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I generally work on utility apps and websites and this is reflected by the blogs you read here. However utility apps can learn a lot from social gaming because social games are some of the few spaces on social networks that have actually managed to effectively acquire, engage, retain, and monetize users. Because of this I attended the Social Gaming Summit this Tuesday organized by @chudson

Many topics were covered. Here are the main ones of interest to product development and marketing of online utility apps:

1. platforms
2. drivers of app success
3. using metrics effectively to optimize acquisition and design

I will cover the first in this blog post and the other two topics in subsequent posts.

The platform–my major takeaways

• Facebook and MySpace have similar numbers of active users
• Facebook’s availability of its own virtual currency, higher number of virality channels, lower uninstall rate as well as reengagment with uninstalled users makes Facebook a popular choice for developers
• MySpace provides higher Average ARPU for many developers
• Hi5 has innovative payment partnership partly due to its higher popularity in countries with fewer credit cards and a lack of credit card culture. If you plan to break into these markets Hi5 is certainly of value
• Non-social network game platforms allow games that
  • can be more engaging for your users as they allow synchorous social interaction unlike social network games where often time you are playing with someone equivalent to a paper cut out of your friends
  • let you play without real game identity and for some games users actually prefer that
• destination sites for social games
  • come in handy when seeking investment as investors are more comfortable with a site that does not depend on the rules of another large player like a social network
  • come in handy for Facebook apps when users have not bookmarked your app since discoverability on Facebook is low
  • conversion rates from social networks to destination sites are better than most people think according to Jia Shen from Rock You

Detailed notes

Facebook

• MAU    200
• US MAU    60
• US growth    5-10%
• Average ARPU    $0.30-$0.40
• Non-US Growth     70%
• New user age group    35+
• Propriety portable real identity    Yes
• Virtual Currency    Yes
• Big development/opportunities    Facebook Connect, making mobile social
• Liberal Availability of Viral channels
• low uninstall rate    low
• Allows engagement with users who have uninstalled
• Largest games (MAU)
• – Texas Hold Em Poker – Zynga – 12mm mau - Mafia Wars – Zynga – 11mm mau - Pet Society – Playfish – 11mm mau - Farm Town – SlashKey – 7mm mau - YoVille – Zynga – 7mm mau - MindJolt – Zynga – 6mm mau - Pass a Drink – SocialReach – 6mm mau - Lil Green Patch – Green Patch – 5mm mau - Bumper Sticker – LinkedIn – 5mm mau - Restaurant City – Playfish – 4mm mau - Chain Rxn – Zwigglers – 4mm mau - Geo Challenge – Playfish – 3.5mm mau - Bejeweled Blitz – Pop Cap Games – 3mm+ - Know-It-All-Trivia – CrowdStar – 3mm+ - Word Challenge – Playfish – 3mm+ - Who Has the Biggest Brain – Playfish – 3mm+ - Vampire Wars – Zynga – 2.7mm - Friends For Sale – Serious Business – 2.6mm Active player metrics    In 2 years, there are 14,000+ games: - 3 games with 10mm mau - 30 games with 1mm mau - 100 games with 100,000 mau - 300 games with 10,000 mau - 1,000+ games with 1,000 mau

MySpace

• MAU    125
• US MAU    60
• Average ARPU    $0.6-$0.7
• Virtual Currency None currently but coming soon
• Conservative in availability of viral channels
• High Uninstall rate
• No possible engagement with users who have uninstalled
• Does not share active player metrics

Hi5

• #1 social network in 30 countries
• big in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa
• recently restructured entire company around games–a social entertainment network with games, virtual currency, and aspirational IDs.
• Innovative partnerships with payment companies
• 400 games focus on transactions.

Others

• 3P XPlatform SDKs – Come2Play, J2Play, OpenFeint, ScoreLoop, GameyolaCasual/Flash portals (Cafe.com, Kongregate, Pogo, Bigpoint, AddictingGames)
• Web portals – igoogle, MyYahoo
• Twitter-RPGs Spymaster, 140Mafia, Fast140, TweetQuiz; games feel more like spam.  Following people is very different than friending on social networks.  Greater role will be in integration with consoles (Xbox)

Definitions, courtesies, notes:

MAU means million active users

ARPU=average revenue per user

Notes about Hi5 and non-social network platforms from content now blog post

Majority of platform coverage from Justin Smith from InsideSocialgames.com original presentation. You can find his Slides here.

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