Everything about Social Games
By Social Game Developer, Rubicon Games
2010 / 06 / 03
Social Business Insight 2010
Charles Pyo, CEO, Rubicon Games Inc. (pyo@playrubi.com)
1

INDEX
01 What are social games?
02 Why social games?
03 Present state of social games
04 Various global SNS and social games
05 Social games business model
06 Potential of mobile social games
07 Importance of social games and viral
08 Conclusion
2

01
WHAT ARE SOCIAL GAMES?
3

1-1 What are Social Games?
 It is an interactive online game based on social network provided by
platforms.
 Initially started as a social application, and later developed to a text game,
then to flash games.
4

1-1 What are Social Games?
 Current mainstreams are simulation games such as farming/ running
restaurants/ building cities/ managing aquariums/ raising pets ...etc
 Reasons behind the success of simulation games:
Never ending/ asynchronous play time/ comparable with friends
5

1-1 What are Social Games?
 Platforms are currently restricted to SNS but will later on expand to
different social platforms such as portals, mobiles ... etc
 Distinctive features such as web-based/ asynchronous play time/ doesn't
require installation/ small size... will eventually expand the other way
6

1-1 What are Social Games?
 Platforms are currently restricted to SNS but will later on expand to
different social platforms such as portals, mobiles ... etc
 Distinctive features such as web-based/ asynchronous play time/ doesn't
require installation/ small size... will eventually expand the other way
7

02
WHY SOCIAL GAMES?
8

2-1 In the beginning, we all loved games!
 From game arcades and 286 to 386 and 486 PCs, many people enjoyed
playing games.
 During the period when development speed of games and PCs were far
below than the expectations of users, Supply < Demand
9

2-2 RPG Conquers the Game Market!
 All those puzzle, adventure, arcade, sports, simulation games fall on the
knees of RPG.
 Why? Strong addiction / solid storylines/ sustainable profits/ onlinization
10

2-3 Light gamers have no games to play...
 Many different characters, items, and difficult outlooks, have isolated
RPGs from rest of the games
 Many light gamers leave the game market and only those young gamers
are left. Now Demand < Supply
11

2-4 People came to believe that
“they've never liked games from the beginning”
 Then one day in 2009, people encounter a big change in their life...
12

2-5 Easy games for light gamers return!
 Easy games that people once used to play start coming back to SNS
 Furthermore, these games provide “things to do” as well as
entertainments between neighbors and friends within the SNS.
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And finally BANG!
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2-6 Realization (Enlightenment)
 'People were actually missing the games. At least it was a
misunderstanding that they didn’t like games from the beginning'
 'They were simply maladjusted, and were not active enough to search for
new games'
15

03
PRESENT STATE OF SOCIAL GAMES
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3-1 Facebook
 Facebook, the No. 1 global SNS has recently exceeded 450M users /
Annual revenue of $1 billion
 Zynga became 2nd largest merchant of Paypal in 2009, with daily revenue
of $1M / MAU above 1M users / 185 Apps.
17

3-2 OpenSocial
 50 platforms of OpenSocial Containers / In sum, about 500M
 Introduced in Korea by Cyworld (Sept. 2009) / Naver (May, 2010) /
 Daum (1st half, 2010)
Reference: http://wiki.opensocial.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
18

3-3 Nate Appstore
 Opened in 30 Sept. 2009 / Steady growth / Top developers' daily revenue
marks 2M KRW
 Currently (2 June 2010) 42 developers have release 89 Apps / 13 Apps
have been installed by more than 200,000 users.
19

3-3 Nate Appstore
 Opened in 30 Sept. 2009 / Steady growth / Top developers' daily revenue
marks 2M KRW
 Currently (2 June 2010) 42 developers have release 89 Apps / 13 Apps
have been installed by more than 200,000 users.
20

04
VARIOUS GLOBAL SNS AND SOCIAL GAMES
21

Let's talk about the others…
<Top 20 SNS in US Market>
22 http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

23

24

Facebook
25

Facebook
26

MySpace
27

MySpace
28

Bebo
29

Bebo
30

Bebo
31

Hi5
32

Hi5
33

Orkut
34

Friendster
35

Friendster
36

<David Collier, Social Games in Japan, GDC 2010>
37

Japan
<David Collier, Social Games in Japan, GDC 2010>
<Japan Mobile SNS Study 2010 by Alexei Poliakov>
38

Japan
<David Collier, Social Games in Japan, GDC 2010>
39

Japan
<David Collier, Social Games in Japan, GDC 2010>
40

Japan
<Lessons from Asian Social Networks by Benjamin Joffe. 2010.02>
41

Japan
<Lessons from Asian Social Networks by Benjamin Joffe. 2010.02>
42

<FY2009 Third-Quarter Earning Results Briefing by Mixi. 2010.02>
Mixi
43

China
<Lessons from Asian Social Networks by Benjamin Joffe. 2010.02>
44

RenRen
45

RenRen
46

RenRen
47

RenRen
48

RenRen
49

RenRen
50

RenRen
51

RenRen
52

RenRen
53

Kaixin001.com
54

Kaixin001.com
55

Cyworld
56

05
SOCIAL GAMES BUSINESS MODEL
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5-1 Item Sales– Function Items
 Function Items help gamers win or grow faster and easier
 Items purchasable by game credits VS Items purchasable by cash
58

5-2 Item Sales– Decoration Items
 Although it has no technical usage, decoration items assists users to show
off themselves
 Nowadays, Coin items (game credits) and Cash items (real cash) are
placed together side by side -> thus sense of rejection decreases
59

5-3 Inserting Ads – In-game AD
 By recommending “real goods” that are closely related to the game,
users can have an indirect experience of the product or can even find
more about it through links provided within the game
 Recently, advertisement boundaries exceeds beyond the game itself:
Brands sometimes launch their product with game labels on
60

5-3 Inserting Ads – In-game AD
 By recommending “real goods” that are closely related to the game,
users can have an indirect experience of the product or can even find
more about it through links provided within the game
 Recently, advertisement boundaries exceeds beyond the game itself:
Brands sometimes launch their product with game labels on
61

5-4 Inserting Ads – Container Banner
 Usually banners placed at editable areas around the game canvas
 Usable as a Cross-promotion area within or between developers. CTR ↑
62

06
POTENTIAL OF MOBILE SOCIAL GAMES
63

What happened until now!
64

6-1 Perfect Competition among Mobile Games
- Attention Economy
 To succeed among the many similar games, connection with outside(web)
became necessary
 To provide motivation of playing with friends, connection to SNS used
among friends is prerequisite
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6-2 Game and Social Graph Intersects - XBOX Live
 Can request to play with Facebook friends or XBOX Live members
 Can search game manuals and check comments on Twitter
66

6-3 Facebook Connect API for Mobile
 Facebook introduced Connect API, which makes it possible to retrieve
friends list and update status.
 For wide range of iPhone Apps, friends list and info updates are provided
in iPhone
67

6-4 OpenFeint
 Common essentials (Ranking/ Friends list/ Chat/ Fan club...etc) required
to develop Social Feature SDK(Software Developer's Kit)
 Secure 16 Mil. potential users / powerful Cross Promotion / Interlocking
SNS & Map / Free of charge
68

What will happen in the Future!
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6-5 Mobile Integration
 Facebook's popular games now extend their play boundaries to
iPhones/Androids.
 Many games releasing their mobile ver. since Zynga's Live Poker in 2008.
Future trend of games will contain mobile elements .
70

6-6 Adobe Flash CS5
 Released in May 2010 / publishable in “.ipa” format / operates well/ but
Blocked out by Apple's policy
 Nate's social game AniPang is currently available at Apple App Store (CS5
Based),
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6-7 Unity
 Many 3D iPhone Games are released due to low spec./high performance
Free 3D Engine Unity
 When games are developed based on Unity, it can easily be republished
into iPhone plat form. E.g.) Nate social game “Run Away”
72

6-8 New Comers
 Sometime during 2010, Unreal Engine 3 will be available for iPhone.
 In the future, game engines supporting Web-Mobile Universal Runtime
will continue to be developed
73

6-8 Mobile Game SNS
 OpenFeint expansion version is currently under CBT / Just like social
games, inviting friends through Gifting
 Editable profile page / sell digital goods via Micro-payment (becoming like
SNS)
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6-9 Mobile Game SNS
 Mobile Game SNS Platform Plus+ created by Ngmoco:), deverloper of We
Rule
 Challenge friends/ Awards / Rank / Profile page ..etc Applied to 83 Games
(as of 2010/04/22)
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6-10 Game Center
 Apple's new Mobile Game SNS operator available in iPhone OS 4
 Moreover, there exists a high possibility that it will develop into a form of
SNS using the Social Graph based on its Contact Info.
76

6-11 Key = Social Graph + Anywhere
Accessible anywhere and at the same time
optimized to each specific environment
thus enhancing the satisfaction
77

07
IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL GAMES AND VIRAL
78

7-1 Why is Viral important? – let's site back
 People tend to misinterpret 'Social' Game as Social 'Game'
 If social games were similar to single player games, SNS is no use.
79

7-2 Why is Viral important? –
Rescue our friends from Boredom!
 Anyone can connect to SNS but not everyone can provide Entertainment.
 Browsing friends list, decorating blogs, and future entertainments all
depend on Social games
“I'm sick and tired of
managing my personal blog!”
80

7-3 Why is Viral important? - Premise
 Viral is what will bring brand new entertainment that will bond friends
together
 Without a good Viral, there could NEVER be a good social game
81

7-4 The Goal of Viral - Increase number of users!
 The primary goal is to increase number of users
 In social games, DAU and MAU are more important standard of
judgement than UV, PV
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7-5 The Goal of Viral –
Increase number of invitations and rate of acceptance
 If x * y > 1, Viral! (x=number of invited friends, y=acceptance rate)
『Viral Marketing & Advertising Strategies for Social Networks』
Kevin Barenblat, co-founder of www.contextoptional.com
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7-6 The Goal of Viral – Increase Loyalty
 If number of users were most important in the past, rate of revisits and
increase of playtime is the primary concern
 Farming / Simulation games are top rated Social games these days
84

7-7 Types of Viral - Positive Reinforcement
 More fun when you play together-> enjoyment ↑
 Inviting friends gives users extra items/ points/ cash -> compensation ↑
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7-8 Types of Viral - Negative Reinforcement
 If you don't invite, you are placed in an adverse situation (ex. Mafia Wars)
 You can play as long as you invite others (ex. Hor or Not)
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7-9 Viral placement- Feeds notifying installation
 Place feeds that ask “Would you like to tell your friends?” right after
installation
 Most users would naturally answer “Okay”
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7-10Viral Placement – Feeds that boast about your
accomplishments
 Level up / victories / gain rare items/ win lottery...etc Boast about them to
your friends!
 If friends compete -> Eventually friends will install the games too
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7-11 Viral placement – Screen shots
 Viral factor: a record of myself in the game -> Realizing the narcissism of
a virtual persona
 If installation feeds have a spam-like character, screen shots induce
voluntary participation
89

7-12 Viral placement – Direct invitation
 Act of inviting a friend using default invitation function in the game
 Any form of compensation is necessary - Points / Items / Cash /
Symbols ...
90

08
CONCLUSION

8-1 Common factors of Successful Games
 Initially, provides a sense of attachment to the Avatar.
 NPC explains the rule of the game in great detail. (ex. Restaurant
City)
 Provides just enough seed cash to play the game.
 Initially provides attractive items.
 There are rare items or stage accessible only to high level
users.
 Allow users to win in the beginning. (ex. Mafia Wars)
 Emphasize what ever they give! (Free Gifts, Zynga Poker)
 Expose top rankers at front page, and provoke competition
 Give gifts from time to time and provide opportunities for
feeding such as lottery.
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8-1 Common factors of Successful Games
 Insert actions that could frequently send feeds to friends
such as gifts, hugs ...etc
 Induce users to hire or invite friends to move on to the next
level
 Text index such as points, levels, symbols can make up for
visual shortcomings.
 Social game's advantage is asynchronosity; single play but
feel as if you are playing with others.
 Texting / simulation / communication are the 3 centralized
categories.
 Ads are eye catchy / Pay Pals are easily accessible.
 Title / Introduction is just sufficient to understand the
content.
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8-2 Rubicon Games
 Originally founded as a Dept. of Wizard Works Inc. and first launched its
App “Fun Paper” but was very unsuccessful (last place in Nate AppStore)
 From the lesson learnt from “Fun Paper”, Rubicon Games Inc. makes a
brand new start!
 Released Boing Boing (Apr. 2010)
 Expect to release Shooting Star (Jun. 2010) / Star City (Sep. 2010)
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9-2 Rubicon Games
 As a fresh startup, we are absolutely opened to all kinds of partnerships
and investment offers
 With our partners, we will strive to develop social games beloved
worldwide!
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Thank you!
Rubicon Games, Asia’s Social Gaming Gem
www.PlayRubi.com
pyo@playrubi.com
Twitter:@PlayRubi