Tag: social network mobile games

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.

Social gaming picking up momentum

| January 23, 2013

social gaming picks up momentumSocial gaming represents several potential benefits

Social gaming is gaining ground both online and on mobile platforms. These are a new breed of game that have a strong focus on community and typically have a very close link to some kind of social networking site, like Facebook or Twitter. The vast number and variety of games in this genre belies the fact that social gaming is a relatively new trend. In a short amount of time, the genre has become a very promising market, with more than half of all social network users playing a social game of some kind.

Report highlights growth of social games

eMarketer, a leading marketing research firm, has released a new report concerning the growth and emerging trends seen in the social gaming sector. The report predicts that more than 141 million people in the U.S. alone will be playing social games of some kind by 2014. Another 101 million people are expected to play social games on their mobile devices over the coming years. The report also notes several trends concerning social gaming that may part of the reason this genre has become so popular with advertisers and not just consumers.

Social games prove popular among advertisers

The report notes that in-game advertisements are 100% viewable by gamers, making their exposure to these advertisements exceedingly high. Given the fact that many social games are designed to keep players engaged in the game itself for as long as possible, these advertisements have a high probability of interaction with consumers. Another aspect of social gaming that makes the sector attractive to advertisers is the fact that most social games are available on a wide variety of platforms. Mobile devices are not the only platforms that can play social games.

Social gaming has some catching up to do

Social gaming is on its way to becoming a massive and influential market. eMarketer suggests that social gaming will become a thriving enterprise in the coming years. Game developers have already put a strong emphasis on social games, but the appeal of this genre has not yet matched the allure of mobile gaming and other traditional focuses on the game industry as a whole.