Tag: social mobile gaming

Facebook draws more attention to mobile games

| October 10, 2013

Campaign helps rekindle interest in old mobile games

Social networking giant Facebook recently launched a new campaign concerning mobile ads and consumer engagement. The campaign was meant to expose mobile users to advertisements while also reminding them to use applications that they have downloaded in the past. The campaign has been somewhat successful, leading to higher engagement for businesses and helping consumers discover, or re-discover, applications through the social platform. Game developer Arkadium held a study in the wake of the campaign in order to discover what impact it had on mobile games.

Study aims to shed light on consumer engagement

Facebook remains one of the most popular platforms for mobile games there is. The social network supports a wide range of these games, many of which are downloaded by the network’s massive user base. While many Facebook users download these mobile games, the majority of the games are played for a short period of time before being forgotten or replaced by other games. The study from Arkadium aims to shed some light on whether consumers are actually spending money on these games while they are playing them.

Facebook - Mobile Games Study40% of people spend money on in-game purchases

According to the study, some 40% of consumers have made an in-game purchase, with 38% of these people making an in-game purchase through games on Facebook. The study also shows that 56% of people play more than 3 Facebook mobile games every week. Consumers tend to be very fluid when it comes to the games they play, moving from one game to the next relatively quickly. This leaves smartphones and tablets cluttered with a variety of mobile games that go unused generally because they are simply forgotten.

Consumers unlikely to remain fixated on single game for long

Reminding consumers to make use of their old applications could lead to a boost in mobile games engagement. It may also help people discover new applications from their favorite developers. Consumers are not likely to become fixated on one mobile game for long, however, especially as new mobile games are being released at a rapid pace.

Google aims to make mobile games more social

| May 18, 2013

Google - Social Mobile GamesMobile games may benefit from strong social elements

Mobile games continue to pick up momentum around the world and Google is eager to ensure that it can keep consumers as engaged as possible. The famed technology company is not a game developer or publisher itself, but it is responsible for one of the most popular mobile operating systems in the world: Android. Google also operates the digital distribution system for Android applications and mobile games. While mobile games have become very popular with consumers, Google believes that there could be more variety in the current market. As such, the company has begun focusing on social games.

Social games continue to be popular with consumers

Social games were first made popular on Facebook. Users of the social network often spend much of their time playing these games while connecting with their friends. Companies like Zynga have made their names with Facebook social games, but there has been a marked decline in variety in these titles in recent years. Google believes that social games could be well received among the mobile crowd and has announced plans to introduce a new service that focuses specifically on social mobile games.

Google announces new service

Google Play Games, as it is called, is being built to bring a variety of social elements into Android gaming. The service will include multiplayer functionality, achievements, cloud-based save features, as well as other social options that are meant to help people connect and communicate with one another. The service is expected to make the mobile games available through the Google Play marketplace more attractive to a wider range of consumers. These games could benefit from the exposure they could see through the various social elements of Google’s new service.

Consumers continue to be open to mobile games

Consumers have, thus far, been very accommodating of mobile games. The market is awash with thousands upon thousands of mobile games, many of which have not received the favor of consumers. Despite the fact that many of these games go not live up to the standards of consumers, the market continues to be very open to new titles.