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Gamasutra分析:2011年社交游戏发展三大趋势

发布时间:2011-01-14 14:42:50 Tags:,,

2010年蓬勃发展的社交游戏产业吸引了大量人群沉迷其中。与此同时,广大社交游戏开发商并没有停止创新的脚步。在此,总结2010年多场社交游戏峰会及游戏领域学术活动,Gamasutra总结出以下三条2011年社交游戏领域发展趋势。

CityVille-by-Zynga

CityVille-by-Zynga

趋势一:手机社交游戏

近年来,广大人群的智能手机和手机数据使用量明显呈上升趋势。据游戏邦了解,2010年4月的一次调查显示英国一年期间智能手机使用量增长161%,与此同时Android手机的使用量由原来的几乎为0上升至200万部。有数据显示,约有94%的iPhone手机用户曾下载应用,而Android用户则是89%。由此可见,手机游戏也呈上升趋势。其中,热门游戏《愤怒的小鸟》在两大手机运行平台上都取得了卓越的成绩,下载量分别达到了700万和200万次。

据游戏邦了解,在多达5亿的Facebook用户中约有2亿为手机Facebook用户,这类人群参与社交网站活动更为积极。也正因此,Facebook公司将游戏和手机运用结合组建了目前备受关注的“游戏和手机”部门。在广大游戏开发商看来,手机是社交游戏未来发展最为关键的领域。去年12月发布手机版社交游戏Mafia Wars之前,社交游戏巨头公司Zynga收购了手机游戏开发New Toy。

趋势二:位置信息服务

随着智能手机和手机数据的出现,Foursquare和Facebook Places等位置信息服务的重要性也日益明显。去年一年间,Foursquare用户由原有的10万飙升至450万。据游戏邦了解,位置信息服务之所以盛行一方面正是由于上文提到的手机数据的盛行,而另一方面则是因为目前的“全盘游戏化”热潮。对此,Gamasutra相信位置信息服务势必将促进2011年社交游戏领域的发展,将为广大游戏玩家提供更加真实而密切的社交互动。

趋势三:社交广告游戏

广告游戏作为数字游戏和数字营销的结合产物,运用有效的游戏娱乐模式将品牌与全球玩家联系在一起。迄今为止,广告游戏模式已诞生10年有余。但近年来广告游戏逐渐脱离了简单的固定路径模式,开始向社交网络平台和游戏机制发展。同时,随着手机社交游戏和位置信息服务的盛行,手机广告社交游戏将面向更广泛的用户群体。

定位良好的广告游戏极有可能成为最具成效的营销工具。因此,2010年6月迪士尼公司收购了社交游戏开发商Playdom,希望通过社交游戏推广迪士尼品牌及扩大用户基础。另外,麦当劳也首当其冲成为第一家进行社交游戏广告的公司。

由上述趋势看来:首先,手机和社交游戏的结合有可能转移大众对Facebook社交网站的专注程度。未来人们可以通过Facebook,手机平台或其他网站等方式进行社交游戏。其次,由于手机社交游戏与电脑游戏有所不同,可以通入一些小群体互动元素等,相信2011年社交游戏设计也将继续创新发展。在此,我们祝愿2011年的社交游戏领域延续2010的成功!(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

Social gaming, both expanding and diversifying the gamer population, has been maturing at rapid pace resulting in heavy consolidation, while at the same time leaving room for innovation. Drawing in part on 2010’s social gaming summit, consultancy activities in the social gaming sector and academic intersts, in this article I look at three broad social gaming trends for 2011.
Trend 1. Mobile social gaming

It is no secret that smartphone adoption and consequently mobile data usage is on the rise. In the United Kingdom iPhone adoption has increased with 161% in one year (as measured April 2010), whereas Android adoption rose from nothing to nearly two million devices in just one year. Both operating systems offer app stores that stimulate data usage as 94% of iPhone users downloads apps (games included) and 89% of Android users do so. As a result, mobile games are on the rise too. Angry Birds is a nice example of a game that has performed well on both mobile operating systems (7 million and over 2 million copies respectively).

Currently there are over 200 million mobile Facebook users and this number is rapidly increasing. Out of 500 million total users, this is a significant amount, where this user segment, in addition, is also more actively engaged with the social network. Facebook has combined games and mobile usage in its company devision ‘Games and Mobile’ and is currently a lot of the company’s attention (frequent updates of the mobile apps, Facebook places, single sign in, etc.). From a developers perspective, mobile’s significance to social gaming is also apparent. Market leader Zynga has acquired mobile games developer New Toy this December before releasing a mobile version of its hit game Mafia Wars (mobile).

’2011 will see the rise of mobile social games, both on Facebook as well as on other platforms such as iOS (Apple), Android Market and HTML5.’
Trend 2. Location based social gaming

With the advent of smartphones and mobile data usage, location based services such as Foursquare and Facebook Places further consolidate their significance. Foursquare went from 100.000 to 4.500.000 users in just one year. Location based services’ popularity one the one hand is facilitated by the above mentioned surge in mobile usage, while on the other hand is fed by the ‘gamification’ craze that is currently upon us. Location based check-ins will further contribute to social gaming’s growth in 2011 as it enables for even greater diversification and relevance.

As Facebook’s Top 5 social games alone support over 200 million monthly active users we can speak of a critical mass in terms of user population for social games. The vast and divers crowd, as mentioned above, allows for a more targeted, relevant and useful user experience in social games, according to Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale. Location based services will provide additional value in serving these segmented user audiences true and immersive social interactions through real world connections.

‘Backed by location based services, 2011 will see the rise of niche products in which cohesive communities will be served with innovative and meaningful products.’
Trend 3. Social advergames

Both in the fields of digital games and digital marketing, advergames are legitimized as a proper product category, both enlightening brands and game players worldwide being an effective and engaging form of entertainment. Advergames as a genre is just over ten years old and has evolved from mere fixed product placements (FPP) to bespoke solutions in the form of online games. 2011 will see the rise of social advergames, advergames building on social networks in terms of reach and gameplay mechanics. A move facilitated by the expanding user population, the emergence of mobile social gaming with the inclusion of location based services.

When properly executed, advergames are an extremely effective marketing tool. Disney acquired social game developer Playdom in July 2010 with the likely rationale of brand proliferation of Disney’s intellectual property rights through Playdom’s games and reach. McDonalds was one of the first and most visible to actually engage in social advergaming by taking over Farmville for a day in the form of a gigantic in game dynamic advertisement. Whereas Frima has attempted to iterate on the success of Farmville in favor of Mazda by developing Mazda’s DriverVille.

‘As companies have become aware of the strength of social media in 2010, 2011 will see the rise of holistic social advergames.’

These trends might seem only logical to the informed reader as they are. However they might have far going implications for the way we perceive social games in the near future. First of all, the combination of mobile and social games might imply a shift away from Facebook, be it through alternatives that use Facebook’s single sign in, be it through mobile operating systems or completely new platforms. Furthermore, as games for mobile devices are different from games for desktops, in addition to the possibility of niche products and integration of location based elements, there could be serious innovation in social games design in 2011. Where social games were characterized by monetization scams in 2010, they could well be characterized by meaningfulness and relevance in 2011. Let’s hope so, happy 2011! (Source:Gamasutra)


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