Justin Gibbs » Social Gaming

Mouse ears for me

justingibbs — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:36:54 +0000

The rumors started last week with a TechCrunch article and today - Disney Paying Up To $763 Million For Social Gaming Company Playdom. So it looks like mouse ears for me and a free trip to Disneyland.

It certainly changes the landscape for social games. Also plays to the theory that the game industry at large is moving toward social games.

Companies that have embraced casual games have been the ones that have been able to revolutionize the games business. Those that have held onto the core games have not. Look at Facebook, they embraced casual games. Apple with the iPhone embraced casual games. Look at the three major consoles. Who won? The Wii. Why? They embraced casual games.

Will Apple pull an end-around Facebook with social games?

justingibbs — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:03:29 +0000

On TechCrunch over the weekend Michael Arrington claimed it the age of Facebook.

Someday, maybe a decade from now, some new technology will rise and allow other companies to threaten Facebook. But until then there is little to stop them. Their march to dominance has just begun.

I agree that with Michael that Facebook has stolen the limelight from Google however I’m not as sure they will reign for a decade. One serious threat on the horizon – social games. Some go as far as to claim social games the killer app of social networks. According to a recent PopCap survey, 49% of the time social gamers login to Facebook specifically to play games.

That’s great for Facebook, currently it’s the home of social games. However I doubt Facebook is that comfortable with such a moniker. Facebook has already taken steps to limit the viral nature of social games, showing more of a concern to fight against spam. Facebook’s hesitation to fully embrace social games fully leaves the door wide open for competition. And seeing as how Facebook takes a 30% cut from game developers with Facebook credits they’re practically driving developers to seek out alternatives. In steps in Apple with Game Center. And how far behind could Google be with Android?

Michael is correct that no one will be able to take Facebook head on, but they can surely do an end-around by embracing social games. It might not be enough to topple Facebook but it could give some a beachhead. A decade is a long time to try and stay on top.

What do you think about Facebook leaving the window for social games open?

Social games are like mini startups – always in search of a business model

justingibbs — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 15:16:06 +0000

After working for a fat startup that died I was introduced to lean startups by Eric Ries, I even attended Eric’s fist workshop. Friday I was lucky enough to attend Eric’s first Lean Startup Conference . Where as most hate conferences this one was power packed - Kent Beck, Steve Blank, and Randy Kosimar riled everyone up enough to run out and begin their own startups if they hadn’t already. But a startup of my own was never dream of mine so I ran out trying to figure out how to apply the methodology at Playdom. And when you think about it, each social game is like a mini startup.

It’s a dynamic hits driven business

Social game companies have already shown that there is a business model behind virtual goods and games but as we all know, every new game is a new opportunity for success as well as failure. It’s just like Hollywood and as William Goldman says:

Nobody knows anything.

That doesn’t mean Hollywood executives are stupid, but refers to the fact that prior to a movies release, Hollywood has no idea how well a film will do. It’s the same for social games but where as movies are static, social games are highly dynamic. That isn’t to say you can interact with them but that they’re continually evolving. Testing features to see if it will improve monetization, engagement, lifetime value, etc. Startups do the same thing.

Search for a business model

One of the tenets of lean startups is understanding that a startup is in the search business. Not the search business like Google, but as Steve Blank says – for a business model.

A startup is the organization used to search for a scalable business model. It’s all about the search, not execution or maximizing profits.

Blank goes on to explain that because it’s a search, startups have different metrics than a traditional business. Where they think of balance sheets and cash flow, a lean startup worries about viral coefficient, lifetime value, etc. That certainly sounds a lot like the social game business.

Built to learn

As Eric points out, lean startups also differ from fat startups in that they’re built to learn not execute.

Many founders believe that early stage startups are endeavors of execution. The customer is known, the product is known, and all we have to do is act.

Eric takes a different approach. He believes that many early stage startups are labors of learning. The customer is unknown, the product is unknown, and startups must be built to learn.

In many ways the same is true for social games. The industry is still young and wide open. The majority of players are female, the game industry has never seen that before. The game industry has a good idea what guys look for, but women?

Currently the industry use game mechanics to engage players but is there a potential to employ other mechanics? Hint, hint…

Social games as lean startups

As Steve Blank explains, lean startups execute customer development and lean startup methodology. I get to do the same with social games at Playdom. Exciting times.

Xbox live for the web – Mark Pincus keynote

justingibbs — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:30:01 +0000

Today I had the privilege to see Mark Pincus deliver the keynote at arguably the first social game conference. Many things in his keynote caught my ear but three in particular.

It’s going to be an app world
Made multiple comparisons to television
Need to curate the audience

An app world

The meme going around in Silicon Valley is that the future of mobile is apps and since mobile is the future – it’s also the future of the Internet. Apple is certainly a big proponent where as Google is frightened about what that might mean for search. So far Zynga and the social game industry has just dabbled in the apps market, at least where the iPhone is concerned. So if Mark sees apps as the future that sure means a big change for Zynga, for everyone in the industry. Up to now there’s been a big divide between mobile and social game companies – different revenue streams, user base, and distribution.

Multiple comparisons to television

More than once Mark mentioned social games and television. Spoke of how he was on the hunt for a new show Sunday nights, a show he could really get into and how it should be the same for social games. On another topic he mentioned how Zynga needs to strike a balance between adding and taking away features or risk their games becoming to complicated. Comparing the balance to the TV series Lost and how it isn’t fun anymore, it lost something.

It’s natural to compare the emerging social game industry to Hollywood, but maybe Mark is thinking about it more than most. Which led me to notice something else during the conference – we were still a lot of gamers talking about games. That might seem odd to say, but is there potential for more beyond games? Listening to Mark I might hazard a guess that he’s thinking beyond games.

Need to curate the audience

Mark also mentioned his concern for when a user has a bad experience in a game. It’s the classic – one bad experience might turn people off. Combined with the desire to see people search for social games like he searches for a new show to get into on Sundays and it all reminded me how unproven the social gaming market is. Sure FarmVille has revolutionized the gaming world but it’s only been two years, hardly enough time to prove it’s long term viability. Games aren’t going anywhere but the reach FarmVille has might not be repeatable.

Xbox Live for the web

Mark sort of wrapped his keynote up in saying he wants to see social games evolve into Xbox live for the web. It would have persistent navigation, universal feeds, and user communication channels. I couldn’t agree more but would also like to see the medium experiment with other mechanics to create engagement – maybe something more akin to Hollywood such as drama.

“Don’t Make Me Think” for social games?

justingibbs — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:40:20 +0000

I’ve built and designing web pages since 1996. Having seen the art of web design evolve I can honestly say the best book I read on the subject and recommend more than any other is “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. It brought a sense of clarity I had never felt before. In 1996 people were trying anything and everything when designing web pages. Anything was possible so it was time to experiment. Which is great but as Krug’s book pointed out, visitors didn’t care much for our experiments. They typically only spent a few seconds on any web page and were quickly looking elsewhere. “Don’t Make Me Think” made this painfully obvious and then explained the conventions that had emerged over the years. Your logo goes in the top left hand corner or across the top of the page, don’t use fancy words in your navigation menu, on and on. “Don’t Make Me Think” seemed to cut through all the endless possibilities and get down to business.

Now that I’m building social games I can’t help but wish there was an equivalent book to give some clarity. A book that could quickly outline the conventions emerging today. I know many in the field would throw up their arms and say each game is unique and hence the menu system should be designed accordingly. However I heard the same things with web design and when you get right down to it, our audience isn’t that much different than those surfing web pages. Seconds lost trying to figure out how to add neighbors or add a bookmark can cost you that customer. I know how to make a link big and bring attention to it, but everything can’t have emphasis. It’s all a balance; a balance easier made if you know the conventions. Thankfully a much smarter man than I outlined them for web development, now can someone do that for social games? Granted it might still be a bit early, but I’m sure eventually Krug or someone will write “Social Games, Please Don’t Make Me Think”. On second thought that might not be the best title, but you get the point.

Joining Playdom and the social game phenomenon

justingibbs — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:56:35 +0000

I start at Playdom on Monday. I’m incredibly excited to dive head first into the social game arena and with a company like Playdom. The market is wide open, it’s the Wild West and I feel incredibly fortunate to be getting in at this point. Being the Wild West I hope to test the medium’s potential for interactive drama. Unlike virtual worlds, social games have the audience and they’re hungry for something new, for interactive entertainment.

Hollywood meets A/B split testing

The opportunity is also exciting because it’ll allow me to use my experience as a Product Manager building online apps and apply that toward entertainment. Imagine applying the type of feedback loops we see on the Internet to movies? Split test a movie or video game in real-time? I’ll also get the opportunity to leverage my years of studying screenwriting. It’s a very different world from trying to optimize a feature in Yahoo! Messenger to trying to figure out what game feature or story twist was more entertaining. It’s a different game and one I’m desperate to get into.

Saying goodbye to Visual Purple

It’s with some trepidation that I say goodbye to Visual Purple. I learned a lot about interactive story from the seasoned team there. Their roots are in interactive movies from the 90′s, producing such hits as Silent Steel and Blue Force. Beyond that they’re experience with interactive story goes as far back as Leisure Suit Larry.

I’ll miss reminiscing about Hollywood’s multiple attempts to make the medium interactive – from games or interactive drama. I remember returning from the 2009 Screenwriting Expo where Anthony Zuiker was pitching is digi-novel Level 26.

Scene from Leisure Suit Larry

I mentioned it at the office and was met with tale after tale of similar attempts to merge Hollywood and interactive story. From Mr. Payback and the doomed CSI Second Life tie-in, to expensive startups we’ve never heard of.

It was great learning about the convoluted history of interactive story and actually build training simulations that almost crossed over to interactive drama. I’ll miss it, but I’m hopeful social games will open up a new chapter for interactive drama.