市场调研公司eMarketer曾预测，2011年社交游戏营收将超过10亿美元；另外，社交游戏玩家将达6190万人，占美国互联网用户的27%，预计到2012年这一比例将达到29%。

US Social Gamers 2010-2012

eMarketer高级分析师Paul Verna表示，比起之前两年的飞速发展，明年社交游戏的前进步伐将有所放缓，但社交游戏开发商、发行商、投资者和市场营销人员仍有大量的发展机遇。

据游戏邦了解，Inside Social Games的数据显示在2010年最后一个季度，Facebook前15强社交游戏月活跃用户规模已持续缩减，但因为热门游戏《CityVille》的问世，这一数据在2011年1月时略有小幅度的反弹，但同比上一年仍然下滑了9.6%。

MAU for the Top 15 Games on Facebook

尽管如此，社交游戏的诱惑仍然为市场营销人员开通了不少品牌推广渠道，要实现这个操作的市场营销人员可以参考以下五个建议：

·将品牌以虚拟商品的方式植入现存的热门社交游戏中；

·在社交游戏展示广告，或者对其进行广告赞助；

·开展与品牌绑定的游戏活动，将游戏与品牌融为一体；

·开发自己的游戏；

·加入综合推广项目（offer wall）

Verna认为，Facebook、Myspace、专业的游戏门户网站、手机平台上的大量社交游戏以及玩家人数，为市场营销人员创造了多种施展手脚的机会，唯一的障碍只是如何选择合适的渠道。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

How Marketers Can Experiment with Social Games

Social gaming exploded in 2010. Addictive apps like FarmVille and Mafia Wars grabbed the attention of social network users, the press—and marketers. eMarketer forecasts social gaming revenues will surpass $1 billion this year.

Most of those dollars will come from virtual items purchased by the 61.9 million internet users who will play social games this year, according to eMarketer estimates. That represents 27% of the US internet audience and will rise to 29% by 2012.

“That is a spectacular number considering that this form of gaming took off in earnest less than two years ago,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Social Gaming: Marketers Make Their Move.” “Next year’s growth will be modest compared with the meteoric rise of this form of gaming in its first two years, but the projected increase will be healthy enough to sustain multiple opportunities for game developers, publishers, investors and marketers.”

For that reason, eMarketer’s projections are cautious. Data from Inside Social Games shows there were sequential decreases in cumulative worldwide monthly active users for the top 15 games on Facebook in the last four months of 2010. The index bounced back in January 2011 as a result of CityVille’s instant popularity, but there was a 9.6% year-over-year decline in January 2011.

Still, the diverse appeal and sharing aspects of social games have created multiple opportunities for marketers to use this channel as a branding vehicle. As games proliferate on social networks, game portals and other venues, there are five ways marketers can promote their brands through these games:

* Integrate your brand into an existing game through virtual goods.

* Use display ads or sponsorships in an existing game.

* Create a hybrid campaign that combines elements of these branding approaches.

* Develop your own game.

* Participate in an offer wall.

“With so many titles to choose from and so many ways users can engage with the games—directly through Facebook or Myspace, on dedicated game portals, on mobile devices or through social network utilities such as Facebook Login—the only obstacle to brand marketing is finding the right fit,” said Verna. “As long as a game is thematically consistent with the product or brand and the target audience is appropriate, there is no reason marketers should avoid getting involved.”（source:emarketer）