SXSWi: Mobile Social Games - the next frontier (2011-03-13)

Mobile Social Gaming:The Next Frontier

SXSW Interactive13 March 2011

Volker Hirsch, Scoreloop@vhirsch

I’m Volker

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/

#mobilesocial

Um... Err...

Um... Err...

(I’m working on it!)

What I will talk about:

1.! What are social games?2.!What does social mean?3.!Why mobile matters?4.!How is it done?

1. What are social games?

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/ -- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Austin_TX_1920_map.jpg

?

http://www.gapingvoid.com

http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/george_eastman_house/2986882705/sizes/o/

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091125193142/farmville/images/archive/6/69/20091201165405!Pig-icon.png

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/files/2010/06/farmville-sheep.png

-! Single-player mechanics can work...-! ... if tied into social graph.-! Reward linked to interaction locks in.-! Collaboration + Competition

-! Tease, test & iterate to maximise interaction with friends (keep users longer) & spending points (grow revenues).

Some learnings:

Metric-driven design

Sources & Drains

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Dp8GJpYQxRg/RgHrO8WR59I/AAAAAAAABoc/QtbAQP7WHmg/dscf0054.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/Storm_Drain_Dryden.JPGhttp://www.revivevending.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/vending-machines.jpg

$$$

Is that it?

2. What does social mean?

Social refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence [...]

Source: Wikipedia

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bhgs_crowd.jpg

You need context!

http://flickr.com/photos/nolifebeforecoffee/124659356/

Prof Dr Karin Knorr-Cetina, Sociologist

Jyrri EngestromFounder, Jaiku

Object-Centered Sociality

https://svn-create.freedesktop.osuosl.org/public/create/docs/logo/images/light_bulb_off3.jpg

Make your game a social object

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3365895535_3d24cb3b91.jpg

Social is interaction in context

Object

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Petanque_players_in_Cannes_(France)_2003.jpg

3. Why mobile matters

Mobile is the most powerful digital medium to date.

Why?

1. It’s big (numbers)2. It’s personal (nature)3. It has more context (Identification

of needs)4. It can make you money

Mobile is big!

1,800,000,000

2,250,000,000Unique credit card holders

Tooth brushes in use

Mobile phone subscriptions

475,000,000Daily circulation of newspapers

825,000,000Registered cars

4,000,000,000FM Radios

v!"#o$%&s'()c*%http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Numbers_grid_in_NY.jpg

4,965,000,000

1.9 bn users 5.0 bn users

25%

75%

MobileNo Mobile

28%

72%

No InternetInternet

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs16/f/2007/141/6/1/Size_Matters_by_seenew.jpg Metcalfe’s Law

V N2~

Mobile is Personal

• 91% of people have their mobile within arm’s reach 24/7.

• 60% of married people will not share their mobile with their spouse!

• It takes an average of 26 h for a user to report a lost wallet but only 68 minutes to report a lost mobile phone.

Morgan Stanley 2007

Unisys Survey

Wired Magazine 2006

• 10% of under-25 year-olds find it OK to text whilst having sex.

Retrevo Gadgetology Report, 2010

Mobile has more context!

Mobile is a 1st!

1. Personal mass media2. Always carried3. Always on4. Built-in billing system5. Present at the point of creative impulse6. Accurate audience identification7. Captures social context8. Enables augmented reality

Tomi Ahonen, Mobile as 7th of Mass Media, 2008;Alan Moore & Jonathan MacDonald, The Glittering Allure of the Mobile Society, 2008

Scale alone kills conversations, because they require dense two-way interaction.

Clay Shirky, “A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy”, Keynote, ETech, Santa Clara 2003

Why Context Matters?

Mobile makes Money

Each of GREE and DeNA are 1/20 of the size of Facebook but have similar revenues.

98% Mobile!!!= ARPU is 20x that of Facebook.

Mobile is complex

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GTM_W5mVPTU/TKS5gUU1iRI/AAAAAAAAAL4/tabxGMjzP30/s1600/market-bag-intl4.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/8/88/20080910181751!Dubai_gold_market.jpg

And there’s many of them...

4. How is it Done?

http://gapingvoid.com

http://wallpapers.free-review.net/12_~_daydream_in_solution.htm

What You Need...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Red_Porsche_Killer_Kiel2007.jpg

Product

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/print/2009/3/Berger_Natural_Finish.jpg

Marketing

Enough?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/8/88/20080910181751!Dubai_gold_market.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/104/3/1/Labyrinth_by_Shortgreenpigg.jpg

Hmm...

http://www.askabba.com/Ezuz%20roadsign.JPG

In the Wilderness...

you need Direction.

Social Discovery

http://www.windsorfinejewelers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image//t/a/tacori-platinum-round-diamond-semi-mount-engagement-ring.jpg

Engage where it matters!

Engage in the game; It’s Your Real Estate!

http://www.woodlandmanufacturing.com/imagesb/realestate-signs/real-estate-sign-main-lg.jpg

How to Engage:

• Peer-to-peer challenges• Inclusion of mobile-only features

(contextual, geo-aware, etc)• Achievements, trophies, rewards

• Avenues to friends: finding, gifting, comparing.

Encourage exchange with people that matter

Interaction where it matters

Don’t let them Go...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_E5cSkRNNzuk/TGeNR0r2AoI/AAAAAAAAJoQ/IASRQyytDxw/s1600/NeverLetMeGoStill2.jpg

• Integrate billing events where they are:- relevant (adds value from a user

point of view),- transparent (don’t con the user), and- in context (seamless integration into

game mechanic).

• Provide the perception of real value.

As to the Vending Machine...

1 2 3 , 2 96 , 966 ,069 , 453

The Law of Big Numbers

One last thing:

And if all else fails?

http://files.sharenator.com/Monocle_Smile_6548_RE_Cotton_vs_Bieber-s435x353-92269.jpg

@vhirsch / @scoreloop

http://vhirsch.com/blog

volker@scoreloop.com

+44 7843 599 678

http://scoreloop.com

Thank you!