When surveying the social gaming industry, it is amazing how none of our competitors are taking a strategic approach to international markets. I like to categorize them into three different segments, in no particular order:
- Mollusks chase one “exciting” opportunity today just to chase a different one tomorrow.
- Imperialists seem to believe everyone in the world should be playing the exact same game … and loving it.
- Rustics assert that there is no social gaming market beyond Facebook in North America.
Even companies that are relatively international (many based outside the US) often take a “one size fits all” approach that at best sub-optimizes and at worst leads to outright failure.
I will discuss it more in future posts but social game companies need to look at every territory individually and determine the best strategy for that market (which may be not entering the market). Some markets will require adaptation, some markets will be open to the US product, some markets will need local content, etc. The important point is that each territory needs to evaluated systematically and the company needs to develop a specific strategy for the market, not an “international strategy.”
The Business of Social Games and Casino 