SNW - Aug 19 - In 2009, $2.2 billion in virtual goods were sold to consumers
globally, and that number is expected to rocket to $6 billion by 2013.
Although virtual worlds and MMOs have historically driven the growth
in virtual goods, today the fastest growing segment is social games.
Social gaming got its start in mid-2007 with the launch of the
Facebook Platform. In 2009, social games generated $500 million
revenue, primarily from social games on Facebook. There are nearly 150
social networks with over 1 million monthly uniques. When it comes to
social games, smaller social networks, paradoxically, often have the
benefit of size. Users of multiple social networks tend to split their
time between Facebook and another social network. To these users,
Facebook is an indispensable communication tool, but the other social
network is essentially the local pub: A close knit community woven
around shared affinities and experiences. Unlike advertising, which
detracts from the social experience of a site, a successful social
games strategy will simultaneously increase a site’s stickiness and
significantly increase revenue.
Mark Brooks: Full disclosure. This article was written by Ravi Mehta,
VP Product for Viximo, who are a former client of Courtland Brooks.
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
