Social gaming, in effect, is playing online games on a social media platform where the emphasis is as much on interacting with others, as it is on the actual game. Over the last few years we have seen tremendous growth in social gaming, especially as social media continues to become more popular at an ever-increasing rate. This has seen friends and family members enjoying playing games built in to platforms such as Facebook, with enjoyment levels increasing as a result.
First of all, it’s believed that over two-thirds of people are active on social media platforms such as Facebook and there is also a considerable amount of us who use smartphones on a daily basis too. With Facebook being extremely popular on mobile, it has made social gaming not only more popular, but more convenient too. It has also provided users, who would not class themselves as gamers, with a chance to play titles such as Words With Friends or Zynga Poker with both friends and new acquaintances.
The fact that general public is logging in to their social media accounts on a daily basis is a great start when it comes to social gaming. This means that companies instantly have access to millions of users who are potential social gamers. Companies such as Zynga report that they have daily active users of over 50,000,000 active numbers that are reaching 25 million users. Casino related games are said to be the most popular with social gamers with millions of regular players – a good example of this is Viking Slots. Testimony to this is the ongoing success of bingo whether it may be at your local bingo hall or via the mFortune bingo app; the pastime continues to be popular and a huge success amongst all age groups.
All in all, this has made social gaming great from a business point of view too. First of all, huge brands got involved, having their ads used in games. These include giants such as McDonalds, MTV, and Expedia to name a few, and this has seen a lot of revenue generated with people vying for ad time due to the huge audience that social games can reach at any one time.
Another key factor in the success and continued success of social gaming is the mmicrotransactionsthat take place within the games. Whether we are buying virtual currency, extra lives or other in-game items, this has become big business for social game developers. It’s estimated that the amount spent on micro transactions and in-game currency is well into the billions, and with millions of active monthly users playing social games it is easy to see why this has become such a big earner for the industry.
We are also seeing a transition in the gaming industry itself, with the console gaming market now fast losing ground in the global gaming scene. Mobile gaming, supported by social gaming, has become the real powerhouse, with people loving the ability to game on the go whenever is convenient for them. The fact that they can do so with their friends and family on social media is another important factor. Social gaming will continue to grow at a rapid rate, and with this there will be even more money pumped into the sector.