Business Report (DM3105)
Guestory
Find your place in history!
Word Count: 2695 (Excluding reference list, bibliography and appendices)
Table of contents
Executive summary
Introduction
business concept
3.1 Game mechanics
3.2 Game example
Market research
4.1 GeoGusser market analysis
4.2 CityGusser market analysis
4.3 Growth of Historical Content
Target Audience
5.1 Casual gamers
5.2 History Enthusiast
5.3 Students and teachers
Business model
6.1 Free version with ads
6.2 premium subscription
Long-term growth
7.1 Education industry partnership
7.2 Tourism industry partnership
7.3 Long-term marketing plan
Risk analysis
8.1 External skills
8.2 Internal skills
Costs and financial breakdown
Conclusion
References and bibliography
Appendices
1. Executive summary
The report summary is as follows: Guestory will be a historical guessing game inspired by GeoGusser. The target audience for the game will be focused on Casual gamers, history enthusiasts and students and teachers. The purpose of this is to give different stakeholders reasons to play the game. The business model will contain a free with ads option and a paid subscription. This gives two options, one for casual players and one for serious quiz players. The long-term plan is to collaborate with the tourism and education sectors to expand the player base, enhance the educational focus, and enrich the game content. Marketing will focus on using X and TikTok with the long-term plan to focus on working with streamers and content creators. The company costs and profits will be placed within my appendices.
2. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to present a clear business case for a historical Geogusser-inspired game. The report will describe the game concept, market analysis, pricing and financials, potential customers and the long-term growth. The approach for this business report will be to be reflective throughout the progress to evaluate my decisions and to decide whether or not they were the best way for this type of business. I will also be discussing how I incorporated SDG 8 into my project and where I believe it fits into my project.
The central idea is a game where players must identify the historical location of the image or scene. The game is aimed to be something simple and hold an interactive learning focus, this means that there are opportunities for multiple target audiences to maximise customers and retain interest. The USP of the business is the fact it focuses on multiple areas in history like structures, environments and artefacts. The reason this concept is unique is that most geo games that I have researched typically focus on the modern era, so I decided to focus on a theme like history.
3.Business concept
The proposed business is a guessing game called guestory where players are shown a 360-degree environment based on a specific historical time period. The player's task is to guess where and when the image is set. This will include locations, famous structures and architecture and finally historical artefacts. The game will utilise the Google maps API which is where the players can rotate the image and guess the location. The players are awarded points based on how close they are to the location and the game can be played either single player where you can try and beat your PB (personal best) or you can play with friends in online lobbies.
3.1 Game mechanics
The game's mechanics are focused on using the surrounding environment for clues and hints. The idea is that players will look around the environment and see something that can be used to help them decide on where the scene is. Some clues can either be relatively clear or not so it requires the player to be more attentive and to use knowledge they already have. The main incentive for players is to have a fun game that they can play competitively or in a more simple, relaxed experience with the opportunity to learn. The game will include research and short facts after each round to give players extra context and deepen their understanding. For example, if a scene focuses on the Industrial Revolution in England, it can show how this period boosted economic growth and transformed industries, I can also show the harsh realities by pointing out the lack of ethics within time period and highlighting the positives and negatives of economic growth, this gives a clear perspective of how I can use SDG 8 into the game.
3.2 Game example
An example of the game working is something like this: The player starts a single player session and is given the first scene and the image on the screen is an Egyptian temple in Alexandria. The player is confused at first then they rotate the camera and see hieroglyphics on the interior and make an educated guess that it must be in Egypt and they guess somewhere in Cairo. While this was not the right location, they will earn a high amount of points and will put them in a good position and they will now be given the next round.
4. Market research
The global game market is and will remain one of the biggest in the world, according to this source. “Revenue in the games market worldwide is projected to reach US$522.46bn” and is also expected to grow by 7.01% leading to a projected market value of US$733.22bn by 2030. (Statista, 2025). This number just shows how massive the gaming industry is and how much it is expected to grow, showing a clear big opportunity for new games that have a unique and fresh approach. The most common type of game or demographic is considered casual games/gamers. One of the reasons for this is that many players enjoy games that are: simple to play, easy to understand and effective to a broad audience. GeoGusser has become a worldwide phenomenon. Since its release in 2013, it has become its success has showing that many people enjoy interactive guessing games and has also been supported by multiple content creators across the industry, like the Sidemen.
4.1 Geogusser market analysis
Within my business plan, I was able to find the active player base for the game. When I wrote it the number was at 784 active players (SteamDB, 2025). This data was found on the 27th October 2025. The player peak recorded on Steam was 5980 players (SteamDB, 2025) The numbers are expected to be far higher than this, and one source said that the game in 2019 had 10 million users worldwide; today it is at 65 million (Doyle and Graber-Lipperman, 2023). The same source also stated the game experienced a boom during COVID, and while it never remained at that level after the pandemic, it remained the market leader with revenues expected to be at $19 million within 2022 (Doyle and Graber-Lipperman, 2023). The importance of this data as it shows that the game was able to thrive in the right conditions and also worked well with content creators to help boost publicity.
4.2 CityGusser market analysis
Citygusser typically focuses on street views using videos rather than images so there are some similarities and differences between them, and there seem to be big jumps in viewers. The creator said in an interview that ‘the city guesser game has received 300,000 visits and that I expect the site will hit 400,000 visits within the next week’’. (DeBos, 2020) while I could not find any sources that show the results of these goals, this does give a clear indication that for a game to be successful in this particular market sector, it needs to have some unique. This company does not touch history, which keeps my idea fresh.
4.3 Growth of Historical content.
Based on the success that Geogusser had, I decided it would be important to think of ways in which I can work alongside content creators within the historical community. There are estimated to be around 100 YouTube channels focused on history, and some believe that number to be much higher (BNP Paribas,2024). The historical community simply focus on reaction and informative videos, which take in millions of views each year. My thoughts on this are that I can partner with some of these content creators during in-game events or even during the release of new maps and eras to take advantage of new and returning players. With the learning approach being very important and crucial to the game, I believe this will help with attracting the right channels to partner
5. Target Audience
The business is designed to appeal to a number of separate user groups: casual gamers, history enthusiasts and students and teachers and streamers and content creators. The reason I have chosen multiple different groups to target is to give different users reasons for playing the game.
5.1 Casual Gamers
The first audience I have chosen is Casual gamers, the reason I believe this demographic would enjoy the game is due to the simplicity and low difficulty. They enjoy guessing challenges and they may want something to play while on break or if they are commuting somewhere. According to one source, casual games are usually targeted to a large and varied audience (Games Learning Society, 2024). This means that for a game to be considered a ‘casual game’ it has to have reasons for attracting multiple demographics.
5.2 History enthusiasts
People who already enjoy history will be naturally drawn to this game, the reason is due to our commitment to interactive learning and also a fresh experience within the market as they play through the game they will be guaranteed to come across different historical scenes like: Artefacts, buildings, ruins and environments. The other main reason is the clue game mechanic requires players to use their surroundings and knowledge to give them clues on where the location is. For people who love history this will be fundamentally important as they can test their own strengths and if they don’t quite get the answer they can still gain new research and learning.
5.3 Students and teachers
The 3rd target audience I have identified is students and teachers, this will very much be a huge part of my long term plan for growing the business and the reason for that is by promoting the game to students and teachers. I believe this particular demographic will enjoy the game for different reasons. Teachers will likely see this game as an opportunity to make learning more interactive and interesting, typically teaching and learning about history can feel static and distant due to traditional way of learning through a book and art, this way, lessons are fun and collaborative. For students, they can use Guestory to learn about different eras, while also playing the game to explore history in a more entertaining format.
6. Business model
The business model will consist of two main methods of making money. One is a free version with ads, and the other is a premium subscription. The purpose of having just two options for subscriptions is to make accessing the game easier while also generating passive income. The game is aimed to be available for a wide audience and prioritises high player reach while removing barriers like either high prices or different subscription offers, which I do not think are necessary for this particular game.
6.1 free version with ads
The game will include a free version that offers a limited selection of maps and historical eras, allowing players to experience enough gameplay for them to decide whether they wish to purchase a subscription. Passive income will be generated through advertisements that are displayed between games and occasionally between rounds. This approach, I believe, provides the game with a second stream of income while allowing the player to experience how the game works and runs.
6.1 Premium subscription
The premium subscription will be available for a price of £3.99 per month. This service gives players automatic access to all maps, historical eras and additional content not available in the free version. This provides a more complete gameplay experience that will provide a steady monthly income to support ongoing game development. The subscription service also provides a clear balance that offers two options for casual or dedicated players.
7. Long-term growth
Below is a clear plan for long-term growth.
7.1 Education Industry
The first way to grow the business in the long term is to operate within the educational industries, working with this will be important for finding new customers and opening new revenue streams and opening the game to learners and educators. These partnerships will also make it possible to design content that supports different learning outcomes depending on the needs of the school or university.
7.2 Tourism industry
Another way I plan to grow the business is by collaborating with the tourism industry. To ensure the success of Guestory, I plan to collaborate with the different countries and the respective tourism sectors that will allow us to use the data to make new maps and eras. This is essential for retaining customers and ensuring long-term success. In return, we will allow the different tourism sectors to promote their own country freely through their respective eras and maps. This will support economic growth ethically and sustainably, which will be the main way to include SDG 8 within the business. Tourism in Egypt employs around 2.5 million workers (Statista, 2025). This highlights the importance of tourism across multiple countries and demonstrates why I believe the industry is an important partner to ensure the success of Guestory.
7.3 Long-term marketing plan
The current marketing plan is to work with X and TikTok due to the size and cost efficiency of working with social media. The long-term plan is to continue social media marketing while we also work with content creators and streamers to expand our current user base to their respective fans and contributors. We will likely put preference on the historical sector of content creators that share our long-term vision and commitment to interactive learning.
8. Risk Analysis
The risks I have identified for the business will be split into two sections: External and Internal.
8.1 External Risks
The main risks for the project include rising costs, which may affect the budget if software or equipment prices increase. There is also a risk around content licensing, which can be caused by a lack of data from Google Maps, which will limit some new maps and eras. Finally, reliance on ad monetisation carries uncertainty, as ad revenue can fluctuate depending on player activity and market conditions. These risks can be managed through controlled spending, data consistency with Google and through marketing changes.
8.2 Internal risks
The Internal risks I have identified are: damaged equipment and game errors. Damaged equipment could be caused by faulty parts in the PCs. Game errors can be caused by new updates and incorrect code, caused by human error (Segal,2025). These can be managed by maintaining backup equipment and conducting regular checks on PCs' health, and also making sure that regular testing is conducted when releasing new updates and data. By conducting these risk management we can try and keep the business operations clean and efficient
9. Costs and financial breakdown
To keep the main report clear and focused, I will link my costs and financial breakdown into separate tables within the appendices. The finance forecast will be contained within (Appendices 2). The staff costs will be included within (Appendix 3). The software and tech costs will be situated within (Appendix 4). The legal and licensing costs will be covered within (Appendix 5). These tables provide a clear and organised breakdown, which I conducted to give my stakeholders a strong understanding of company finances.
10. Conclusion
The business report I have put forward has outlined the key fundamentals and business approach for my historical quiz game. I was able to connect the important features of interactive learning and engaging gameplay that suit a wide audience.
The business model will give players two different options for playing games and will allow the business to flourish and be sustainable for many years. Opportunities for growth through education and tourism offer a clear long-term strategy that also connects deeply to SDG 8 through highlighting economic growth and allowing countries to build up finances ethically and sustainably. I believe this was the best way to discuss the importance of sustainability within this business.
Overall, I believe that the report demonstrates a clear and viable business proposition that offers an engaging and fresh experience to this specific market in the gaming industry. I am also confident that if I follow my business report and maintain its core values and beliefs, Guestory has a strong chance of being a success.
11. References and Bibliography
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John, R. (2025). Total costs and revenue. [Image]. Unpublished.
John, R. (2025). Staff and labour costs. [Image]. Unpublished.
John, R. (2025). Software and tech costs. [Image]. Unpublished.
John, R. (2025). Insurance and legal costs. [Image]. Unpublished.
John, R. (2025). Game menu UI blueprint. [Image]. Unpublished.
John, R. (2025). Game UI blueprint. [Image]. Unpublished.
Appendix 1
Click below for the business plan
Appendix 2
Figure A2: Total costs and revenue (Author’s own image, 2025)
Appendix 3
Figure A3: Staff and labour costs (Author’s own image, 2025)
Appendix 4
Figure A4: Software and tech costs (Author’s own image, 2025)
Appendix 5
Figure A5: Insurance and legal costs (Author’s own image, 2025)
Appendix 6
Figure A6: Game menu UI blueprint (Author’s own image, 2025)
Appendix 7
Figure A7: Game UI blueprint (Author’s own image, 2025)