sxswi: mobile social games - the next frontier (2011-03-13)
DESCRIPTION
These are the slides to my talk on "Mobile Social Games: the Next Frontier" that I delivered on 13 March 2011 at SXSWi in Austin, TXTRANSCRIPT
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...
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
+44 7843 599 678
http://scoreloop.com
Thank you!