Comments on: Ten Reasons that Social Games may eat the Casual market http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/ Moving Media Into a Higher Gear Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:08:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Ethan http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/comment-page-1/#comment-8 Ethan Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:49:58 +0000 http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/#comment-8 I feel like this list points out why social gaming can kill the market for development talent and investment dollars that may have gone into casual, but not how it kills the audience demand. I feel like the casual/downloadable market and the social game market are two ven diagram circles with very little overlap. Although my Mom may have enjoyed Jewel Quest Mysteries, I don't think she'll ever join Facebook, let alone join my guild in Hammerfall. As facebook users age, this will change till those two circles are synonymous. But in the short term, these feel like two very different markets with different needs. I feel like this list points out why social gaming can kill the market for development talent and investment dollars that may have gone into casual, but not how it kills the audience demand. I feel like the casual/downloadable market and the social game market are two ven diagram circles with very little overlap. Although my Mom may have enjoyed Jewel Quest Mysteries, I don’t think she’ll ever join Facebook, let alone join my guild in Hammerfall.

As facebook users age, this will change till those two circles are synonymous. But in the short term, these feel like two very different markets with different needs.

]]> By: Andrew http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/comment-page-1/#comment-7 Andrew Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:21:48 +0000 http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/#comment-7 That's an interesting point. I think you can control that problem with the right design. You certainly don't want every game to be as socially dependent as an MMO. But the kickstart is key if you have a fundamentally social dynamic. That’s an interesting point. I think you can control that problem with the right design. You certainly don’t want every game to be as socially dependent as an MMO. But the kickstart is key if you have a fundamentally social dynamic.

]]> By: Mark Buchholz http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Mark Buchholz Sat, 24 Jan 2009 12:05:20 +0000 http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/#comment-6 Great roundup. Point 10 means also that you need a critical mass of user in your system in a certain time. As for a single-user title the experience does not change no matter how many players do actively play a game. A social game delivers a bad experience as long as there are not enough user connected. @markbuchholz Great roundup.
Point 10 means also that you need a critical mass of user in your system in a certain time. As for a single-user title the experience does not change no matter how many players do actively play a game. A social game delivers a bad experience as long as there are not enough user connected.

@markbuchholz

]]> By: Jussi Laakkonen http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Jussi Laakkonen Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:58:49 +0000 http://www.mediashifters.com/business/ten-reasons-that-social-games-will-eat-casual/#comment-5 Great list! I'd add a few more 1. Free & massive scale distribution Almost the same as virality, but a bit broader. SocNets offer free & massive scale distribution, which is partly thanks to virality. Casual games are typically revenue share deals with the big portals (=distribution), and the take of the portal like Kongregate or Pogo varies from 20% to >50% percent. On SocNets it is essentially free (apart from your hosting & customer service costs) 2. Metrics, fast iteration Compared to downloadable casual games, you can instrument online browser based social games trivially, add ultivariate testing, and really optimize your conversion. As the game is on a server, you can easily distribute new versions and rapidly iterate. 3. CPA based monetization Offerpal, SuperRewards and a number of others offer great Cost Per Action (CPA) monetization methods for social games. 4. Lower production costs We are starting to see games like the ones from Playfish and Burning Realms from Zynga to really push the production quality up, but even those titles are still cheaper to produce than the cream of casual games. However, this may very well change as we head towards to less asynch and more synchronous multiplayer gaming (=MMO-like) 5. SocNets are about entertainment The biggest app categories on Facebook are "just for fun" and "gaming". The users of SocNets are very receptive to games, and I believe many of the SocNet mechanisms actually put the users in a "playful mood". Isn't that what was said about e.g. LinkedIn:"It's a game of how many followers you have". Having said all that I have some negative comments too: 1. Most social games are not social There is hardly anything social about e.g. Geo Challenge from PlayFish. It's a great game, but the social aspects of it are just 1) challenging a friend, 2) a leaderboard of friends and 3) notifications on feeds. Is this bad? Given that Geo Challenge has boasted a few million MAU, it isn't bad at all =). 2. Lots of crap The market is saturated with a lot of crap games that 1) aren't fun & have broken game design and 2) are spammy, have forced invites or other questionable ways of using personal data. 3. Discovery is hard Apart from viral growth finding new games is a lot harder than on a dedicated games portal. 4. Clones I have to disagree, there are plenty of clones. Just how many Mafia/Mob wars do we have? The community does protect you, but it also means that if you create a hit game, you have to immediately launch it on other SocNets too to avoid the clone taking over the market. This is exactly what happened to Mob Wars after it became a hit on Facebook and Zynga launched a clone first on MySpace, and now owns that market. Misleading names also confuse customers "Friends for Sale" vs. "Sell your Friends" - I know I installed first the "wrong app". All in all, I'm a big believer on games on social platforms. I also see casual games moving away from downloadable into more persistent online experiences - whether those games are then available on socnets, on portals or on dedicated sites. Great list! I’d add a few more

1. Free & massive scale distribution
Almost the same as virality, but a bit broader. SocNets offer free & massive scale distribution, which is partly thanks to virality. Casual games are typically revenue share deals with the big portals (=distribution), and the take of the portal like Kongregate or Pogo varies from 20% to >50% percent. On SocNets it is essentially free (apart from your hosting & customer service costs)

2. Metrics, fast iteration
Compared to downloadable casual games, you can instrument online browser based social games trivially, add ultivariate testing, and really optimize your conversion. As the game is on a server, you can easily distribute new versions and rapidly iterate.

3. CPA based monetization
Offerpal, SuperRewards and a number of others offer great Cost Per Action (CPA) monetization methods for social games.

4. Lower production costs
We are starting to see games like the ones from Playfish and Burning Realms from Zynga to really push the production quality up, but even those titles are still cheaper to produce than the cream of casual games. However, this may very well change as we head towards to less asynch and more synchronous multiplayer gaming (=MMO-like)

5. SocNets are about entertainment
The biggest app categories on Facebook are “just for fun” and “gaming”. The users of SocNets are very receptive to games, and I believe many of the SocNet mechanisms actually put the users in a “playful mood”. Isn’t that what was said about e.g. LinkedIn:”It’s a game of how many followers you have”.

Having said all that I have some negative comments too:

1. Most social games are not social
There is hardly anything social about e.g. Geo Challenge from PlayFish. It’s a great game, but the social aspects of it are just 1) challenging a friend, 2) a leaderboard of friends and 3) notifications on feeds. Is this bad? Given that Geo Challenge has boasted a few million MAU, it isn’t bad at all =).

2. Lots of crap
The market is saturated with a lot of crap games that 1) aren’t fun & have broken game design and 2) are spammy, have forced invites or other questionable ways of using personal data.

3. Discovery is hard
Apart from viral growth finding new games is a lot harder than on a dedicated games portal.

4. Clones
I have to disagree, there are plenty of clones. Just how many Mafia/Mob wars do we have? The community does protect you, but it also means that if you create a hit game, you have to immediately launch it on other SocNets too to avoid the clone taking over the market. This is exactly what happened to Mob Wars after it became a hit on Facebook and Zynga launched a clone first on MySpace, and now owns that market. Misleading names also confuse customers “Friends for Sale” vs. “Sell your Friends” – I know I installed first the “wrong app”.

All in all, I’m a big believer on games on social platforms. I also see casual games moving away from downloadable into more persistent online experiences – whether those games are then available on socnets, on portals or on dedicated sites.

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