http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/behind-the-boomlet-in-facebooks-social-gaming#r=nav-f-story
Facebook has put out some great looking numbers for the growth of the number of people that play social networking games. Not only does this mean ad revenue is paying off in that these users will be looking at more ads due to being on the page for longer periods of time, these games require real cash payments for the use of specific items in the games. According to the article the average user makes Facebook about $4.04 from ad revenue. Those that play games though average an additional $4.05 due to item payments on top of the $4.04 made from ad revenue which makes them twice as profitable. Because of these promising numbers, Facebook has started contacting higher end third party game producers to make higher quality 'hardcore' games to appeal to gamers that will take the time to master and complete games such as these. This system of making free to play games along with micro-transactions has been an upcoming trend in the gaming market due to publishers like EA and Activision, so it is not too surprising that it is rooting itself deeper into social gaming as well.
All in all, despite the chance of making more money due to deeper games (which are more costly to make), the actual games themselves have to be enjoyable to play in order to make users want to pay for. It is more of a higher risk and higher reward sort of path for Facebook to take.
No comments:
Post a Comment