Crazy about FarmVille or World of Warcraft? Then you already know what social gaming is all about. Social gaming refers to games played with social interaction; action of one player affects the experience of another. These games require a social online platform where many people can come together and share content or interactive features. Some examples of social online games are the hugely popular FarmVille, Zynga,Mafia Wars,etc. These games are casual in nature and have turn- based features inbuilt.
As per Market research firm Parks Associates Social gaming revenues hit $1 billion in 2010 and could grow five-fold to $5 billion in the next five years.
Facebook, Hi5, Myspace, Orkut, Sonico, Netlog and Friendster have emerged as great platform for social online gaming. So all you need to do now is log into Facebook, and you can share & play these games with all your online friends. Major companies that have been market leaders in terms of market revenue share in the social gaming sector are Zynga, playfish and Playdom.
The companies that have potential and could make big buck in the social online gaming space are Crowdstar, Kabam, A Bit Lucky, Digital Chocolate, Popcap and Funzio.
Top Social Online Games
Watch out for our next post on mobile gaming & how it has revolutionized the way we play!
– Anurag Yadav (Research & Development, MAAC)
