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My Design Track Keynote from the 2010 Montreal International Game Summit. From the description:As the social gaming space is increasingly dominated by major players, we as an industry already run the risk of stagnation in our newest field. Intended as a call to arms for indies, this talk seeks to dispel the myths surrounding what "success" means in social game development. Market share is not the only winning path -- no matter what the VC's tell us -- and we’ll break down how indies are in a unique position to innovate, take risks, move fast, and push the medium forward in a way that the lumbering goliaths are unable (or unwilling) to do.
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David vs.
GoliathVillea call to arms for indie social game designers
Scott Jon Siegel@numberless
http://numberless.netscottjonsiegel@gmail.com
montreal international game summit 2010
David vs.
GoliathVillea call to arms for indie social game developersThe opinions expressed
here are those of the presenter, and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.
but first, a brief disclaimer:
Scott Jon Siegel@numberless
http://numberless.netscottjonsiegel@gmail.com
Scott Jon SiegelSocial Game DesignerZynga; June 2008 - August 2009
‣ Scramble Live, iPhone
‣ Café World, Facebook
Playdom/Disney; September 2009 - Present‣ City of Wonder, Facebook
intro
call to arms
call to arms
call to arms
CALL TOARMS
call to arms
call to arms
call to arms
call to arms
part one
part one
part one
part one
the outsider
the outsider
THE OUTSIDER
the outsider
THE INSIDERS
the outsider
(sausage fest)
the outsider
Three Simple Questions
the outsider
1. HOW DO YOU DEFINE “INDIE”?
2. HOW DO YOU DEFINE “SOCIAL GAMES”?
3. WHY DO INDIES HATE SOCIAL GAMES SO MUCH?
Three Simple Questions
the outsider
indie
the outsider
indie
the outsider
“These are dumb questions.”Chris Hecker
Co-Founder, Indie Game Jam
the outsider
“The whole ‘what's indie’ thing is a pointless circular discussion I’m trying to distance myself from.”Phil FishChief Creative Officer, Polytron
the outsider
“A lot of people seem to want to talk about that, but it never produces
interesting ideas or useful discussions.”
Jonathan BlowDesigner/Programmer, Braid
the outsider
“Indie is hard to define.”Jenova ChenCo-Founder, ThatGameCompany
the outsider
“There’s indie as method [...] and then there’s indie as style...”Frank LantzChief Creative Officer, area/code
the outsider
Whether you’re indie as method, or indie as style, social games have something compelling to offer.
the outsider
WTF ARE SOCIAL GAMES?
the outsider
“GAMES ON FACEBOOK”
the outsider
“GAMES INVOLVING SOCIAL INTERACTION”
the outsider
“IT’S A POOR TERM, WHATEVER IT IS”
the outsider
WTF ARE SOCIAL GAMES?
the outsider
WTF ARE SOCIAL GAMES?
the outsider
Social Games are those which evoke “emergent social play”
- Zimmerman/Salen, 2004
the outsider
the outsider
SOCIAL GAMES
the outsider
SOCIAL GAMES^network
the outsider
SOCIAL GAMES^network
‣ social graph‣ platform communication channels
the outsider
WHY ALL THE HATE?
the outsider
“Indie game developers generally don't make social games because they tend to actually like games, and
they tend to respect their players and want to give the players good experiences. ‘Social game’ development is generally about the opposites of these things. It should
be pretty obvious.”
the outsider
I OBVIOUSLY DISAGREE.
I SOCIAL GAMES
part two
i <3 social games
they’re HUGE.
i <3 social games
‣ over 195,000,000 active users on Facebook every day
‣ 24% of all internet users in US & UK play social games.
‣ of those users, 49% log in to social networks specifically to play social games.
Source: Information Solutions Group, February 2010
11%
80%
9%
The complete lack of necessity for a chart on this slide.The pressure to do it anyway so the slide wouldn’t feel unbalanced.How sad I make myself sometimes.
i <3 social games
they’re DIVERSE.
i <3 social games
0%
6%
12%
18%
24%
30%
< 18
18 -
21
22 -
29
30 -
39
40 -
49
50 -
59 60+
Percentage of Social Gamers by Age
Perc
enta
ge
US UK
0%
12%
24%
36%
48%
60%
Male Female
Percentage of Social Gamers by Gender
Perc
enta
ge
Source: Information Solutions Group, February 2010
i <3 social games
Source: Information Solutions Group, February 2010
the average social gamer is a
43 year-old woman.
i <3 social games
Source: Information Solutions Group, February 2010
the average social gamer is a
43 year-old woman.
i <3 social games
they’re PROFITABLE.
i <3 social games
‣ 28% of social gamers have spent real money in social games.
‣ users who spend once are exponentially more likely spend again.
‣ Virtual goods on track to generate $1.6 billion in US revenue in 2010.
‣ Estimated to account for 20% of all gaming revenue by 2011.
Sources: Information Solutions Group, February 2010 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-20004317-62.html http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/02/56-of-social-game-buyers-buy-again-according-to-social-gold/
i <3 social games
social gaming is
BROADsocial gaming
PRINTS MONEY
i <3 social games
social gaming is
BROADsocial gaming
PRINTS MONEY
i <3 social games
Parking Warsarea/code, 2007
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
^ MY STREET
MY FLEET >
i <3 social games
= $
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
SkyratesCarnegie Mellon, 2006
i <3 social games
SkyratesAirship Studios, 2006
i <3 social games
Sharkrunnersarea/code, 2007
i <3 social games
Sharkrunnersarea/code, 2007
i <3 social games
“SOCIAL” GAMES
i <3 social games
RSSReally Simple Syndication
i <3 social games
Before RSS
i <3 social games
After RSS
i <3 social games
INFORMATION COMPULSION
i <3 social games
INFORMATION COMPULSION‣ News Sites‣ Blogs‣ YouTube‣ Facebook‣ Twitter‣ Tumblr
i <3 social games
SHALLOWESCAPISMa short-form indulgement of distraction, often as a punctuated instance of a more long-term form of escapism.
i <3 social games
SOCIAL GAMES^network
‣ social graph‣ platform communication channels
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
i <3 social games
Source: AppData.com, November 2010
i <3 social games
amaitokyo.deviantart.com
part three
david vs. goliathville
david vs. goliathville
david vs. goliathville
Source: DeveloperAnalytics.com, November 2010
david vs. goliathville
MO USERSMO PROBLEMS
david vs. goliathville
david vs. goliathville
david vs. goliathville
david vs. goliathville
the end
Scott Jon Siegelhttp://numberless.net
scottjonsiegel@gmail.com@numberless
THANKS!IMAGE CREDITS:‣ sijm.ca‣ indiecade.com‣ expdot.com‣ babycastles.com‣ apps.facebook.com/cowclicker‣ flickr.com/photos/masterslate/2529062829‣ apps.facebook.com/friendwheel‣ apps.facebook.com/parkingwars‣ areacodeinc.com‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/splityarn/3483403854‣ commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Red_Magic_Circle.gif‣ skyrates.net‣ sharkrunners.com‣ flickr.com/photos/joanna_young/3167061329‣ flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/4005702259‣ someecards.com‣ amaitokyo.deviantart.com
ILLUSTRATIONS by Shelley Monahan‣ amachinethatmadesilence.tumblr.com
SPECIAL THANKS to Jenova Chen, Eric Zimmerman, Chris Hecker, Darius Kazemi, Phil Fish, Frank Lantz, Jon Blow, & Chaim Gingold.
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