Developer Facebook game trends in mobile platforms

The Facebook market is changing and its mainstream social-game developers are rolling out versions of mobile phones and tablet computers. After Facebook reopened some of the virus-spreading channels earlier this year, today's top developers generally believe that the introduction of native apps that bind Facebook to mobile platforms is an important step.

"From the user's point of view, I think the seamless gaming experience will be the standard of the future," said Riccardo Zacconi, chief executive of Facebook's second-ranked developer King.com. "At the same time, Jens Begemann, chief executive of Facebook's third-largest developer, Wooga," Now we have about 60% employees working on mobile platforms and 40% developing Facebook projects. ”

"It's not an either-or problem, it's a matter of both, we've launched Facebook apps to iOS and Android platforms, and now our services are covering three channels, which is what we're looking for," says Sean Ryan, head of the Facebook game relationship. ”

It is clear that smartphones and tablets are rapidly acquiring a large number of users, while only half of Facebook users visited Facebook on their phones last December.

The problem is that the Facebook game was limited to browsers running on the PC side. But in January this year, Facebook began supporting developers in native phone games with deep bindings open Graph support users to post messages in the game, inviting friends to join the game (game Bang Note: Facebook's iOS and Android apps didn't support these features in the past). This creates more opportunities for developers to launch mobile games that are embedded in Facebook.

Now Facebook users can direct this to the iOS and Android App Store and download game apps that release relevant news. Facebook and developers agree that this setting will help boost the download volume of mobile games.

Zacconi repeatedly mentions the success of the iOS game "Bubble witch Saga" due to Facebook features. "We released the game without a marketing campaign and went to the top 10 of all iphone and ipad listings in the European App Store." This is mainly because the game is tied to Facebook because users who play games on Facebook can see the game on their phones. ”

Begemann also credited the success of the iOS version of "Diamond Dash" to Facebook's role. "Usually if you launch a mobile app, you'll get a lot of downloads in the first few weeks, but then the download will start to flatten." "But the Diamond Dash" can still achieve "nearly 100,000 times a day of continuous download."

"Why is it possible to create nearly 100,000 times of daily downloads after 10 months of a game?" Obviously, it is the role of verbal communication. People like this game, they enjoy the game, and recommend the game to friends. Facebook's viral communication function has been a success in this process. ”

Multi-platform Development channel

Zacconi points out that this success has made king.com firm up a belief that the game must also launch both Facebook and mobile versions.

"I say Facebook and cell phones, not Facebook or cell phones, because the seamless gaming experience is the future trend from a user perspective." ”

To achieve this strategy, king.com the team into a business reorganization, "before the company divided into a responsible for the Facebook platform, a mobile platform for the department, but now we have different ways of organizing." We build teams based on specific games, each with its own mobile team and social team. ”

Wooga's Begemann advocates mobility priorities, "our team always considers new games from a mobile platform perspective, and it's not just moving the game from one platform to another, we're developing new games for the mobile platform first." ”

"We made this decision a year ago, when we had only 10 members in charge of the mobile business, and now more than half of the company's 250 supposedly are dealing with the business," he said. I think that will be the direction of the 2013, at least for us, and mobile devices will become a more important platform than Facebook. ”

Facebook executive Ryan also agrees with developers offering a continuous gaming experience, "The last thing we want is to simply migrate the game from one platform to another." ”

Referring to the game of Bubble Island, Begemann that the game's mobile phone version differs greatly from the Facebook version.

"The game's integration system needs to be readjusted because different platforms play differently." The checkpoints will have to change so that the speed is faster and this version does not need to be overly precise. This means that its tablet, mobile and Facebook Three versions are not the same game, and if all three make no difference, that would not be so much fun. ”

King.com The current game is also starting from the PC platform, but Zacconi has a different view, "I think it is really necessary for each device to reconsider the game design, but the game itself is the same game." We want to get the same experience without a gap. ”

But they all indicate that synchronization and cross-platform payment processes are an important part of the process. Zacconi that "no matter which platform you are on, the game process can be consistent, and friends are old friends." So the game experience is actually the same, but the interface looks different.

Begenmann added, "So what we're doing here is that your Facebook version of the game process, the IAP deal, and so on will be completely synchronized." ”

Even the spooky cool Labs (game State Note: recently introduced to Facebook based on the film "Wizard of Oz," the same name of the 3D version of the urban construction game, the game played more than the Wooga "Bubble Island" and king.com game "Bubble Witch Saga more complex) also considered it necessary to enter the mobile platform, but has not announced a specific plan.

The company's chief technology officer, Chuck Hess, said, "We think that players should be able to experience the game anytime and anywhere, so that when they are sitting in front of the computer, they can play games on the computer and use mobile devices to play the same game when they go out." ”

Facebook's Open graph advantage

Only with Facebook's support will the developer move to the mobile platform become a trend. Most developers now seem to be more satisfied with the change policy that Facebook introduced in January. Begemann is also positive about this, "I think Facebook is doing the right thing, we implanted the Faceook platform in our application, and this strategy is very effective." ”

Zacconi that it's crucial to work with Facebook, "binding Facebook can be a synergy that you can't have with just a mobile version." If you focus only on mobile platforms, you will face a big problem of insufficient exposure and low user retention rates. ”

Facebook's Ryan recommended the open graph solution to developers and pointed out that "the most difficult problem for developers is to get exposure, download and install, and pay users." ”

"Open graph is an important extension of social game play on mobile devices," says Greg Harper, the Finnish developer Supercell (representing the work of Clash of Clans and Hay Day), general manager of North American Studios. It supports players to share the game process and interact with players. It can also be used as an exposure tool, but the best thing for us is to enhance the gaming experience. ”

He cited, for example, "for example, after we implanted an open graph feature in" Hay Day "that supports the player's" praise "of others ' farms, in just a few months, one of our built-in characters gained nearly 500,000 compliments without any promotions or events. "It is noteworthy that the supercell game did not release the Facebook version.

Although Wooga's mobile game does not require users to access Facebook, there are a number of "Diamond Dash" players who actively chose this channel. According to Begemann, "68% of our active users choose to log on to Facebook because they have a better gaming experience." If you're just playing a game alone, but if you can fight with friends in the game, you can get the pleasure of defeating a good friend, which is definitely a better gaming experience. ”

"Users who have access to faceboook spend more time in the game and are 8 times times more willing to consume than average users," he said. ”

"Our goal is to develop games that allow players to interact deeply," says Harper of Supercell. While we don't want Facebook to be a necessary condition for playing games, we have a lot of players willing to experience the game with friends, and Facebook is a very convenient way. ”

Of course, playing games with friends is the key to attracting new players into the game.

"It's unthinkable for me to experience pure single player games as in the past," says Zacconi. "It's important for Facebook to know who the players around you are, who are interested in the game you're playing, and who's the same level as you are." ”

Begemann that the notice in Facebook apps is a big contributor to driving the player to experience the Wooga mobile version of the game.

"Using our channels can help you get some benefits," says Ryan. The information passed through our social channels (whether via the Facebook mobile platform, APP Center or newsfeed) can now be presented to the user, you can click on the link and experience the game, which is the source of the increase in game traffic. ”

Ryan is a great advocate of social interaction in Hay day. Facebook sees strong and meaningful interaction as the key to boosting game flow. "At the 7th level of the game, you can trade or sell props with friends, it uses Facebook to perform this function, the game is in this interesting way to solve the content." ”

In addition, Ryan says he wants to see more newer and better social mechanisms in the next generation of games. "So when we talk to developers, we don't ask how many requests they send, how much they ask the players." But to talk to them, "is there any new mechanism in the game that is worth mentioning?" "such as borrowing, trade and so on, and the nature of the game into an interesting element." ”

Alex Schultz, Facebook's user growth director, sees the shift strategy as the social engine of the application, saying, "If you log into a social game and find that only two or three friends are playing, then the game is not interesting." The more friends join the game, the more sociable the game will be, and so is the mobile platform. ”

In response to Facebook's role in supporting mobile gaming, Ryan said, "Last year we thought we were behind, but by moving to install products, we gave developers the best way to let users discover and install new games." ”

Supercell's Harper agrees, but points out that there is some room for improvement, "although it is still in its infancy, Facebook does take some measures to provide value-added services to mobile game developers." ”

The future of Facebook games

Now that we've all seen the shift to the Facebook version, many players are now playing the original version of the Facebook game, and Facebook itself is aware of and supports this shift strategy. So where is the future of Facebook's canvas platform? The developers interviewed this time that its future is still bright, not so early to fade out of people's vision.

"We can still see the development of the canvas platform, which is clearly still a bigger platform, but the mobile platform is developing very quickly, and the importance of the PC platform will weaken, as are browsers and canvas," Begemann said. But it's only in the middle of a development. ”

Ryan bluntly said, "We think people who think the PC market is going downhill are not conducting market research." ”

Among the respondents, Begemann the belief that "in the long run, tablets will replace PCs." I think this is the third computer revolution since the 80 desktop pc,90 era GUI. ”

Zacconi also believes the industry has seen a shift to tablet computing, but says it is a step-by-step process, "If you believe people are predicting that 20% of PCs will be replaced by mobile devices, that means that computer equipment will still be there for a long time", It has been reported that the transition will not occur until the end of 2014.

"Interestingly, now we often see people start playing games on their computers and then continue to experience games on smartphones, and smartphones actually expand PC gaming time, not the latter's usage," he said. ”

Begemann agrees, but thinks that the model will not last, "for now, mobile devices are just a complement, but as the market grows, it's going to grow into an alternative default device." ”

"In the next two years or so, maybe the laptop will be a bit outdated, but I think the people who buy the tablet now will not replace their laptops." They will phase out their laptops and perhaps upgrade to next-generation tablets in the next two years. I think that's what happens now. ”

Ryan is not so sure, "Interestingly, we're all sitting here and saying," You know, the mobile platform is conquering the world, it's like a prairie, but if you look at recent market research results (game notes: such as Gartner or IDC), You will find that the PC game market is still expanding, which is a huge market. ”

But not everyone agrees with Ryan, Harper said. "We do believe that the tablet is the ultimate gaming platform, and it has a real mass user, including the core and the casual players." I'm not sure what the tablet will be able to generate in the future, how big its players are, but I'm sure that day will come. ”

Ryan, who dominates the online video market and breaks down Netflix in the physical video retailing industry, points out that "when we talk to developers, we find that the general idea is that the market is value-added at this stage, but I think in other areas we've seen the added value of the early days of the market, Only when there is a brutal competitive situation can you see the clue, and in the short to medium term, everything will only show the phenomenon of expansion. ”

While still optimistic about the PC market, Facebook does not lack the readiness to shift its mainstream casual gaming developers to mobile platforms. "I think Facebook canvas will be a more immersive high-end gaming platform, so we've invested a lot of time and effort in working with Adobe Flash 11 and unity," Ryan said. We also see that the performance of 3D games on widescreen devices is generally better than on small screens. ”

Under pressure

"As a company, we believe we should focus on the tablet business," says Harper of Supercell. The key to the success of our "tablet first" strategy is that we devote all our energy to making the gaming experience that's best for a tablet computer. We are not distracted by different hardware configurations and other platform requirements, so in the near future we will still see the tablet as a priority. ”

and Spooky Cool Labs a different view, the company's marketing director Bob Holtzman recently said, "We through the Wizard of Oz to show the potential of authentic Facebook games, but we also fully agree with you." We believe that iOS and Android will be important platforms. Which platform has a large number of users, we will be in which platform. ”

Begemann said, "I don't think shifting the platform is a pressure, we're actually pushing ourselves because we see opportunities here." ”

With the development of tablets and smartphones, Facebook is also transforming from a gaming platform to the role of social boosters found in games. Meanwhile, Facebook's mainstream developers are starting to see the mobile platform as a target. Facebook is trying to adapt to this shift, and is working to make developers realise that binding Facebook features will help the game, whether you start with Facebook or from a mobile platform. If the success of Supercell is a proof, then the developers use this approach is indeed quite advantageous.

For some, moving from Facebook to a mobile platform may not be a problem of transition, but a need for expansion. "I think our game is the type of people who are destined to experience it anywhere," says Zacconi. ”