A new publisher and operator of free online community games called Outspark today revealed its official launch exclusively to GameDaily BIZ. The San Francisco-based company, which also has a subsidiary in Seoul, South Korea, is aiming "to help independent game developers contribute to and benefit from the company's virtual playground community where they can nurture homegrown properties into highly interactive online game experiences."

Backed by Altos Ventures and DCM, Outspark is hoping to capitalize on the growing online games segment, which DFC Intelligence forecasts will be worth more than $13 billion by 2012. Outspark's business model of free-to-play games that generate revenue from item sales seems to have much in common with Asian online game companies. Perhaps this shouldn't be too surprising since Outspark is led by founder and CEO Susan Choe, who formerly spent time as COO of NHN USA (a subsidiary of Asian company NHN, which runs the ijji.com online games portal). Choe also had several roles at Yahoo!, from director of international operations to international director of Yahoo! Games.

Joining Choe is Chief Studio Officer Nick Foster, who previously served as the CTO of Starz Media and as the head of global FX for DreamWorks Animation. Foster's skills earned him an Academy Award for his feature film work. Overall, Outspark's team is loaded with a number of talented individuals with experience at leading companies including Blizzard, Nexon, Electronic Arts, Webzen and Yahoo!

"We are extremely excited to be emerging and sharing our story, as Outspark has been a true labor of love for everyone involved," said Choe. "Our focus is to build and foster next-generation online gaming communities that new and experienced players will enjoy and find rewarding. Helping to ensure we deliver on our promise is the content we're providing, comprised of highly interactive games from fantastic developers located around the world."

"The future of online entertainment lies in the type of immersive games and enchanting communities Outspark is building," added Foster. "We believe that our titles will help the online entertainment industry evolve, making it easier for media companies to establish a gaming presence online by offering them a complete platform that's easy to use and monetize."

Outspark plans to "offer a broad range of multiplayer titles" including fantasy role-playing and advanced casual games like sports and racing. The company's first title will be Fiesta, an RPG, which is currently in open. Next up will be Secret of the Solstice, "a role-playing adventure featuring twin princesses, a kingdom in peril, and a mysterious evil only the most resolute players can hope to overcome." The game is currently in closed beta.

GameDaily BIZ spoke with both Choe and Foster about Outspark's plans going forward.

GameDaily BIZ: Are you developing your own games or simply acting as a portal and helping other developers to get their games online?

Susan Choe: Our initial focus is connecting other developers to the global gaming market, and we're actively building a portal that makes it easy for visitors to access a suite of great games.

Nick Foster: While we have no immediate plans to build a development team, we work closely with partners during the latter stages of game development, to help them focus on community drivers tailored to Western audiences.

BIZ: Can you talk about your game publishing model? How is it different and how are you "bridging the gap between indie game developers and media companies," as you state in the announcement?

Choe: Our publishing model is based around the idea of bringing free high quality community-based online games to both new and more experienced game players. Because of the makeup of our team--we have experts in web development, game operation/management, and business development from companies including Yahoo, EA, Blizzard, Nexon, Webzen, Starz, and Dreamworks--Outspark is uniquely positioned to do what others in this space have only attempted.

In addition to actively searching the world for talented game developers with premium games, we're in talks with several large media companies that want to expand what you might call "channels of worship" for their popular IP.

BIZ: Outspark intends to offer a broad range of titles, but who is the real target audience?

Choe: We're focused on the youth market (tweens, teens, and even twenty-somethings) and think they can act as a gateway to bring the rest of their family to our virtual playground.

BIZ: Part of your business model involves micro-transactions for items, but are your games being supported by advertising / in-game ads as well?

Choe: Our games make money via the sale of virtual items, but we also plan to selectively deploy ads to help subsidize the cost of operating the online playground. When it comes to advertising, we're going to be very selective and make sure messages included in games are contextually relevant.

BIZ: The free-to-play model seems to be very popular in Asia and is getting more popular in North America. Do you think subscriptions for online games are going the way of the dinosaur?

Choe: It really depends on the depth of content and type of game. Secret of the Solstice, for example, allows gamers to have a fantastic, free gameplay experience yet gives them the ability to go premium at any time. That being said, episodic content is a model that lends itself to subscriptions in order to ensure continuity--almost like magazines or premium cable channels such as HBO. And for popular games where masses of gamers already have purchased items discreetly, they may want to continue to pay subscriptions for the ability to just go online and have access to new areas of games or packages that game designers know their loyal players want.

BIZ: Will you offer the same games in North America as in Asia (do they have universal appeal?) or do you have to tailor the content to the tastes of different audiences?

Foster: When looking for development partners, it's really important to us to find games with universal appeal. Besides being fun, we want all Outspark games to include community features and ideally appeal to both new and seasoned gamers alike.

Choe: When it comes to tailoring content, we spend a lot of time on things like game balance, item types, packaging, promotional materials, and of course in-game text and how-to guides.

BIZ: There are plenty of portals that offer free online games. Why should gamers play yours? How will you differentiate yourself?

Foster: Our gamer community is very active, friendly and supportive. The players are like neighbors and communicate with one another via a very active network of game forums and fan sites.

Choe: We think our portal approach--creating an immersive playground that's easily accessible--represents a big part of the future of online entertainment. As you can probably imagine, we're actively working on a number of new features and services as well. A few examples include VoIP and web-based item stores. As I mentioned earlier, we're already seeing some great growth that shows no signs of slowing down. I can't release specific figures just yet, but our localizing and game product management approach is already seeing growth rates that beat nearly all existing publishers of advanced casual games.

BIZ: Are there plans to offer any of these games on consoles, handhelds or mobile? Or is this strictly PC web-based?

Choe: While our current focus is the PC, we do remain open to partnerships that will help us deliver content across multiple platforms. Some of our current game development partners already work on multiple platforms, so it's certainly something we're thinking about.

Foster: Our games focus on community and online play. The current generation of dedicated game consoles is beginning to offer access to both, and I think Outspark is well positioned to publish content for any platform that has those features as a driver.

BIZ: Thanks for your time.