Giving a speech today in Londons Tower Bridge Hotel as part of the Social Games & Virtual Goods World 2011 conference, Joe Chen, CEO of RenRen, spoke of the difference of approach his company has taken when compared to its American equivalent, Facebook.
Rather than take the 'credits' approach and seek to turn social gaming into a revenue generator for the social network via virtual good purchases, RenRen takes the opposite approach.
"We turn the table," Chen stated. "Facebook looks at [social games] as primarily to make money. We dont do that."
More than credits
Instead the company heavily promotes what it sees as 'high quality social games' such as Popcaps Plants Vs. Zombies Social with traditional and modern advertising techniques such as 'zombie flash mobs' in major pedestrian areas in cities across the country.
This active participation in promoting its service's games is a stark contrast to Facebooks hands-off approach as laid out by the European Head of Gaming Partnerships Julien Codorniou at the Social Gaming Summit last month, in which the company stressed that it was "never going to be in games ourselves" nor "invest in gaming companies".
Instead, RenRen which hosts Happy Farm, the social farming game that inspired FarmVille sees social gaming as "definitely the future", but doesn't see ARPU as important a barometer.
"We make more money with brands than virtual goods," he said.
Advertising channel
Chen revealed that unique conditions present in China more specifically the level of piracy when it comes to big brand names has led to this alternative balancing of revenue generation when compared to its American rival.
He attributed some of RenRen's success in becoming the leading 'real name' social network in China to the company's early adoption of smartphones when the market was still in its early stages, saying that he expected penetration of the device in China to continue growing at a tremendous rate.
News
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).
Related Articles
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