Introduction

Atom Entertainment got its start seven years ago by broadcasting short films and animation online; its goal was to be a leading short entertainment provider for the Web. Fast forward to 2006, and the San Francisco-based company is now a leader in online and casual games, thanks in large part to its Shockwave.com Web site. Atom also acquired AddictingGames.com last November to bolster its presence in the online/casual gaming market. The company then re-launched in January, changing its name from AtomShockwave.com to Atom Entertainment, with additional properties such as AddictingClips.com, and Atom Films for short films, video clips and animation.

Now Atom is trying to marry the popularity of viral video and games on the Web. Will it work? TwitchGuru talked with Dave Williams (Atom's chief marketing officer and general manager of Games) at E3 2006 last week about the growth in online and casual games, and their synergy with Internet video.

Rob Wright: What's the synergy like between short films and video, and online games?

Dave Williams: I think the synergy has been displayed really well. What's happened in the last couple of years is that we've become a broadband entertainment group. Short films, video, games and viral content - it's all become very attractive to both consumers and advertisers. In particular, over the last few months, things have accelerated very rapidly. We designed Shockwave.com and launched Shockwave.com Game Studios to develop exclusive content. We acquired AddictingGames.com late last year, and we've started putting in-game advertising in some of the larger online games.

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Rob Wright: How much crossover is there between games and video on Atom's sites?

Dave Williams: There hasn't been as much crossover between the games and the video and short films, but we're changing that. AddictingClips.com is a good example - we've been putting a clip of the day on AddictingGames.com and that's been getting a ton of traffic. So we're starting to cross-promote the content and cross-pollinate the sites.

Rob Wright: What's the appeal for advertisers?

Dave Williams: Advertisers are chasing eyeballs, and their audiences are moving online. Even if they're watching the same amount of T.V., they're skipping the ads with Tivo. There's a growing market for advertising around casual games, whether they're free games or ones that cost $20. There are a lot of casual game fans that don't play MMOs because of the time commitment needed for a lot of those games.

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