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Kenny Shea Dinkin
Chief Creative Officer, PlayFirst
Steve Meretzky
VP of Game Design, Playdom
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Normal patterns of changing tastes
Effects of platform changes
Rampant cloning
Spoilage
Your theory here
Or Waxing as the case may be
My Town – 800K Peak DAU
My Empire – 1M Peak DAU
Social City – 3M Peak DAU
Millionaire City – 700K DAU - Growing
Happy Island – 3M Peak DAU
Tiki Resort – 1M Peak DAU
Treasure Madness – 900K Peak DAU
Treasure Isle - 7M Peak DAU
Frontierville – 6.2M DAU
Chocolatier - 80K DAU
Family Feud – 1.3 million DAU
Bola – 700K DAU
Playdom/ESPN Titles –
Announced
EA FIFA – 700K DAU
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Things go from rise to fall awfully fast
Unlikely all 4 will be key growth drivers
Next year’s booms yet to be discovered
Please don’t tell the Casual Connect people
Kingdoms of Camelot –
600K Peak DAU
Verdonia – 150K & Growing
Wild Ones – 500K DAU
Warstorm – 95K Peak DAU
Backyard Monsters – 85K
Growing
Nanostar Siege – 65K Growing
Bola – 720K Peak DAU
Paradise Paintball
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Why?
◦ Viral changes put more emphasis on ads
◦ Ads put more emphasis on revenue
◦ Revenue comes from deeply engaged players
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Expect more companies (especially indies) to
focus on profitable niche products
During the tutorial…
As soon as the
tutorial ends…
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Shorter tutorials
Greater complexity
Steer players toward desirable behaviors
Give direction to players
A good way to add narrative
Bring on the Sparklies
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The bar is getting higher
This makes it tougher for indies (as do viral
changes)
Rising production values are hard on margins
unless revenues are rising faster than costs
1. Take existing,
proven mechanics
2. Combine in a
never-beforeseen way
3. Add a new theme
4. Polish until done
Everybody wins
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Social games are big business
Big business makes big money
◦ Zynga.org reports over $3,000,000 donated
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Big money implies social responsibility
Let’s hope this trend is growing!
Surviving in a tougher landscape
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As subtle as a hammer and twice as
heavy-handed
• Goodbye notifications
• Requests below the fold
• No virals during tutorials
• No viral prompts on app entry
• Etc. etc. etc.
May 26, 2009
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Many of the best current viral innovations will
be illegal in a year
The best developers will learn to adapt and
grow regardless
Best practices:
◦ Make a good game that people that people want to
share
◦ Make your game more fun with friends
◦ Find fun and unique ways for people to share the
experience
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Synchronous is hard
But…
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Most asynchronous social activities ≠ “play”
And Vice Versa
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Typically FB property extensions, not tied into
player account
Mostly text RPG’s
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FB Connect
Full on Flash gameplay
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Mobile social networks booming
Innovative social gameplay born on phone
Possible competitive threats if go to social
nets
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More touchpoints = good
Mobile better adapted to many social play
patterns
Expect more and more social IP’s to start on
mobile