This document discusses the differences and commonalities between social games and other multiplayer games. It notes that social games spread virally via social networks, have shallow content, and are popular primarily within social networks. In contrast, other multiplayer games can be bootstrapped, subscription-based, have deeper content, and attract audiences outside social networks. The document examines what "pixie dust" social networks bring to games, and considers whether the social aspect, real identities, or achievement walls are driving factors. It then covers concepts like virality, engagement, viral value, and developing a social network value equation to determine how to monetize users. The document proposes an alternative platform called Sociopath that could enable games to access social functionality

1. The “Socialization” of
Games
IGDA Leadership Forum 2010
Presented by Alex St. John

2. What’s the difference?
VS.

3. Commonalities
Multiplayer
Browser based
Low production value
Spread virally

4. Interesting Differences
• Bootstrapped
• Subscription Based
• Spread virally without a social
network
• Deeper Content
• Popular with kids
• VC funded
• Microcurrency based
• Spread virally via a social network
• Shallow Content
• Nobody wants to play them
outside a social network
• Excludes kids

5. What is the “Pixie Dust”, which a social network
brings to games nobody wants to play, that magically
makes them popular?
Zynga with Facebook “Pixie Dust”
= 210MM players
Zynga without Facebook “Pixie
Dust” = 12.5MM players

6. Something new and fundamental to all
gaming was discovered by Social Media

7. Was it…
• “Social”
– Are “social games” really social?
• Real identities
– Do you really want all your friends, family and co-workers
to know how you waste your time?
– Do you really want total strangers to know all of your
personal information just so you can play a game with
them?
• Something about the social wall
– Every leading gaming destination has an “achievement”
wall

8. The Answer Lies HERE
Zynga on Facebook Zynga.com

9. Virality vs Engagement
Virality without engagement produces reach but no
compounding audience growth
Zombie Prank
Gift on hi5

10. Greater engagement = greater
audience compounding over time
Club Penguin over 5 years Farmville over 2 years
Farmville shows greater virality, but lower engagement

11. The Lasting Discoveries in
Social Media Gaming

12. Virality!

13. Virality thrives on extremely low
distribution friction
• Instant email list
• Very simple mechanism for enabling and
rewarding users for “infecting” and/or
engaging
• No registration barriers inside the SN bubble
• No downloads
• No payment barriers

14. Engagement

15. New Economics of Virality
4 Ways to Monetize Audience
1.Cash
2.Advertising
3.?
4.?

16. New Economics of Virality
4 Ways to Monetize Audience
1.Cash
2.Advertising
3.Virality (referral value)
4.Engagement (content value)

17. How do you calculate the value of
viral currency?
Each user during the viral growth phase is worth (roughly) the compound monetizable
value of all future users they may invite minus the cost of serving them.

18. Which is?
During an applications viral
growth phase the viral value of a
user can be 5x-10x the users
retained value

19. The Social Network Value Equation
On average an individual social network user’s
monetary value can be described as:
Potential Commerce Value + Potential Ad Value
=
Potential Virality Value + Potential Engagement Value
You must learn to solve this equation for the user in order to decide whether
you are asking for a credit card or giving free currency for attracting &
entertaining others.

20. Viral Economics
A + B =
The fact that content virality
and engagement has some
complex recursive
relationship to the
monetizable value of an
individual has exciting
business model ramifications
because this relationship
suggests that it is possible to
transform virality and
engagement into $$$

21. What is the monetary value of
MajiNoir to a social network?
Romanian hi5 Member
• Commerce value: $0
• Ad value: $.0001
• 34,199 friends…

22. Romanian hi5 Member
• Commerce value: $0
• Ad value: $.0001
• 34,199 friends…
Answer?
• $238/mo in advertising
• $162/mo in commerce
What is the monetary value of
MajiNoir to a social network?

23. Viral Economics
Continued…
User with monetizable value ZERO engages a user with monetizable value $Y
doubling the high value users engagement and therefore monetizable value to $2Y
• Thus un-monetizable user’s value becomes = $2Y/2?
• Can the effective CPM value of low CPM advertising can be
increased many fold by converting low value users engagement
into high value content for richer markets?

24. Viral Tenant
Reward those you can’t monetize for engaging those you can!

25. The Poke
A primal expression of affection that demands reciprocation

26. Heretical Idea:
What if social games are successful
in spite of Facebook?

27. The Answer Lies HERE
Zynga on Facebook Zynga.com

28. How All Games Become “Social”

29. hi5 is opening up access to all of the technology
infrastructure that enables Facebook to be highly viral
and engaging, but puts the application at the center of
the user experience instead of the social network portal.
SocioPath:
The Anti-Social Networking Platform
for Social Games

30. Preview of
SocioPath

31. Questions?