Two blog posts in the space of a week have illustrated just why Digital Chocolate's Trip Hawkins believes that, when it comes to games, Facebook and smartphones are following two different paths.
The worrying thing for mobile developers is that, if he is to be believed, it's the Facebook model that will eventually come out on top.
Indeed, over the past six months, Digital Chocolate has moved its business focus from mobile to Facebook.
Echo calls
It's all down to what Trip describes as the 'echo'.
In short, Hawkins believes what separates Facebook from iPhone and the like is that users on Facebook play games based on their friend's recommendations, whereas on mobile platforms, game discovery is largely a solo process.
"They are trained and in the habit of going to an app store but when they do so they are looking to be entertained and not bringing their intention or attention to a social graph," Hawkins says of mobile consumers.
"As a result, first-generation mobile social game networks like Digital Chocolate's Café Series, OpenFeint and Ngmoco's Plus+ have not become genuine social destinations. Mobile gamers are not in the habit of going to such a mobile social Café, they are instead going to a game that they remember and want to enjoy playing alone.
"Thus there is very little echo in mobile because we don't have a massive audience checking in to a social service that is reminding them to try new games and return to existing games they have."
Model dilemma
While such an assessment initially caused Hawkins to label Facebook as 'not a game platform', he also suggests the smartphone model's days are numbered, purely because as things stand, mobile games currently follow the traditional model of shifting serious units at launch, before falling away again.
"Combined with pricing pressure that results from Apple policies, the Apple platforms offer very short game lifecycles and limited revenue, despite Apple products enjoying a great reputation as game devices," Hawkins summarises.
"By contrast, Facebook can support games as a service and incredible game revenue while not even being perceived by its customers as a game platform."
The upshot of all of this is that Facebook's echo the idea of games existing as a social stream, both in their promotion and delivery will replace the packaged goods model that Hawkins believes is still practised by mobile marketplaces.
"Over time, we will indeed hear the echo on all these platforms and devices. This makes mobile social games an even more exciting longer term bet because, after all, there are billions of these devices."
[source: Trip's OMG Blog]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
53 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Interview
May 13th, 2024