Алекс Агостини,
Исполнительный директор, 6waves
"Новые тренды в Социальных Играх."
Как у издателя, у компании 6Waves есть много идей относительно изменений, которые происходят в индустрии игр и тех новых тенденций, которые повлияют на индустрию в будущем.
Целью данной презентации является раскрытие этих тенденций, для чего Алекс выделил 6 основных областей, где изменения являются существенными: игры,брендинг,оплата, монетизация, рынки пользователей,кросс- платформенность
5. A Crowded Space… Social game developers enter Facebook platform from : declining social networks (Myspace, Orkut, ect..) traditional browser game developers (Nexon, Game Duell, ect..)
6. From Subscription To Free-to-play Casual games “Hiden object” and “connect 3” games
24. Developers Wrap Up Launch the right game at the right moment Use branding to increase your revenues Leverage FB payment innovations Launch into fast growing markets Think multiplatform from the start
25. GOT GAME? Contact us: eMail: bd@6waves.com For more information, check our Website: www.6waves.com
Notes de l'éditeur
First, I would like to quickly introduce my company, 6waves6waves, like most of you, was originally a developer of applications and gamesWe decided to focus on our role as a Facebook publisher at the end 2009.The reason for such a change was our conviction that in this role, we could bring more value to developers helping them become successful on the facebook platformAs a publisher, we are aware of the many changes taking place in our industry and the new trends that will be affecting it in the futureThis is this knowledge I want to share with you today!
We see 6 major areas were important changes are coming up GamesBrandingPaymentMonetizationUsers marketsCross platformI will now detail each of these areas:
Now lets speak about games
Two converging factors affect the current social gaming environmentFirst, we see game developers from other social networks than Facebook moving into FacebookThe reason is that these networks (Myspace, Orkut, ect) are often experiencing a decline in their customer base. Therefore, developers from these networks are trying to launch their games on Facebook to compensate for this decline is usersSecond, Traditional browser game companies (Nexon, Game Duell, ect..) are expanding their offering to social networks and therefore are adapting their hardcore or very casual games to Facebook This makes the FB market very crowded by competition
The new trends in FB games are therefore partly influenced by these new entrants They are either very casual or very hardcoreHidden Object games (Mystery Manor by Game insight, Garden of time by paydom)After Zuma blitz, connect 3 games (Bejewel2, Diamand Dash by wooga,Bubble speed by Game Duell)
Hardcore games such as Browser based MMO (sacred seasons 2 by Emerald city, Maplestory byNexon, Dreamland online by IGG)3D Unity platform games (Uberstrike by , NOVA by Gameloft )
The importance of branding
Even though we do not have conclusive evidence until today that branding actually helps a game to be successful. Branding has proven very useful in differentiating a game from competitionLeveraging an existing fan base to acquire new customers Monetization
For instance, a Facebook game has been branded after a famous US country music singer, Brad Paisley. The game is targeting the singer fan club of 2 million people
Also, following the success of the game “Family feud”, more and more games are branded after famous TV shows and series, such as:Jeopardy by GSNCSI Crime city by UbisoftPawn starSpartacus the movie
Sports branding is also very active with games such as Kobe basket ball academy
Finally sale of branded virtual goods inside a game has proven incredibly successful, for instance:The sale of an avatar of Snoop Dog has grossed over $200,000 in sales.“Mafia Wars” has branded some of its virtual goods after the movie “Public Enemies” for a week generating 55 million interactions during that time.
What about payment?
“One currency to rule them all.. Starting July 1st a new age has begun: Facebook Credits have become the only currency to be used on Facebook
The impact of Facebook Credits has been very positive for most developersSince it was launched, monetization has improved a lot as users find it more practical and safe to use to purchase virtual goods
Also, Facebook has launched new initiatives to improve monetization: “Buy With Friends” and “Frictionless Credits Micropayments”“Buy With Friends” allows users to share discounts with their friends. If a user makes a payment for a virtual good, an automatic “feed” will inform their friends who will be able to make a purchase in the same game but at a discount. “Frictionless Credits micro-payments system” will allow users to make smallpurchases of up to 30 Credits without leaving the game to go to a payment page.
Monetization
The following graphs are extracted from our internal statistic for the first quarter of the year. This is why some numbers are not shown here. I believe we see the same trends in the rest of the industry.Altogether, we see that the relative stagnation observed in the number of monthly Active Users (MAU) is more than compensated by the increase in paying users. The paying users ratio has more than doubled since Facebook credits where implemented beginning of last year. This trend should continue in the coming years.
Additionally, the improvement in the quality of games we publish has pulled the Average Revenue per User (ARPU) up. Also, the difference in ARPU between countries is diminishing, partly due the fact that more online payments means are available worldwide and a change in consumers online payment habits.
Evolution of Social networks
The number of casual gamers is closely related to the growth of the number of users on the Facebook platform.Currently, the number of Facebook users in the US, Taiwan and Western European countries is stagnating as these markets are mature. Consequently, the numbers of casual gamers in these markets is also stagnant. Revenues are still increasing in these markets as the Revenue per User and the payrate ratio are still growing.
On the other hand, Russia, Brazil Turkey and middle East are the rising stars. Revenues generated there is still small, but the number of Facebook users and casual gamers is growing fast.
Finally, platform convergence
Convergence between web and mobile is slowly becoming a reality.We have seeing more Facebook developers launching mobile version of theirmost successful games: For instance, Farmville by Zynga, Gardens of time by Playdom.Similarly, more mobile developers are adapting their iPhones games to FB, such as “Angry bird”byRovio
In the end “there can be only one“ .Facebook is about to launch a “weapon of mass destruction” called “Project Spartan”“Project Spartan” is a HTML5-based platform that will accept all mobile browsers, including Safari browser used on iPhone and iPad. Therefore, social games on this platform will become accessible seamlessly through all kind of web and mobile devices …