An overview of online social games

An Overview of Online Social Games

Content •  Classes of Online Social Games

o  Self Focused o  Community Focused o  Reality Focused

•  Industry Research o  Gaming in the subcontinent o  Case Study – Zapak Tambola

•  Recommended Approach o  Mechanics o  Platforms o  Revenue Generation

•  Local Partners o  Bramerz o  Mindstorm Studios o  TinTash

Classes of Online Social Games

Self-Focused

Community Focused

Reality Focused

Self-Focused (a)

•  The objective of such games are to empower or enhance a social character profile or property

•  The gamer is not dependent on other players and can continue to keep playing as an individual, with all benefits accrued to his own profile.

Self-Focused (b)

Self

Focu

sed

• Long term + short term rewards

• Brands sponsorship and in-game experience

• Outcomes are for the game

• Community extends the game

•  Primary Example: FarmVille

•  In Farmville, the objective of the games is to virtually manage a farm, including harvesting crops and managing livestock.

•  Game offers short term rewards such as virtual goods and points and long terms rewards in form of levels and character customization.

•  The game generates revenue through in game branding by advertisements and sales of branded goods and merchandise which generates greater mileage by connecting to the social audience on the web.

•  The outcomes of such games are limited to the game itself and do not add value to the gamer in any way outside the game. i.e. they are not able to use the virtual money or goods in real life.

Community Focused (a) •  The objective of a community focused

game is to maintain a constant connection with the players in the social gaming community, with the players mutually dependent on each other for success.

•  The best real – life comparison would be with a team sport like Basketball.

•  Such games are considered hectic, as they require constant engagement from the gaming community,

Community Focused (b)

Com

mun

ity F

ocus

ed

• Constant Connection with community

• Brands take part in the game

• Outcomes are for the player community

• Community influences the game

•  Primary Example: Travian

•  In Travian, a social gamer creates a virtual tribe and must lead with other social gamers to form a nation. This necessitates constant input from all gamers.

•  The gameplay is such that all players must contribute fully for the continuity of the gameplay, and success and failure is shared equally.

•  Such games are not very popular as they require constant engagement and long-term rewards which can be very hectic for players.

Reality Focused (a)

•  Such games target a very specific group of social gamers, primarily the early adopters who are comfortable with new technology.

•  The outcome of the gameplay is such that it helps the community of players develop and share knowledge.

Reality Focused (b)

Real

ity F

ocus

ed

• In-game and real world rewards

• Outcomes for the game

• Community develops and shares knowledge

•  Primary Example: Foursquare

•  The games allows players to provide real time updates to their social network about their locations and activities. Consistent and highly mobile activity is rewarded

•  In-game rewards include badges, which can then be used to avail real world rewards such as discounts and offers.

•  However, a primary disadvantage of such games are that they are targeted at a niche market, and require high end technology which is not widely available.

•  Needs continuous involvement by players, which can be tiresome.

Industry Research

Gaming in the Sub Continent

•  Over 12 million Indians (Pak: 5 million) on Facebook, with about 7 million play social games

•  Globally, at least 250 million Facebook users are likely to pick up on social games within two years.

•  With the advent of affordable and high-end smart-phones, mobile and social gaming have already started creating noticeable ripples with India’s mobile gaming industry standing at Rs 541 crore, which is 4.6 % of the total VAS revenue.

Source: http://www.indiasocial.in/social-games-now-every-indian-will-play/

Case Study : ‘Zapak Tambola’ •  Zapak, India’s leading online gaming

portal has introduced a game called ‘Zapak Tambola’ the first ever massive social game in India.

•  The game takes advantage of all social features of Facebook and allows users to invite their friends, chat with them, send virtual gifts and earn virtual money.

•  Tambola tickets can be purchased by using the virtual money assigned to a character.

•  If players run out of virtual cash, they can purchase virtual money using phone SMS, Net banking, credit cards, etc

•  Zapak is a SELF-FOCUSED social game.

Recommended Approach

Self Focused Games

Self-Focused games empower gamers to build and improve their individual profiles or, in other words, work, play and compete to increase their own rating and win individual rewards for themselves Gamers have access to individual incentives such as •  Short-term rewards •  Virtual goods. •  Less tiring

Types of Self Focused Games

Virtual Villages These sort of games revolve around the idea of players creating their presence in a defined

area and developing a community and performing tasks to earn rewards

Casual Games

These are the usual games which mostly involve Flash-gameplay and a very small set of defined levels and can be played over and over again. Mostly 2-player e.g. Scrabulous

Social RPGS (Role-Playing Games)

The gameplay involves collecting virtual money by performing quests in a confined energy state which prevent the player from doing much too soon. E.g. Mafia Wars

What will be the mechanics?

• The personalized avatar or property makes the gamer compete against other players.

• The ability to share achievements and badges with friends adds a very social element.

• To seek help from friends and inviting them to complete a quest adds to the social gameplay.

• Limited energy and resources in the gameplay increase the retention and likewise the socially viral factor.

• New item upgrades can be purchased by scoring more virtual points that can be purchased with via credit cards.

Social Gaming

What are the Platforms? PRIMARY - Standalone Website This would be dedicated website for the game module. The game would be brought to the social sphere through Facebook Connect, a tool which will allow the integration of the game with the social sharing elements of Facebook.

SECONDARY - Facebook It provides a ready made platform for quickly getting the game out to the masses. With a 5 million plus base in Pakistan, it is the most active social network and has seen a lot of prior local games success with examples such as Farmville and Mafia Wars being prominent. ADD ON - Mobile Application The selected game option will have a scaled down version available for gameplay on handsets used by majority of the customers

Revenue Generation •  All users will be incentivized by offering various rewards

at certain stages of gameplay, eg:

o  50 Points 50 free sms o  1000 points 100 free minutes o  1,000,000 points Free Handset

•  In-Game Banner Promotion allows co-branding opportunities with existing partners such as HTC / Samsung

•  Customizations or level upgrades can be purchased via SMS or by using existing airtime scratch cards.

Potential Partners Game Development

•  Bramerz o  www.bramerz.pk

•  Mindstorm Studios o  www.mindstormstudios.com

•  Tintash o  www.tintash.com

Bramerz

•  This is a community focused social game.

•  The objective of the game is to invite 3 friends to a virtual coffee table and start discussion on a particular topic.

•  Increased discussion gets more points for each team.

Game developed - Nestle Coffee Connexions

Mindstorm Studios

•  This is a full featured self focused , multi player cricket game

•  The game was selected as the official game for Cricket Worldcup 2011.

•  The gaming house has also produced a same version of the game for iPhone.

Game developed – Cricket Revolution

Tintash •  Stanford-based Tintash is an

emerging developer of social games, and have an established office in Pakistan.

•  Their primary focus is on Facebook social apps.

•  They also make mobile games for the iPhone platform.