need is up and running we may have money leftover, all of that money will be spent further improving our game mode and/or website. Sources of Finance include: Myself and/or friends Potential Real World investors Potential Garrys Mod Investors

1) Vision
Gvivor aims to be the first unique competitive Garrys mod game mode accessible to the public. We aim to hopefully spawn a new genre of game mode within Garrys mod that will hopefully carry on long after we have finished. The unique selling point of Gvivor is the fact that by definition it is unique. It hasnt been done before in Garrys mod and will hopefully dominate the market because of that. People are going to be interested in this game mod regardless of what happens down the line, it is a break from the normal popular game modes in Garrys mod and will offer a refreshing break for Garrys mod players alike. Another unique selling point is the fact that there is a prize to be won. Usually people log onto Garrys mod to have a laugh with friends or support their community/clan, Gvivor will introduce a whole new ascpect to playing Garrys mod aside from just having fun. It will be because of this that we will be able to draw players that may have previously stopped playing Garrys mod or even players that have never played Garrys mod before towards the game.

2) Background
Gvivor is a favourable project to many stakeholders. Players/Consumers in the targeted market according to a survey prefer to play in a Competitive Environment with Friends/strangers rather than Playing with friends or either of the other two given choices.

What the average player enjoys

Playing in a competitive Environment with Friends/strangers Playing with friends

Playing with a clan/community

Playing with family

Gvivor will most certainly prove the activity of Playing in a competitive environment with Friends/Strangers in fact that is the specific atmosphere we want to create for our players. Furthermore that fact that there is prize money given to the winner will increase the intensity of the game and provide us with a competitive advantage over our rival servers/communities. Since Garrys mod is an open source game there is no question of whether or not this is actually possible, in fact there are many people who would certainly support the idea of introducing a competitive Gamemode/Genre to Garrys Mod. The 2009/2010 Fretta competition is a perfect example of this. Due to Garrys mod being open source and the community constantly coming up with new ideas on how to improve the game we believe that using Garrys mod as the base for this Game mode to be placed on will provide us with an infinite amount of possibilities to explore even past the development stage of the Game mode.

3) Goal
As a newly set up business in Garrys mod our short term SMART goal will be survival. As a new business breaking into a monopoly market we must remember that failure is not far behind us no matter how many ideas or goals we have. Some communities have been around for years and have a great deal more experience than we do. Due to the costs for keeping the Game mode up and running being quite low completing one season would assure us at least three more afterwards, 4

considering no money gained from past seasons was spent elsewhere. Therefore our goal for the first month or so will be survival over profitability. Gvivor aims to attract around 20-30 people in the first month of it being set up. This will be producing enough money to survive in the market for at least another 3-5 months.

Forecasted revenue for the first 4 months of operation

$1,800 based on full participation $1,440 based on 80% participation These figures are of course likely to fluctuate as we would expect around 80% of participation to occur during the months of January-February whereas March-April would most likely attract more players because it is the time at which many schools around the world are on holiday. Later on in the year if we have survived the first 5 months we will be approaching the summer holidays and a massive peak in Garrys Mod players, which will be an amazing opportunity to attract more players to the Game mode and possibly spread popularity. The month prior to the holidays will be when students and teachers alike will be focusing on exams respectively meaning there will be a dip in the Garrys Mod playerbase and so to for our Game mode. Although considering we survive the first 5 months we would have plenty of money to keep the Game mode stable during that risky time period.

Forecasted expenses are:

Website design costs will be approximately: $25 Logo design will be approximately $10 for a graphics designer Server rent will be approximately $25 for 18-20 slots Game mode creation will be approximately $10-15 for coding of actual game mode Monthly expenses (after being set up) will be approximately $35 for web hosting and server rent Season expenses $200 (prize money)

Forecasted Profitability
Due to setting the Game mode up not costing much we expect a profit right from the start of our business. Month 2: $606 Month 4: $700 Month 6: $700

During the summertime months the entry fees of each season may be increased by a to be decided amount which would increase the total profit for that month and set us up for the less stable months following summer. Pricing of entry fees -$30 for months 1-6 -$50 (Likely to change) for summertime months

4) People
Running Gvivor will require people with experience in the Garrys Mod server business, entertainment business and activity management. Because of Gvivor not being a real world business we will not require a massive organisation of people but rather a few people (5-10) who are always in touch with each other. General Manager

Presenter A

Presenter B

Graphics Artist

Web Designer

Public Relations

General staff Required General Manager- This manager will oversee all members of the staff team and make sure everything is running smoothly. Any problems will be relayed back to the General Manager and then

discussed by the entire staff team in a meeting. Anyone applying for position of General Manager must have at least 1-3 years experience in the Garrys Mod communities market. Presenter A and Presenter B- Presenters A and B will be presenting the game show and managing the contestants whilst they are in-game. If any contestant has an issue they will talk to either presenter A or B. Presenter A and B will require experience in the entertainment business (Youtube or Twitch) Graphics Artist- The graphics artist will be the designer of our official logo and will create images to be used on our website. He will manage anything to do with copyright and making of images. Web Designer- The web designer will oversee our web hosting, finding us the best deals. He/she will also code our website using their experience in HTML/CSS coding. Any issues with images being used on the site will be discussed between the Web Designer, the Graphics Artist and General Manager. Public Relations- the Public Relations job will most likely be done by one of the other staff members or General Manager. They will announce updates to our followers and write any updates on the site such as anything to do with the This season page of our website. They will also write the rules for the Game mode.

5) Facilities and Activities

Gvivor will be hosted on Garrys Mod using a server host called NFO it will consist of 25 slots: -18-20 for contestants -21-22 for Presenters A and B -22-24 for a special challenge creation package -25 for a special viewer package

Gvivors Rates are:

- $30 for a slot in the competition - $15 for a Viewer package - $10 for a challenge creation package - Upon paying for a slot in the competition the player will be given the Steam ID of the person that he needs to talk to about when the next season will start. He/she will get all future updates for the competition leading up to and after the season he/she is participating in. He/she will also be listed in the next season boards section of our website. - The Viewer package will allow a person (non-contestant) an opportunity to explore the map and watch contestants before, during and after challenges as well as talk with the presenters A and B during filming.

- The Challenge creation package will allow one-three people to actively participate in the creation of challenges that contestants will have to battle out in. The people involved in challenge creation will also get an interview for the website and Youtube channel.

All packages come with:

Active participation in the ongoing season An interview for the Youtube channel and/or website All future updates from Gvivor

The Activities we intend to offer are:

Participation in Challenges Interviews Input in future challenges A chance to return in an all stars season we may or may not do depending on how we are doing financially Fun, interesting challenges A chance at winning worthwhile prize Twists and turns all the time, to make sure everyone is always on the edge of their seats A chance to meet new people A section of the website to describe themselves so that viewers can learn about future contestants

Why would you join an online (Gmod) competition

Meet new people, have fun and have a chance at winning Win the money To play alone Play with friends (not care about the money)

The vast majority 60% of responses from our survey indicated that the competition and people playing in the competition are a main factor to play in Gvivor.Therefore we will aim to get groups of friends playing in the same season together.

Packages

6) Competition
The market for servers/Game modes in Garrys Mod is fairly competitive. Powerhouses such as TDRP, Frozen Odyssey, TPS and other servers have been around anywhere from 6 months to a few years and dominate the market in terms of players. TDRP, FO and TPS all have one thing in common, they all use the same game modes. They attract around $2000 dollars each every month respectively and around 30 new players every month. However all of these servers have been using the same three Game modes ever since they first started up that being TTT, PERP and DarkRP. This is what sets us apart from them. We have a unique Game Mode idea, one that hasnt been done before and one that we believe people will be excited for. The average player on TDRP will donate around $40 every month for in-game cash or weapons. The prices at Gvivor are much lower than that and offer a much greater reason to donate. The packages that we offer to the public are not only cheaper but more worthwhile. All of these packages have some form of influence on the direction of our Game Mode which is something every gamer likes. It is because of our unique Game Mode and packages that we will outshine TDRP, TPS and Frozen Odyssey in accessibility, prices and a range of different activities offered.

7) Marketing
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Social media and gaming websites would be our platform to advertise in the target market. Since almost everyone that plays Garrys Mod is part of some sort of community we would be able to draw in a lot of players by advertising in those communities. The costs for advertising in these communities would be minimal cost and maximum effectiveness. Our YouTube channel would also be an effective way to advertise our Game Mode as almost everyone that plays Garrys Mod will use YouTube. We would be able to advertise our Game Mode on our channel as well as the channels of other communities/clans. We will also be sure that information on our Game Mode/Competition is readily available to anyone that wants to know more. For example if someone reads an advertisement on their communities site and wanted to investigate further they would be able to visit our website or learn more by contacting one of the people listed on the advertisement. A unique website will be set of for Gvivor. The website will provide information on the rules for the competition, regular updates, information and information on who to contact and how to join the competition. This will allow any and all information about our competition to be of easy access to everyone.

Primary Target Markets

Players looking for a break from the monotony of Game Modes used by almost every community/clan New players who want to have some fun Anyone who enjoys competitions Watchers of the U.S T.V show of the alike name Survivor

These are our primary target markets as we believe that they are the people most likely to want to participate in our competition. They are also the types of people that would have their wants satisfied by our new Game Mode.

Members of gaming clans Younger aged children 10-12

These are our secondary target markets as they will be less likely to be interested in our Game Mode. People in gaming clans are in most cases strictly loyal to their clan and will not donate to any other gaming communities. Children aged 10-12 will most likely not have permission from their parents to be purchasing things or spending money online therefore stopping them from being able to donate to us and join the competition.

8) Funding
For financing, we will require $300-$400 to cover all expenses. It will cost approximately $75 for website hosting/creation. $25 for server rent. $15 for logo design. $35 for Logo creation and a graphics artist. $35 for monthly expenses (first month bills) and $125 for advertising. Gvivor will look for funding from fellow communities seeking a part in the competition, clans and people in general. 10

We feel that a community would have plenty of reasons to invest in us. First and foremost the publicity of helping a new community being set up would surely draw players towards them. We feel that if a community were to invest in us it would easily set us up for the first month or so meaning we could complete at least one season of our competition therefore bringing in a lot of profit. Our USP will give us the key advantages to break into the market and catch investors eyes. Our business structure is set for investment and will have a good return on capital employed.

9) Measurement
Performance will be measured through the amount of people wanting to participate in the competition. 60 people is the goal for the first 6 months. This would bring in a profit of almost $4800. This will be achieved through advertisement and player satisfaction drawing in more players to the competition. Achieving that will fulfil our secondary goal of survival. If we make $4800 within 6 months, that would be enough to keep us running for the next few years due to the tiny bills at the end of each month. Another measurement of success is our YouTube channel. This will be measured by the amount of views each video has and how many subscribers we have. The more subscribers we have then the more people will be seeking to participate in the competition.

10) Jumping Ship

In the unlikely event of our business not meeting expectations for the first few months we will be able to sell the business to reclaim the money we may have lost setting it up. Selling the Game Mode itself would also generate a lot of money to reclaim invested money. Another viable strategy would be to allow a popular community to inherit the business for a certain amount of money each month until we have gotten all the invested money back. The popular community/clan would have the player base to be able to make the Game Mode work for them and they would be able to pay us back instantly after their first competition.

Other results obtained from our survey:

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How often do you play Gmod?

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Every day Every two days Every weekend Every now and then

What package would you buy?

Viewer package Challenge Creation Package Competitor Package 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Have you ever watched Survivor?

Ye s

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