I want to share some thoughts from the first day of the Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference (BDRM). There were several interesting presentations that have relevance for the social game space.
Month: June 2012
Social Gaming and the Microsoft Surface
The big news this week in the tech world is Microsoft’s unveiling of its Surface line of tablets. For those who missed it, Microsoft had a major press event on Monday in which where it unveiled the 10-inch Surface tablets. The first tablet will launch this fall with an ARM-based processor and featuring Windows RT. It will be followed, about 90 days later, with a third-generation Intel Core processor running Windows 8. I am not the person to be reviewing new gadgets so if you are looking for more details on the Surface, please just Google Microsoft Surface and you will have great options.
The end of Google+ as a gaming platform
It seems that now is a good time to declare officially that Google+ is not an option for social game companies. The news that PopCap and Wooga are pulling their games from the platform is the final nail in the coffin. Given that they are not only stopping new development for Google + but have actually decided to sunset their existing titles on the platform shows it is not a viable business.
Why Airtime should be on your radar
Social game company executives should be looking at Airtime and thinking about ways it could be used to leverage their businesses. To make a long story short, Airtime is a video chat service (Airtime article in Bloomberg Businessweek) started by Napster co-founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning (you may know Parker also as the billionaire former President of Facebook).
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FiveOneNine launches first game
A little self promotion, but hey, it’s my blog. FiveOneNine’s first iPad/iPhone game just launched and is available in the AppStore. Please take a look at Political Rampage .
Making social games for those under 13
Facebook’s decision to explore the 13-and-under market may present more opportunities for social game companies than the potential legalization of online gambling, but it is not generating nearly as much buzz. I think it is inevitable that Facebook finds a way to allow children under 13 to legitimately use the Facebook service. As the Economist pointed out, a recent study found that 5.6 million US children under 13 were already using Facebook (and undoubtedly millions more throughout the world). If Facebook does not address this issue, not only are they missing out on a business opportunity, they are leaving themselves open to litigation.
TechCrunch piece on smartphones in Africa
As a follow up to my post on Friday (Social Game Opportunities in Africa), here’s a link to great piece on TechCrunch about how most Africans will have Smartphones within five years.
Social game opportunities in Africa
This is a topic I did not expect to be writing about but a recent article in The Economist got me thinking about opportunities for social game companies in Africa. To be perfectly open, this is not a region I have focused on professionally since the late 1980s and I have no first-hand experience with monetization opportunities there. That said, I am going to be exploring the region further and think it may hold potential.
Here are the reasons I am giving Africa a look and ones you may want to consider:
Creating a powerful pricing strategy for social games
I recently read an article on pricing in the Harvard Business Review, “Pricing to Create Shared Value,” that has direct implications on monetization strategy in the social gaming space. It is so counter to the current strategy of so many social game companies, I am sure many of you will either disregard it or just think I am wrong. Before you do, keep in mind the underlying article was written by star professors from Harvard Business School (John T. Gourville) and the London School of Business (Marco Bertini), based on years of research, so maybe the 20-something monetization whiz in the Bay Area does not know it all.
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What to learn from Rovio
I read a great interview on CNN.com with Rovio’s VP Bus Dev, Ville Heijari. Rather than repeat the interview, I strongly recommend you read it yourself.
My big takeaways from it were:
- Rovio started in 2003 and did not have a success until Angry Birds (2009). Before Angry Birds launched, they had to cut their staff from 55-60 to 12. If Angry Birds was not successful, they would have had to decide whether or not to continue operating.
- Until Angry Birds, Rovio normally spent 3-4 months on a mobile title. Angry Birds took about eight months because of additional iterations and polishing (including adding the catapult).
- What the above two points combined say to me is that if they did not spend the additional time on polish, Rovio would not exist today, let alone be worth over $1 billion.
- Rovio is now moving into publishing, having licensed a game called Amazing Alex. It is consistent with Zynga’s strategy to add third party publishing, thus increasing the value of their player base.
- Rovio sees itself as an entertainment company, not a game studio.
Overall, I found the article a very useful insight into one of the key players in the mobile game space.
The Business of Social Games and Casino 