Social Gaming - SMX Melbourne 2011

Social Gaming

Jeff Ferguson CEO, Fang Digital Marketing

Board Member, SEMPO LA

Writer, DeadTreeMedia.com

mobro.co/JeffFerguson

WHO IS THE SOCIAL GAMER

(HINT: It‟s Not Who You Think It Is)

It‟s your mum

Typical Social Gamers

• Casual social gamers: – Women make up the majority; 38% of female social gamers

say they play social games several times a day, vs. 29% of males.

– 40% were over age 50

– 23% planned to spend more on social gaming content in 2011

• Hardcore social gamers: – Were more likely to be male (55%) and under age 40 (57%)

– Spent more money on gaming content

– 59% said they planned to spend more on social gaming content in 2011

Typical Social Gamers

• Slightly different in Facebook alone

Typical Social Gamers

• Gender Differences

– Men and women differ in their consumption of, and

attitudes towards, social games:

• Women are more apt to play social games with real-world

friends than men are (68% vs. 56%);

• Men are more inclined than women to play with strangers

(41% vs. 33%);

• Nearly twice as many women as men say they play social

games with relatives (46% vs. 29%).

Typical Social Gamers

• More diverse than you think…

Typical Social Gamers

• And they are

good people.

Typical Social Gamers

• Playing Preferences

– 83% of social gamers cite Facebook as a place where they play social games,

compared to 24% who play on MySpace, 7% on Bebo and 5% who play on

Friendster.

– Social gamers spend 39% of all their time on social networking sites/services

playing games. • The second and third most popular social networking activities among social gamers are chatting

with/messaging friends (17%) and playing non-social (solo) games (15%).

– When asked to choose as many reasons as they wanted for playing social

games from a lengthy list, • Fun and excitement (53%).

• Stress relief (45%)

• Competitive spirit (43%)

• Mental workout (32%)

• Connect with others (24%).

– Only 17% of UK-based social gamers chose "connect with others" as a

reason for playing, compared to 28% of their U.S. counterparts.

– Nearly half (49%) of the times when they log into social networks, social

gamers do so specifically to play social games.

Typical Social Gamers

CASUALLY LARGE Casual, Like A Revolution…

Casually Large

• Four of out ten US internet users play social games,

according to a study from Kabam in May 2011.

• According to the survey results, social gamers are

highly „social‟ on social sites: – They spend 13 hours/wk on social networks, and 9.5 hours/wk on

social games

– 44% use social games “as a form of communication”

– They have 218 social connections, and have made 20 new friends

through social gaming

– They have 16.5 „real-life friends‟ who play the same social games

they do

– 22% say they play harder because their online friends can see their

score

Casually Large

• Not as big as console gamers, but climbing

Casually Large

• Still among friends (and family):

Casually Large

Casually Large

• Frequent Play

– The vast majority (95%) of social gamers play multiple times

per week; nearly two-thirds (64%) play at least once a day.

– U.S. players tend to play more frequently, with 68% saying

they play daily compared to 55% of U.K.-based social gamers.

– 61% of social gamers say their average social gaming session

lasts more than half an hour; one in ten say their average

session lasts 3 hours or more!

– More than half (56%) of social gamers have been playing

social games for more than a year.

– About one quarter (26%) are new to social gaming, having

started playing in the last six months.

– About a third (35%) of social gamers say their consumption of

social games has increased over the past three months,

compared to 10% who said it has decreased.

Casually Large

Casually Large

• Viral Growth/Consumption – Social gamers tend to play their favorite games with great frequency;

• The most popular games for weekly or more frequent play are

• Farmville (69)

• Bejeweled® Blitz (65%)

• Texas Hold'em Poker (63%)

• Cafe World (61%)

• Mafia Wars (59%)

– Word-of-mouth is the most common way that social gamers hear

about new social games; • 57% of social gamers rely on a recommendation or in-game alert from a friend

• 38% said they learn about new games from ads on social networking sites

• 27% cited standard Web searches

– Social gamers have played an average of 6.1 different social games • 39% have played between three and five social games

• 13% say they've played more than 10.

CASUAL GAMING SPENDING

Virtual Currency Translates Into Real Currency

Social Gaming Spending

• Virtual goods revenues will reach $653 million in the US in 2011*

– Up 28% from 2010

• Slightly more than half (53%) of social gamers say they've earned

and/or spent virtual currency in a social game

– Only 28% have purchased virtual currency with real-world money and only

32% have purchased a virtual gift

• Nearly a third (32%) of social gamers say they're likely to

purchase virtual items with real-world currency

• Fully a quarter (25%) of social gamers say they've been misled by

an ad or other "special offer" tied to a social game they've played

*eMarketer

Social Gaming Spending

• Nearly one quarter – 24% – of social gamers have clicked on an

ad in a social game and made an online purchase,

– And 18% have paid to play a game, or to get items in a game.

Social Gaming Spending

• Virtual Goods: – 42% of social gamers say they would be more motivated to play a

social game that offered real world rewards (coupon, gift card)

– On average, gamers spend $42.70 on in-game items or virtual

currency

– A quarter of the survey participants report buying virtual currency at

least once weekly

– 55% of players would rather earn virtual currency than purchase it

with real money, but 14% have used real money to purchase virtual

currency

– 45% are open to viewing in-game ads to earn virtual currency

– 41% will review the game or spread the word through their social

network page to earn virtual currency

THE SIMS ON FACEBOOK 4.6 Million Players Daily and Counting

The Sims on Facebook

• Less than a week after launch, The Sims Social already had 4.6

million people playing daily, and is the fastest-growing social

game.

• The impressive growth statistics for the newest kid on

the social gaming block: – The Sims Social is the #6 game on Facebook

– It is the #10 app on Facebook overall

– The Sims Social is on track to have more players than CityVille • Currently the #1 social game on Facebook, with 14 million players

– Previous versions of The Sims sold more than 140 million copies.

• The Sims Social also incorporates in-game advertising and

launched with Dunkin‟ Donuts as part of gameplay. • Players can give their Facebook friends a “Dunkin‟ Donuts coffee boost.”

THANK YOU!

Jeff Ferguson jeff@fangdigital.com | twitter: @countxero. @fangdigital & @dead_tree_media