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The Phenomenon of Online Social Gaming
September 24, 2010No commentsOnline social gaming is not merely a combination of three hip words. But it is a hip phenomenon, all right, especially when you take into account that 100 million people play online social games on a daily basis. Last March, to kick-start its social games department, MySpace acquired top gaming portal MindJolt. Not to be outdone, Disney recently bought social game developer Playdom for $563 million, while Google is having ongoing negotiations with game companies for its pet project called Google Games (reportedly designed to counter Facebook’s social game dominance). So what exactly is the reason why online social games are so popular?
First off, these games are usually played for free, though Facebook gives its users an option to purchase credits to buy items for their games. Secondly, online social games combine entertainment and socialization. While there are massively multiplayer types, social games being made these days are predominantly casual in nature. Social games, thus, cut across genders and age groups as they can be played in short bursts and do not require complicated instructions to learn. Facebook, with 500 million members, is the most popular platform for online social games. Around 40% of Facebook users regularly play social games such as Mafia Wars, Restaurant City, Scrabble and Farmville. That’s 200 million players. What contributed to the accumulation of such a large number of people hooked on these games?
One major reason is that the games themselves require building a network of individuals to be able to reach new and higher levels. Games like Pet Society and Restaurant City have items that can only be collected through the help of friends. In Farm Town and Mafia Wars, players succeed to the next level faster only if there’s assistance from friends. Some games like Sorority Sisters and Hotel City mimic real-life scenarios and so the intuitive skills of players are tested against their friends. These networked individuals are often very serious in their game play and some even have offline meetings to formulate strategies. Some eventually become friends or get into romantic relationships.
Because casual games can easily become ‘old’ due to the dynamic nature of the social network platform, it is a challenge among developers to keep their social game fresh for existing players. This can be achieved by adding new content and features regularly.
Based on sheer numbers, online social gaming is already a phenomenon. But its popularity, as of the moment, is yet to reach its peak. In fact, according to the recent research from The Nielsen Company, social networking and online gaming are the two most popular online activities among Americans, young and old. And this trend is not showing the slightest sign of letting up.
Why Facebook Attracts Millions of Gamers
June 29, 20101 commentAccording to their site’s Press Room, Facebook has more than 400 million active users spending over 500 billion minutes per month on it. Wondering how they are spending that much time? Well, as of June 2010, there is a total of 70 million players of Facebook’s top application, Farmville and nearly 30 million playing top 2 app Texas Holdem. And that’s just for the top two games.
Phenomenal? Yeah. In fact, this is one of the biggest reasons why millions are hooked to Facebook: its apps. Why? Well, for one, most of the games don’t have time limit. Farmville, for example, does not need you to constantly keep track of it. You just have to plant and wait for a few hours or days for the planted crops to grow. The same goes for Farmtown, Fishville, Happy Aquarium, etc. No need to stay logged-in and stare at the computer ‘til the wee hours.
Another reason is the applications’ ability to publish, share, and interact with other gamers within and beyond your friends list. Games like Petville, Mafia Wars, Café World, and the likes allow players to publish their game status or ask help from friends to provide what they need for certain tasks. Other games like Uno, Plock, and Tetris allow players to compete or play with other people outside their friends list. This adds up to the interaction of the players to the game and to other players. This also encourages both competition (who gets a better score) and a sense of camaraderie (like sharing and helping a friend with a goal) as well.
Facebook games also link up to the latest games from top game software development companies. You may find their classic games on Facebook, too. Most are just trial versions but you have the same old look and feel, or give you a preview of their new games.
Finally, we have to factor in the nature of casual games themselves. The most popular games are not only highly interactive, they also cut across age groups and social and ethnic boundaries. One of my friends said that her contact list ballooned to almost a thousand, with many exotic names that she could hardly pronounce when she played Mob Wars. She said she had friends from all the continents except Antartica!
Despite internal controls to stop spamming (i.e., no more app notifications), the number of Facebook app users continues to rise. There are still over 300 million Facebook gamers at present. Since casual gaming overwhelmed the social networking platforms in 2009, it hasn’t let up. In fact, IT business analysts predict that it will contribute over 800 million dollars to the US virtual goods market for 2010 alone.
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