Busting 10 social games myths

Busting social gamesmyths
Making Games: Social Media Summit
Munich, July 2010

Myth #0 I am fluent in german

I am fluent in German
Thomas BIDAUX
ICO Partners
Consulting agencyspecialisingin Online games
A selection of 10 myths about social games

Myth #1 Social Games are new

Social games are new
Facebook & social networks
Kongregate
MMOs & Browser games
Boardgames
Games…

Social games are new
Games have always been social – the new elementis the persistenceof the social graph and its use for marketing purposes.

Myth #2Social games are social

Social games are social
Whenwas the last time youplayed *with* someone on a facebookgame?
Social is a misnomer– the gamessit on the social networks. The majority are not social, they are viral.
This ischangingthough, more recentgames are integratingfeatureswhereyou are more engagedwithyourfriends (arguably, Poker games have donethisfromday one).
Check out: ParadisePaintball, Frontierville

Myth #3Social gamers are casualgamers

Social gamers are casualgamers
Whatis a casualgamer?
Social gamesaretaking a hugeshare of the social gamespace – but not only.
CasualGamers are not casual.
Social Gamers are not casualgamers.

Social gamers are casualgamers
More gamesemerging on social networks for thehardcore audience as well.
Niche isrich.
Check out: Verdonia, Warstorm

Myth #4Social means free marketing

Social means free marketing
Marketing isnever free.
Earlydays, acquisition was cheap on Facebook:
Viralitywasreallyhigh (as well as spam)
Ad markethad few companiesinvesting in it

The situation has changed.
Typicalaverage CPA has gone from 10c to 1$ (for actorswhoalready have a verystrong brand recognition)

Relatedmini-Myth: You need to spam yourway to success
It used to be possible, but Facebookchanged the rules – isstillchangingthemactually.
Reactivityis one of the new challenges…

Myth #5Social games are easy to make

Social games are easy to make
In the past 2 years, the quality has reallyincreased.
The quality of execution has drivendevelopment budgets up.

Social games are easy to make
Viralityis not easy to design within a game.
Business models are not easy to design within a game.
New technical challenges as well: scalability, database.

Myth #6Social games are not real games

Social games are not real games
Typical social games have:
Lowskillrequirement
High commitmentrequirement
The gameindustry has been therebefore:
PS3/Xbox vs Wii
Hardcore vs Casual
The industryisexpanding and sois the definition of games.

Myth #7This is an americanmarket

This is an American market
EvenconsideringjustFacebook, thisis a wrong perception:
30% of the Facebookuser base islocated in the US
Lookingat local networks makesiteven more obvious:
StudiVZ (15M users in Germany)
TencentQQ

Thisis an Americanmarket
Both the verystrong push fromSiliconValleyand the easier, unifiedmarketexplainthe US focus.
However,somecompanies have been quitesuccessfulusing localisation as part of theirstrategy (6 Wavesis a good example).
High quality localisation has yet to happen.

Myth #8Designed by numbers

Designed by numbers
The ZyngaStrategy
Clone a successful and provengame
Use metrics
Find the successfulformulas
Improve the viralityto death
This strategy has been verysuccessful for Zynga and isbeingused by mostdevelopersnow.

Designed by numbers
That strategy has been verysuccessful for Zynga and isbeingused by mostdevelopersnow.
A very good method to maximise acquisition and virality.
Not so good for retention.

Designed by numbers
SeemslikeZynga has reached the bottom of the bucket.
Nowmovingintomanuallydesignedmechanisms to improve: retention!
Check out: Frontierville

Myth #9An indie business

An indie business
Certainlytrue in the earlydays.
Recent acquisitions:
Playfishacquired by EA
Playdomacquired by Disney

An indie business
Stillverystrongindependentstudios around.
No traditionalindustryactor has managed to get real momentum in the space… yet.
Many are trying:
Ubisoft, Bigpoint, Gameforge, Frogster, SOE…

Myth #10The opportunity has passed

The opportunity has passed
Facebook has been dominated by the same few actorslately.
Very few successful new entrants. (Crowdstar)
Whowillbe the next?

The opportunity has passed
Costs of entry skyrocketing.
Investments in the spaceveryhigh as well.
This is the veryearly stage – a vastnumber of opportunities are still to beexplored.

Myths & answers

Thank you!
thomas@icopartners.com
www.linkedin.com/in/tbidaux
www.icopartners.com/blog
@icotom
www.slideshare.net/ICOPartners

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Busting 10 social games myths

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