作者：Christian Nutt

Facebook市场正在发生转变，其主流社交游戏开发商正相继推出手机和平板电脑游戏版本。在Facebook今年初重新开放一些病毒传播渠道之后，如今的顶级开发商普遍认为向移动平台推出绑定Facebook功能的原生应用是一个重要的措施。

Facebook排名第二的开发商King.com首席执行官Riccardo Zacconi表示，“从用户角度来看，我认为无缝隙的游戏体验将成为今后的标准。”与此同时，Facebook第三大开发商Wooga首席执行官Jens Begemann则指出，“现在我们有60％左右的员工致力于开发移动平台的项目，40％开发Facebook项目。”

Facebook游戏关系主管Sean Ryan则指出，“这不是一个非此即彼的问题，而是两者都要兼顾的情况，我们已向iOS和Android平台推出了Facebook应用，现在我们的服务覆盖了三个渠道，这也正是我们关注的方向。”

很显然，智能手机和平板电脑正迅速获取大量用户，而在去年12月份，仅有半数Facebook用户是通过手机访问Facebook。

问题在于，当时Facebook游戏仅限运行于PC端的浏览器。但在今年1月份，Facebook开始支持开发者的原生手机游戏中深度绑定Open Graph——支持用户在游戏中发布消息，邀请好友加入游戏（游戏邦注：Facebook的iOS和Android应用过去并不支持这些功能）。这就为开发者创造了更多机会，方便他们推出植入Facebook功能的手机游戏。

现在Facebook用户可以直接由此导向iOS和Android应用商店，下载发布相关消息的游戏应用。Facebook和开发者均认为，这一设置有助于提升手机版游戏的下载量。

Zacconi反复提到iOS游戏《Bubble Witch Saga》的成功应归结于Facebook功能。“我们在没有营销活动的情况下发布了游戏，并且进入所有欧洲App Store的iPhone和iPad榜单前10名。这主要是因为游戏绑定了Facebook，因为在Facebook玩游戏的用户也可以在手机上看到这款游戏。”

Begemann也将iOS版游戏《Diamond Dash》的长盛不衰归功于Facebook的作用。“通常如果你推出了手机应用，在头几周都会收获许多下载量，但随后下载量就开始平缓。”但《Diamond Dash》却仍然可以实现“每日将近10万次的持续下载量”。

“一款游戏问世10个月以后为何仍能创造将近10万次的日常下载量？很显然，是口头传播的作用。人们喜欢这款游戏，他们对游戏乐此不疲，并向好友推荐游戏。Facebook病毒传播功能在这一过程中功不可没。”

多平台发展渠道

Zacconi指出，这次的成功让King.com坚定了一个信念——游戏必须同时推出Facebook和手机版本。

“我之所以说‘Facebook和手机’，而不是‘Facebook或手机’，原因就在于从用户角度来看，无缝隙的游戏体验才是未来的趋势。”

为实现这一战略，King.com对团队进行业务重组，“之前公司划分成一个负责Facebook平台，一个负责移动平台的部门，但现在我们的组织方式已经不同了。我们是根据特定游戏来组建团队，每款游戏都有各自的移动团队和社交团队。”

Wooga的Begemann则提倡移动优先策略，“我们团队总会从移动平台角度来考虑新游戏，这并不只是将游戏从一个平台移到另一个平台，我们是先针对移动平台开发新游戏。”

“我们在一年前就制定了这个决策，当时我们还只有10个成员负责移动业务，现在公司250多号人中有半数以上处理这一业务。我认为这将成为2013年的方向，至少对我们来说情况就是如此，移动设备将成为比Facebook更重要的平台。”

Facebook高管Ryan也认同开发商提供持续性游戏体验的做法，“我们最不愿意看到的就是，将游戏简单地从一个平台生硬地移植到另一个平台。”

提到《Bubble Island》这款游戏时，Begemann指出该游戏手机版本与Facebook版本差别甚大。

“游戏的积分系统需要重新调整，因为不同平台玩法不同了。关卡也要改，这样速度才会更快，并且这个版本并不需要过于强调准确性。这意味着它的平板电脑、手机和Facebook三个版本并非同一款游戏，如果三者都没有差别，那就不会这么好玩了。”

King.com目前的游戏也是从PC平台起步，但Zacconi却有截然不同的看法，“我认为确实应该针对每种设备重新考虑游戏设计，但游戏本身还是同一款游戏……我们希望得到无缝隙的相同体验。”

但他们均表示同步性以及跨平台付费流程是一个重要环节。Zacconi认为，“无论你在哪个平台，游戏进程都能保持一致，并且好友也是原来的好友。所以这其中的游戏体验实际上都一样，只是界面看起来有所不同”。

Begenmann补充表示，“所以我们在此的做法是，你使用鼠标操作的Facebook版本的游戏进程、IAP交易等情况都会完全保持同步。”

即使是Spooky Cool Labs（游戏邦注：最近刚向Facebook推出基于电影《绿野仙踪》的同名3D版城建游戏，该游戏玩法比Wooga的《Bubble Island》和King.com游戏《Bubble Witch Saga》更复杂）也认为很有必要进军移动平台，但尚未宣布具体计划。

该公司首席技术官Chuck Hess指出，“我们认为应该让玩家随时随地体验游戏，这样当他们坐在电脑前时，就可以在电脑玩游戏，而外出时也可以用移动设备玩同一款游戏。”

Facebook的Open Graph优势

只有得到Facebook的支持，开发商向移动平台转移的战略才有可能成为潮流。目前，多数开发商似乎都对Facebook在1月份推出的变更政策较为满意。Begemann也对此持肯定态度，“我认为Facebook的做法完全正确，我们在自己的应用中植入了Faceook平台，这个策略非常有效。”

Zacconi认为与Facebook合作这一点很关键，“绑定Facebook可以获得协同效应，而这是你仅推出手机版本所无法拥有的。如果你仅专注于移动平台，则会面临曝光度不足以及低用户留存率这个大问题。”

Facebook的Ryan向开发者推荐了Open Graph这个解决方案并指出，“开发者要获得曝光度，下载和安装量，以及付费用户是最困难的问题。”

芬兰开发商Supercell（代表作品是《Clash of Clans》以及《Hay Day》）北美工作室总经理Greg Harper认为，“Open Graph是移动设备上社交游戏玩法的一个重要扩展，它支持玩家分享游戏进程以及玩家互动。并且还可以作为一个曝光工具，但对我们来说，它的最大好处在于加强了游戏的社交体验。”

他举例称，“比如我们在《Hay Day》中植入了一个支持玩家‘赞’他人农场的Open Graph功能之后，仅在数月时间中，我们的一个游戏内置角色就在未获得任何推广或举办活动的前提下，收获了将近50万个赞。”而值得注意的是，Supercell游戏并未发布Facebook版本。

尽管Wooga的手机游戏并未要求用户接入Facebook，但还是有许多《Diamond Dash》玩家主动选择了这一渠道。据Begemann所称，“在我们的活跃用户中，有68%选择登录Facebook，因为这样可以获得更好的游戏体验。如果你只是单独玩游戏也行，但如果可以在游戏中与好友对抗，你就能够获得击败好友的快感，这无疑是一种更出色的游戏体验。”

“接入Faceboook的用户在游戏中逗留的时间更长，并且消费意愿也是一般用户的8倍。”

Supercell的Harper表示，“我们的目标是开发让玩家进行深度互动的游戏。虽然我们并不想让Facebook成为玩游戏的必需条件，但我们有许多玩家还是愿意与好友共同体验游戏，而Facebook就是一个极为方便的途径。”

当然，与好友共同玩游戏才是吸引新玩家加入游戏的关键。

Zacconi表示，“对我来说，要像过去那样体验纯粹的单人游戏已经是一件不可想象的事情，Facebook了解你周围的玩家是谁，谁对你所玩的游戏感兴趣，谁的水平同你一样，这正是Facebook所发挥的重要作用。”

Begemann认为Facebook应用中的通知就是驱使玩家体验Wooga手机版游戏的一大功臣。

Ryan表示，“使用我们的渠道可以让你获得一些好处。通过我们社交渠道传递的信息（无论是通过Facebook移动平台、App Center还是newsfeed）现在可以呈现在用户面前，你可以点击链接并体验游戏，这就是游戏流量获得提升的来源。”

Ryan十分推崇《Hay Day》中的社交互动设置。Facebook认为强大而有意义的互动是提升游戏流量的关键。“在这款游戏的第7个关卡，你可以解琐贸易或与好友买卖道具的功能，它使用了Facebook执行这一功能，游戏正是用这种有趣方式解琐了内容。”

除此之外，Ryan还表示希望看到下一代游戏中出现更多更新更出色的社交机制。“所以当我们同开发者交谈时，我们并不会问他们发送了多少个请求，向玩家提了多少要求。而是跟他们讨论‘游戏中是否有什么值得一提的新机制？’例如借用、贸易等与游戏自然融为一体的有趣成份。”

Facebook的用户成长主管Alex Schultz将这一转移战略视为应用程序的社交引擎动力，他在10月份的Facebook大会上发言称“如果你登录了一款社交游戏，发现只有两三个好友在玩，那么游戏就没有什么趣味了。越多好友加入游戏，游戏中的社交性就会越强，移动平台亦是如此。”

针对Facebook在支持手机游戏方面是否发挥了应有的作用，Ryan表示“去年我们认为自己落后了，但通过移动安装产品，我们为开发者提供了让用户发现并安装新游戏的最佳方式。”

Supercell的Harper同意这种说法，但指出这其中还存在一些改进空间，“虽然它仍处于初级阶段，但Facebook确实采取了一些为手机游戏开发商提供增值服务的措施。”

Facebook游戏的未来

现在，我们已经都看到游戏玩家向Facebook手机版本转移的趋势，许多玩家现在都在玩Facebook游戏的原生应用版本，而Facebook本身也已经意识到并支持这种转移策略。那么Facebook Canvas平台的未来将走向何处？本次接受采访的开发商均认为，它的前途依然光明，不会那么早就淡出人们的视野。

Begemann指出，“我们仍然可以看到Canvas平台的发展，很显然它仍然是一个更大的平台，但移动平台的发展极为迅速，PC平台的重要性将减弱，浏览器和Canvas亦然。但它现在还只是发展中期。”

Ryan则直言，“我们认为，认为PC市场正在走下坡路的人，并没有进行市场调查。”

在这些受访者当中，Begemann最坚信“如果从长远来看，平板电脑将取代PC。我认为这是继80年桌面PC，90年代GUI之后的第三次计算机革命。”

Zacconi也认为行业已经出现了向平板电脑转变的趋势，但指出这是一个循序渐进的过程，“如果你相信人们的预测，即20%的PC将被移动设备所取代，那也意味着电脑设备仍将长期存在”，已有报告称这种转变直到2014年末期才会出现。

“有趣的是，现在我们常看到人们在电脑上开始玩游戏，然后在智能手机上继续体验游戏，智能手机实际上扩展了PC游戏时间，而不是蚕食了了后者的使用率。”

Begemann也认同这种说法，但认为这种模式不会长存下去，“目前来看，移动设备虽然还只是一种补充，但随着这个市场的发展，它终将成长为一种替代性的默认设备。”

“在未来两年左右，也许笔记本电脑就会有点过时了，但我觉得现在购买平板电脑的人，并不会换掉自己的笔记本电脑。他们会逐步淘汰原先的笔记本电脑，也许会在未来两年升级至下一代平板电脑。我认为这就是现在所发生的情况。”

Ryan对此并不是很确定，“有意思的是，我们都坐在这里说‘知道吗，移动平台正在征服世界，它像星火燎原一样一发不可收拾’，但如果你看看最近的市场调研结果（游戏邦注：例如Gartner或IDC等机构的报告），就会发现PC游戏市场仍在持续扩大，这是一个巨大的市场。”

但并非所有人都认同Ryan这个说法，Harper指出“我们的确相信平板电脑是终极游戏平台，它拥有包括核心及休闲玩家在内的真正大众用户。我并不能肯定平板电脑在未来所能创造的收益是多少，其玩家规模又会有多大，但我相信那一天必将到来。”

Ryan以主导在线视频市场，并打破了实体视频零售行业的Netflix为例，指出“当我们同开发者交谈时，发现他们的普遍想法是现阶段的市场具有增值性，但我认为，在其他领域我们也已经看到其市场早期呈现的增值效应，只有出现残酷的竞争局面时你才会看出端倪，而在中短期阶段，一切事物都只会呈现扩张的现象。”

虽然对PC市场仍然怀抱乐观态度，Facebook并不缺乏应对其主流休闲游戏开发商转向移动平台的准备。Ryan指出，“我认为Facebook Canvas将成为一个更侧重具有沉浸感的高端游戏平台，所以我们在与Adobe的Flash 11、Unity的合作过程中投入了大量时间和精力，我们也看到3D游戏在宽屏设备上的运行表现普遍优于在小型屏幕上的情况。”

面临压力

Supercell的Harper表示，“作为一家公司，我们相信应该专注于平板电脑业务。我们‘平板优先’策略的成功关键在于，我们将所有精力用于制作最适合平板电脑运行的游戏体验。我们不会被不同的硬件配置和其他平台需求所分心，所以在不久的将来，我们还是会将平板电脑视为优先考虑目标。”

而Spooky Cool Labs对此另有看法，该公司营销总监Bob Holtzman在最近表示，“我们通过《绿野仙踪》展示正宗的Facebook游戏的潜力，但我们也完全同意你的说法。我们相信iOS、Android会成为重要的平台。哪个平台拥有大量用户，我们就会入驻哪个平台。”

Begemann则指出，“我并不认为转移平台是一种压力，我们实际上是在自我推进，因为我们看到这里存在机遇。”

随着平板电脑和智能手机的发展，Facebook也在从一个游戏平台向游戏发现的社交助推器这一角色转型。与此同时，Facebook主流开发商也开始将移动平台视为目标。Facebook正努力适应这一转变，致力于让开发商意识到，无论你是从Facebook还是从移动平台起步，绑定Facebook功能都会对游戏大有裨益。如果Supercell所获得的成功就是一个明证，那么开发商采用这一做法确实颇有优势。

对一些人而言，从Facebook转向移动平台可能并非转型的问题，而只是一个扩张的需要。Zacconi表示，“我认为，我们的游戏就是那种注定让人们随时随地体验的类型。”（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

The Mobile Transition: Why Facebook Developers Are Making the Shift

by Christian Nutt

The Facebook market is transitioning; its power players have reached out and embraced mobile and tablet versions of their games. Buoyed by an opening of the floodgates on the viral channels enabled by Facebook itself earlier this year, today’s top-tier developers now say it’s essential to support these platforms with native apps that hook into the Facebook versions of their games.

“From a user perspective, seamless play, I believe, is going to be a standard of the future,” says Riccardo Zacconi, CEO of Facebook’s number two developer, King.com. Meanwhile, Jens Begemann, CEO of number three developer Wooga, tells Gamasutra that “now, we have roughly 60 percent of our employees working on mobile, 40 percent on Canvas.”

“It’s not about ‘either/or’, it’s about ‘and.’ With the platform we’ve deployed on iOS, and certainly Android as well, we now have the same platform available across all three channels, and that’s where we’re focusing,” said Facebook’s director of Game Partnerships, Sean Ryan, at a recent event Gamasutra attended at the company’s headquarters.

How did this happen, and why is it taking off so quickly? Clearly, smartphones and tablets are reaching ever-larger audiences; as long ago as last December, half of Facebook’s user base was accessing the social network via phones.

The problem is that, at that time, Facebook games could only be played on desktop PCs via browser. But in January of this year, Facebook enabled developers to more fully hook their native mobile games into its Open Graph — to allow them to post from within games and send invites to friends, features that had been blocked on mobile since users could not play games from within the Facebook app on iOS or Android. That opened up Facebook developers to creating mobile versions of games that could talk to the platform.

Now, Facebook users are directed to the iOS and Android app stores to download the native versions of the games that generated the posts. This has elevated interest in these titles — driving downloads of the mobile versions, say both Facebook and developers. “It generally creates lift because in a lot of cases, like with King, they’ve built up a strong desktop presence,” Ryan tells Gamasutra.

Zacconi has repeatedly credited the success of Bubble Witch Saga on iOS to Facebook. “We launched it with zero marketing, and we went in the Top 10 on iPhone and iPad in all the European App Stores. This was purely because of the integration with Facebook, because suddenly a player who actually was playing the game on Canvas would see the game also on their phone,” Zacconi says.

Begemann, meanwhile, attributes the staying power of the iOS version of Diamond Dash to Facebook, too. “Usually when you have mobile apps, usually you have a lot of downloads in the first few weeks and then it kind of flattens out, right?” Diamond Dash, however, is growing “by almost 100,000 downloads a day, and is very constant,” Begemann says.

“How can a game that is out since 10 months still have almost 100,000 downloads per day? And that is obviously, yes, it’s word of mouth. People love it, and they are passionate about it, and they talk to their friends about it. But definitely Facebook virality plays an important role in that.”

Becoming Multiplatform

This success has lead King.com from experimentation to a rock-solid requirement — games must launch on both Facebook and mobile now, says Zacconi.

“The reason why I said ‘Facebook and mobile’ rather than ‘Facebook or mobile’ is that from a user perspective, seamless play, I believe, is going to be a standard of the future,” he tells Gamasutra.

To facilitate this, King.com has reorganized its teams, says Zacconi. “Before, the company was divided in an organization which was in charge for the Canvas, and an organization which was in charge for the mobile. And now, we have structured it differently. We are organizing by title, whereby every title has a mobile team and has a social team.”

Wooga’s Begemann, on the other hand, advocates a mobile-first approach. “The teams think with a mobile mindset for the new games. It’s not about transitioning the games from one to another,” he says. “For new games, we start the teams on mobile first,” says Begemann.

“We made this decision a year ago,” he says. “A year ago we only had 10 people working on mobile. Now it’s over half of the 250-people company. I think 2013 will be the year where, at least for us, mobile will be significantly bigger than Canvas.”

Facebook’s Ryan approves of these moves, showing that his team — which works with all game developers hoping to bring their titles to the platform — sees the value in consistency. “What you don’t want to do, generally, is make a game that feels like a port,” he says.

Wooga’s strategy seems to have arisen as the developer discovered some tweaking was necessary to adapt its Facebook games for iOS. Discussing Bubble Island, Begemann points out that the mobile edition is quite different from its Facebook iteration.

“The scoring has to be adapted, because you play this in a different way. The levels have to be adapted, so this is more fast-paced, it’s less [reliant] on accuracy,” says Begemann. “So what this means is it’s not exactly the same game on the three platforms. Tablet, phone, and Facebook, it’s not exactly the same game, because if it would be exactly the same game, it wouldn’t be as good, right?”

King.com’s current lineup also started out on PC, but Zacconi has a totally different take. “I think that every device has to be rethought, but the game itself is exactly the same game… We want to have a seamless, same experience.”

However, they both agree that synchronizing progression — and purchases, as these games are free-to-play — across the platforms is essential to this new reality. “The progression is exactly the same progression, and the friends are exactly the same wherever you are. So the game experience and the game is actually the same, but the way the interface looks is different,” says Zacconi. “So what we do here is, with the Facebook version that you operate with a mouse, progress, in-app purchases, everything is totally synchronized,” Begemann says.

Even Spooky Cool Labs, which recently launched its first game, Wizard of Oz, on Facebook Canvas — a 3D, Unity-powered city builder based on the classic movie, which is much more complicated play than Wooga’s Bubble Island or King.com’s Bubble Witch Saga — sees the need to move to mobile, though this is something the company has not yet announced.

“We think that it’s very important that the player be able to play wherever they are,” says the company’s chief technical officer, Chuck Hess. “When they’re sitting at their computer, they can play the game on the computer, and when they are out doing whatever, then they have an option to play, and they can play the same game.”

What Kind of Boost Can You Get from Open Graph?

This mobile transition for Facebook games can only thrive in an environment where the platform holder supports it. So far, developers seem satisfied with the changes that Facebook launched in January. “I think that what Facebook is doing is completely right. We’re embracing and using the Facebook platform inside our apps. That works extremely well,” says Begemann.

Working with Facebook is essential, says Zacconi. “You have synergies which you don’t have if you are only available on the phone. If you’re focused on purely on building your games business on mobile, discoverability is a big problem, and also retention.”

“Trying to get discovered, and downloaded, and installed, and paid for is the hardest problem,” says Facebook’s Ryan. He proposes Open Graph as the solution, as you’d expect — but the developers seem to agree.

“Open Graph is a valuable extension to social game play on mobile devices, as it enables an easy way to share game progress and player interactions. It also works as a discovery tool, but for us, its primary benefit is strengthening the social experience in the game,” says Greg Harper, general manager for the North American division of Clash of Clans and Hay Day developer Supercell.

“For example, we introduced an Open Graph feature that lets players ‘like’ other farms in Hay Day,” Harper says. “In just a few months, one of our in-game characters got nearly half a million likes without any kind of promotion or incentives in the game.” It’s worth noting that Supercell’s games are not available on Canvas.

While Wooga doesn’t require Facebook connectivity for its mobile games, many Diamond Dash players choose to use it anyway. “Out of daily active users, 68 percent connect with Facebook, and they do that because it’s a better game, right?” says Begemann. “If you just play it alone it’s good, but if you can compete against your friends, and if you have the thrill of beating your friends, it’s a much, much, much better game.”

“Those who connect with Facebook play twice as long; they are eight times more likely to spend money,” says Begemann.

“Our goal is to develop games with deep interactions between the players. Although we don’t want to make using Facebook a requirement, many of our players want to play with their friends, and using Facebook is a very convenient way to do that,” says Supercell’s Harper.

Of course, the appeal of playing with friends is central to these notifications reeling new players in.

“For me, I think it’s unthinkable of having a singular experience like the download experience of the past,” says Zacconi. “Where Facebook actually can play a very important role is because Facebook actually knows what other players are around you, who also love that game, and are as good as you are.”

Begemann credits notifications on the Facebook mobile app as the most relevant factor for driving players to the mobile versions of Wooga’s games, not other forms of viral communication.

“You get a lift of using our channels. That these messages, through our social channels — whether it’s mobile, App Center, or through the newsfeed — now show up, where before we were suppressing them, because there was nothing you could link to. Now you can link to the game and go play it. So that’s where you see the lift take place,” says Ryan.

Ryan has nothing but praise for Hay Day’s social interactions. Facebook believes that stronger, more meaningful interactions are key to the “lift” he describes. “At level seven, you unlock the ability to trade or buy and sell materials and items with your friends, and it uses Facebook for that functionality — and that’s when all of a sudden the game really unlocks in a way that’s really fun,” he says.

Following on from that, Ryan wants to see more, newer, and better social mechanics in the next crop of games. “So I think when we talk to developers, what we talk to them about is it’s not about how many requests you send, and how many times you ask somebody for a life; we talk to the developers about, ‘Are there new mechanics that we can talk about?’ The borrowing, the trading, that seem to be a much more natural part of the game and really make it more fun — as opposed to just, ‘Can I get something from you for free, if I just keep asking you enough?’”

Facebook’s director of user growth, Alex Schultz, sees the mobile transition as powering the social engine of apps. “When you sign up to a social game and only two or three of your friends are playing it, it is not fun. As more and more of your friends join the game, more opportunities come for it to be social,” he said at that Facebook event in October. Mobile, he said, is “bringing this, too.”

As for whether or not Facebook is where it needs to be on supporting games via the mobile app, Ryan is satisfied. “Last year, I think we were behind,” he admits. “With mobile install product, we’re giving them what we think is the best way in the business to help users discover and install new games.”

Supercell agrees, though it does see some room for improvement. “Although it is still early, Facebook is taking several steps to increasing the value it delivers to mobile game developers,” says Harper.

What’s the Future of Canvas?

So far, we agree that there’s a transition of players onto the mobile version of Facebook; many of these players are now playing the native app versions of Facebook games; and that Facebook itself has recognized and supported this transition. So what’s the future of Canvas? Still pretty bright, say these big players. It won’t be completely eclipsed anytime soon.

“We still see growth on Canvas and obviously it’s still bigger, but the growth on mobile is extremely fast,” says Begemann. “The PC will become less important, and with that the browser, and with that Canvas. But that’s really mid-term.”

Ryan is even more blunt. “What we find in general is everybody who thinks the PC market is declining hasn’t looked at the research,” he says.

Out of all of those interviewed, Begemann is the biggest believer in a permanent shift. “I think that really, if you look long term, tablets are replacing the PC for consumers. I think this is the third computer revolution,” he says, after the 1980s transition to desktop PCs, and the 1990s shift to GUIs.

Zacconi also thinks the move to tablets is real. “I believe this shift is happening, yeah,” he says. But he also sees it as a gradual move. “If you think that the projection is that 20 percent is going to be substituted, this means basically that computers will stay around for a long time still,” he said, speaking of reports that suggest even this relatively small shift will not occur until late 2014.

“Interestingly, what we have seen now, people who start playing on their computer and then continue their gameplay on their smartphone, actually, the smartphone usage is extending their gameplay rather than cannibalizing on the PC usage,” says Zacconi.

Begemann agrees, but feels that pattern can’t last forever. “So far it’s more additional, but as this grows and becomes the default device, it’s a substitute,” he says, while indicating an iPad.

“In two years or so, maybe the laptop is broken, or it’s kind of outdated, and I believe they won’t replace it. I think that people who are buying a tablet now, as a private person, won’t replace their laptop. They will phase out their existing laptop and they will maybe upgrade in two years to the next generations of tablets,” says Begemann. “I think that’s what’s happening.”

Ryan’s less sure. “And that’s the funny thing — is we all sit around and we say, ‘You know what, mobile is taking over the world. It’s growing like crazy,’ but if you look at the most recent research, whether it’s Gartner or IDC or others, it’s that the PC market generally continues to expand for games. And it’s a big, big market,” he says.

Not everyone buys this, though. “We do believe the tablet is the ultimate game platform with the only true mass-market audience that combines both casual and core gamers,” says Harper. “I’m not sure at what point in the future we will see the greatest amount of revenue or largest player base on tablet, but that day will most certainly come.”

“When we talk to developers, which we spend most of our days doing, their general feeling is that in this current stage of the market it’s incremental, but I think we’ve seen this in other market segments where the early days seem incremental,” Ryan says, drawing a comparison to Netflix, which has come to dominate streamed video, and has destroyed the brick and mortar video rental industry.

“You never know until hindsight when that becomes cannibalistic, but in the short to medium term early stage lifecycle, everything expands.”

Still, even with his rosy outlook for the PC, Facebook is preparing for a future in which the casual players who make up the bread and butter of its audience are playing primarily on mobile devices. “I think Canvas will become more heavily concentrated in higher-end games that are more immersive. So we’re spending a great deal of time working with Adobe on Flash 11 and with Unity on Unity, as we see the rise of 3D gaming that is generally better on a larger screen then on a smaller screen,” says Ryan.

Feeling the Pressure

An answer to the question, if one can be found, may be in who feels the most pressure to move to a new platform right now.

“As a company, we are big believers in focus on tablets. The key to the success of our Tablet First strategy is that all of our energies are focused on creating the absolute best experience possible on tablets,” says Supercell’s Harper. “We are not distracted by the different requirements and demands of other platforms. So, for the foreseeable future, we remain committed to tablets.”

On the other hand, Spooky Cool Labs, which just released Wizard of Oz for Facebook Canvas, doesn’t have quite the same attitude. “We’re showing you the official Facebook game for The Wizard of Oz,” the company’s director of marketing, Bob Holtzman told Gamasutra during a recent meeting, “but we’re absolutely in line with what you’re saying. We believe in iOS, and we believe that Android will also be an important platform. We want to go where we can find a great audience for these kinds of games.”

Despite his aggressive push for mobile deveopment, Begemann still plits the difference. “I’m not really viewing it as this pressure,” he says. “It’s more like that we’re pushing ourselves because we see this big opportunity there, you know?”

In the end, there are two stories here. As the audience for tablet and smartphone games grows, Facebook is shifting from a play platform to a social enabler for game discovery. At the same time, its key developers are now starting to see mobile as their target, not Canvas. Caught in the middle, Facebook is trying to adapt to the change in the wind by making sure that — whether you started as a Facebook developer or as a mobile studio — it’s to your advantage to stay hooked to their feeds. If the profound success of Supercell is any indication, the advantages for doing so are real.

For some, it may not be a matter of transition, but merely expansion. “I think that our category of games is a category of games which is predestined to be played everywhere,” Zacconi says.（source：gamasutra）