Social games juggernaut Zynga is intricately tied to Facebook and the company also has some games on mobile, but where might the company put its games next? Could it potentially leverage the growing console networks like Microsoft's popular Xbox Live or Sony's PlayStation Network? Zynga's Chief Game Designer Brian Reynolds doesn't see that happening.
Speaking to IndustryGamers recently, Reynolds effectively said that, even though Xbox Live is big on consoles, overall it's too small potatoes for Zynga to bother. After all, Xbox Live has 30 million active members, which pales in comparison to the 500 million+ on Facebook.
"We're after a lot of demographic. If I explain what we think is the core magic of social, I think that will explain the relative attraction, or the lens through which we view the relative attraction of different platforms. The thing that seems to make social gaming and networking magical is the fact that all my friends are potentially there and they might see the things that I'm posting or doing or expressing," he began.
Reynolds continued, "[Xbox Live's] too small a demographic. Think about, of my friends, how many of them own an Xbox 360? Well, I'm a game developer and I even come from a triple-A space so we might even be in the double digits... Twenty or maybe even thirty percent of my friends might have an Xbox 360, but effectively 100% of them have Facebook and effectively 100% of them have a mobile phone. Of them, probably 90% have a smartphone.
"So when you think about the social potential of a platform... if we made a game on Xbox Live, I think - forgetting about the fact that I might have an artificially high percentage of friends that do it because of what my profession is - the number of anyone's friends that's going to be able to participate in the social experience is going to be a very small number so the amount of social capital that there is isn't going to be very high. That's why right now we're on Facebook for sure, and mobile is the obvious next place for us to go because it is an inherently social platform. I mean, we've got to be on several different kinds of platforms, but especially if we can figure out a way to have people socialize cross-platform. Then, hey, we're helping with the problem. We're helping people socialize that wouldn't be able to."
7 Comments
March 18, 2011
In other word the wall isn't big enough for their shit to stick.
March 18, 2011
lol, i guess that's one way of putting it!
March 18, 2011
Out of that 30 million they'd probably sell 500 copies anyway. When you're making a fortune off the kinds of people that love games like Cafe World there's no need to come to xbox live. Too restricting anyway when you have to pay for online. Speaking only for myself I know I wouldn't want to play their games anyway. And I don't ever plan on signing up for a facebook or myspace thingy.
March 20, 2011
THe last numbers I heard on their games is 25 million active users Farmville and mafia wars. Why are they comparing potential customers to actual customers? Xbox live has actual customers, and to boot actual PAYING customers! Which is what they are after. Don't believe me go play the free games and look at the stuff you have to pay for. That 500 million number are people on facebook, not facebook gamers. I have lots of friends that are on facebook that are not gamers. And say they don't care about the games being 'free' they don't want to play!
I think Jonathan got it right, it is just shit on the wall, because they know they cant make a hard core game. Heck they still cant stop the game 'out of sink ' error that causes you to have to redo 15-20 minutes worth of farming some times 5 times in a row.
March 21, 2011
I think the real reason is that they are too lazy to learn how to make a Xbox Live Arcade game (I hate it when people are too stupid to remember the "Arcade" part). I like CityVille, but I don't know if I would pay for it since it's just something I play for a few minutes when I am bored.
March 21, 2011
I seriously wouldn't play those types of games on XBL anyway. They can stay on facebook.
March 26, 2011
As said already most gamers wouldn't bother to play those "social" games, Keep them on Facebook, As a gamer I can honestly say that ive never played any games on Facebook as they look tedious and boring, I've never had any desite to use farmville or mafia wars, although i've been plagued to near death by the annoying notifications they constantly send out..
Not all that bothered about mobile games either, a small 3 or 4 inch screen is not comparable to a huge HD TV :-)