Games.com's 2011 social gaming predictions: Mobile, 3D, MMOs and more

For social gaming, 2010 was a roller coaster ride with stories of ups and downs almost weekly. In the end, it turned out to be a year that witnessed some truly wonderful games, so everyone was a winner, really. But now it's time to look forward to a year that will surely be rife with change. And like any self-respecting journalists and bloggers would, we gaze into the future with wild theories, educated guesses and speculation. We give you Games.com's Predictions for 2011.

facebook game predictions 2011
Social = Mobile
If you thought the slew of social games-gone-mobile like FarmVille for iPhone and Mafia Wars across iOS, Android Blackberry and webOS was a step forward in 2010, just wait for what's to come. While major developers like Zynga, Playfish and Playdom have all started to expand to mobile devices using their existing games like My Empire and Social City, 2011 will see many more original mobile social games--just look at games like Raise the Village. (Bonus prediction: Zynga's recent cross platform strategy using mobile browsers might take off elsewhere.)

Find the rest of our predictions for 2011 after the break.

facebook game predictions 2011
Faster, Prettier Games
It's inevitable, really. With games like Godswar Online and the upcoming EA Sports PGA Tour for Facebook, both of which in full 3D, it's almost certain that there will be more where that came from. The two technologies that will be most responsible for this are HTML5 and the Unity Engine. The former being the next step in how websites are created, HTML5 can do things that Flash can without the need for Flash at all. (Just take a look at what's possible with HTML5.) The Unity Engine, however, is much like Flash in that its software through which developers can create browser games. But in detailed, appealing 3D that can run smoothly in websites without extra downloads (i.e. Facebook). Not to mention that developers are getting much better with Flash (take CityVille, for instance).

facebook game predictions 2011
CityVille Can't Stay on Top Forever
As much as some of us here at The Games.com Blog love CityVille, there's no way it's going to last forever as the top Facebook game. Sure, FarmVille was on top for months, but it too fell from its ivory tower made of Zynga Game Cards. Admittedly, the game isn't doing anything that's seriously groundbreaking, which means a game that does city building better could have a chance at dethroning CityVille. But good luck competing with both the Zynga name and its pool of over 100 million potential players. It's sad to say that, if anything, it will probably be another Zynga game that topples CityVille.

facebook game predictions 2011
Ads, ads, and more ads-Oh, my!
Some social games have more players monthly than most countries have people living in them. As big wigs in the advertising world would say, "That's a lot of eyeballs." With huge companies like McDonalds and Coca-Cola along with big-time rappers such as Dr. Dre getting into the game early, it's only natural that the rest of corporate America is itching to dig its pickax into the social gaming gold mine. That said, advertising in social games could become as second nature as, say, viral marketing has become in the world of YouTube (we've all seen the Old Spice Man).

facebook game predictions 2011
Is Zynga Creating its Own Network?
If eight major purchases in the last eight months and its most recent weren't hint enough, then we'll say it now. More than likely, this is what Zynga is ultimately up to. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus even came forthright in saying that his vision for the future of gaming is a "dog-activated world." Now that we've squashed all doubt, one question remains: What does it mean? Well, it could mean a lot of things, but most importantly is that it could spell independence from Facebook for Zynga.

facebook game predictions 2011
Hey Guys, Check Out Our "Game"
You've seen them already. Out there, just waiting to trick you, thinking what you just clicked on will be a remotely entertaining or enjoyable experience. Advergames. Instead of partnering with major developers, some companies pushing products are saying to themselves, "You know what, screw working with an experienced game developer. I'll make my own game. How hard can it be?" And what we get is a quasi-game, a series of Flash animations and a few clickable buttons designed for one purpose: to show us how cool Product X is and that we should totally buy it immediately.

facebook game predictions 2011
There's an MMO in my Facebook
There are now at least two full blown massively mutliplayer online games (MMO) currently on Facebook, Godswar Online and Milmo. While browser-based MMOs have existed for over a year if not longer, this will be the year when the lines between Facebook game and MMO blur. The two genres are too similar not to. Both are free to play, involve transactions for individual virtual goods or boosts and can now run right within Facebook. However, the Facebook game genre-bending likely won't stop there. With a full 3D golf game (see above) coming to Facebook, who is to say other types of games can't?

facebook game predictions 2011
The Big Will Undoubtedly Get Bigger
Call us pessimistic, but it's just how things work, people. Companies like Zynga are attracting over half of the social gaming market's audience. Numbers like that are tough to crack even for other juggernauts like PopCap who have all but ruled the casual gaming space with Bejeweled, Peggle and Zuma. Even Disney--you know, the guys who thought up Mickey Mouse?--are having trouble competing with them through Playdom. Zynga is likely going to be on top for a long, long time. The question of the day will remain, "Who is number two?" with companies like EA's Playfish, CrowdStar, PopCap and Playdom battling fiercely for second best.

facebook game predictions 2011
Facebook Will Be Our Friend Again
As much as it looked like it was working against us in 2010, Facebook could turn a new leaf this year. In fact, it already has. Just in the second half of 2010, Facebook created an entire games engineering team dedicated to making Facebook better for us social gamers. Not to mention that even more recently the 600-million strong social network hired a social games partnerships director to keep developers like Zynga happy (pictured right). It's too bad that its already looking to grow beyond Facebook. Maybe the two can cut another deal?

FarmVille, CityVille, Angry Birds score Webby Award nominations

Well, that does about sum up the social and mobile gaming scenes of 2010. Well, at least in the "Insanely Popular and We Can't Explain Why" category. Alright, so the 15th Annual Webby Awards doesn't include that category in particular, but Gamasutra reports that Zynga and Rovio have been nominated for Webby Awards for FarmVille, CityVille and Angry Birds, respectively. Oddly enough, FarmVille joins Angry Birds in earning a nomination for Best Mobile Device Game. (Have they played FarmVille on iPhone?)

The two mobile powerhouses (well ... one, really) are up against games like Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick and Cocktail Culture, a game inspired by the AMC series Mad Men and likely the strangest nomination thus far. Unsurprisingly, CityVille takes a Webby nob in the Best Web-based Game category. Adult Swim fans will love to learn that Robot Unicorn Attack plans to give CityVille a run for its money in the same category along with Nickelodeon's Petpet Park.

However, this year marks the debut of the Tablet & All Other Devices category, which welcomes learning games GoodieWords and Grover's Number Special, Jambalaya, musical racing game Rhythm Racer 2, and an alternate reality game Tron Legacy: Circuit Pulse. According to Gamasutra, developers of Webby nominees pay the organization a fee ranging from $150 to $295 (shouldn't it be a flat rate?) for consideration by a panel of judges from the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Since we're past that phase, the only thing left to do is vote before the ceremony on June 13. Want to put your choices before April 28? Then cast your votes right here on Aol.

[Via PocketGamer]

[Image Credit: Media Post]

Are you surprised at all by the nominations this year? Who do you think will come out on top?

CityVille Founder's Residence available for a limited time

Let's face it: there are tons of CityVille players who play the game as collectors, trying to have one of every building, business or home in their towns. That's a great way to play the game, if it works for you, but it's also an expensive one. Take, for instance, the newest home added to the game this weekend: The Founder's Residence, a large gold building available by scrolling almost to the very end of the build menu.

Surrounded by homes that cost over 500,000 coins sits the Founder's Residence, which blows those other buildings out of the water. Ready for it? To add one of these high population homes to your city, you'll need to fork over 70 City Cash. For that price, you'll receive a home that starts with 300 population, but can be expanded to 650 over time. You can collect 159 coins in rent every four hours. Sure, this one looks to be a relatively nice money-maker in the long run, but you'll likely have to do a bit of soul-searching to decide whether or not its worth almost $10.

Unfortunately, you have to make that decision rather quickly, as the Founder's Residence will only be available in the game's store for a limited time - a week, to be exact. If you do pull the proverbial trigger and add this one to your town, you'll definitely have something to brag about, but I wouldn't take this expensive decision lightly.

Zynga partners with Pizza Hut across CityVille, FarmVille and more

Zynga isn't a stranger to charitable donations, so it comes as no surprise that the major developer has launched another charity project across four of its Facebook games this weekend. This promotion comes by way of a partnership with Pizza Hut, in an effort to "share a slice of hope" with the World Hunger Relief campaign.

Specifically, this promotion is available through the company's RewardVille rewards program, and offers a single prize in FarmVille, CityVille, Pioneer Trail and Empires & Allies. For each donation of $5 US or more, you'll receive your choice of one of the four items. Here's a rundown of what's available:

FarmVille: Food Wagon
CityVille: Nutrition Center
Empires & Allies: Farm
Pioneer Trail: Merino Sheep


To be especially clear, you must contribute at least $5 to the cause to be eligible for a prize, and you'll only receive a single prize (of your choosing) for each donation. If you play all four of these games and want all four prizes, you'll need to make five separate donations (for a minimum of $20 in total).

This promotion is set to run from September 25 (now) and October 31, giving you plenty of time to make a few donations if you choose. Here's the link to the donation site if you'd like to help out.

Will you donate to the Pizza Hut and Zynga World Hunger Relief event? Which of the four items are you going after, or will you donate enough to earn multiple items? Sound off in the comments.