Social Economy: Why Facebook games have to charge money for items

facebook credits
On almost any Facebook game wall, you will see posts from people complaining that the latest and greatest desired item requires real money to purchase. Many players cannot fathom why a Facebook game should ever require them to pay money for digital pixels, and find themselves irate when game developers do not offer a way to obtain all items without requiring real dollars to be spent. For some players, buying items simply isn't an option because they're too young to purchase without parent's permission, they are out of the country, or they simply do not have the extra change laying around to spend on a virtual game. In this column, we'll take a look at the reasons why Facebook game developers have to charge for items in their games despite player's constant objections.
Development Costs

Creating a game costs a huge chunk of money. We're not talking thousands here - for some of the top games that you're playing such as FarmVille or Pet Society, millions of dollars have been spent even before the game launched. Games require staff such as client programmers, server programmers, game designers, producers, project managers, business developers, and executives. That doesn't even include the standard business personnel that most companies require such as a Human Resources department, lawyer consultation, office managers, and more. Social games are easier to develop than console games and standard MMORPG titles, but they still require months of time and generally dozens of employees. That's a lot of salaries, office rent, and expenses that have to be made up.

Startup Costs

Social gaming is a division of gaming that is still in its infancy. Every day, it seems that there are new developers jumping into the pool of contenders trying to make the next blowup hit. Many of these companies are startups, that are funded by venture capitalists or angel investors. This means that these companies often are given millions of dollars to create social games that are profitable for their investors. Without profit, there is not success, and venture capitalists will no longer be interested in providing seed funding to social game developers. In other words, these games have to sell items to turn their company into a success.

Live Operation Costs

Arguably even more expensive than the initial development costs for a social game, is the expense of keeping it running long term. In order to have a live game that continually provides updates, fixes bugs, releases new and exciting content, and remains a successful product for the company - there are many financial resources that have to be dedicated to it. A live game requires hosting - even though the game is on Facebook it isn't actually hosted there. The developer has to pay all operating costs to keep the client and server running smoothly and supporting the thousands (sometimes millions) of players who log in every day. This is very expensive, and without money coming in your favorite game would not even be able to remain live and running.

There are also a number of other costs that are associated with running a live game. Someone needs to be in charge of the game, designing features and choosing what themed items to release. A full Quality Assurance team is required to make sure the game is running smoothly by testing every new release that goes into the game. Customer Support staff is an essential part of making sure the players are getting help for billing and support questions. Community Managers are often used to moderate forums, relate key customer concerns to the developers and executives, and handle the wall posts and engagement with the players. There are tons of artists required to make all of the new items that are for sale. This is just the beginning!

All of these staff members require pay, as making social games is not a hobby for them - it's a full time career. Your favorite social game not only has to be able to simply pay the bills to pay for technical costs, staff salaries, and office space, but they also have to make a profit in order to continue surviving as a viable company.

While it may be frustrating to you to see that you cannot afford to pay for items in the game, remember that most games that require a development staff this large are not free. Console games require an initial purchase fee of anywhere from $40 - $70, and traditional MMO games often have a box price of $50 plus require a monthly subscription fee. Social games are expensive to operate, and it is even more challenging when everyone is allowed to play the games for free for as long as they want without spending a dime. In most Facebook games, somewhere around 1-3% of players ever actually pay - but they make up for all of the other players.

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?

Yup, Zynga is still worth more than EA, recent filing reveals

A few months ago, Zynga's estimated valuation was rumored to be nearly $10 billion. Now, a recent Zynga filing reveals a sale of $490 million in shares slated for March of this year, Inside Social Games reports.

That number could indicate a post-money valuation, or an estimation of how much it's worth, of $9.1 billion. (Dr. Evil is rolling in his space pod right now.) This is all thanks to several big-name investors like Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price and Kleiner Perkins.

However, Inside Social Games says that it's more complicated than that, thanks to several sales of Zynga stock in both directions that haven't been officially confirmed. In other words, Mark Pincus and crew have been vigilant of keeping their exact worth under wraps until the company decides to go public at some point. And, according to the New York Times, don't count on that in 2011. (Sorry, small time investors.)

Regardless, a slightly more confirmed valuation of $9.1 billion still has Zynga in the running as the second most valuable gaming company in the world. According to TechCrunch, EA is worth around $6.2 billion while Activision Blizzard sits pretty at $13 billion. So yes, Zynga is just about as loaded as we thought it was, and it's all thanks to our addictions to uniquely-colored Cows and Sheep.

Do you think Zynga could eventually surpass Activision? How will the two publishers respond to both being beaten by Zynga and it encroaching on the number one spot?

Pet Society Vacation dives into iOS in New Zealand, US release coming

And there's no scuba gear required. EA and Playfish have launched the iOS version of their Facebook hit, Pet Society, on the New Zealand App Store. According to Pocket Gamer, the game--titled Pet Society Vacation--should hit the UK App Store around midnight. Of course, this should mean that a U.S. release will follow soon after.

And based on our early impressions of the game from this year's E3 (well, more like additional information), color us excited. The game will be connected to your Facebook, but only so far as your main pet's appearance and level. Other than that, this is a brand new adventure for your pet that will involve it relaxing in a house boat on the coast of a tropical island.

While your items and currency won't carry over to this version of Pet Society, your mobile pet will be able to earn items and other rewards to use in your Facebook home. Better yet, players can take their pet scuba diving for extra coins and rewards like decorations. In other words, this will be your Pet Society away from ... Pet Society, or something like that. Keep your eyes glued to the App Store--you better bet we are.

Pet Society scuba dave

Are you excited to take your favorite digital pet on the go with you? What do you expect or hope for this mobile extension of Pet Society?

Like cutesy birds? How about ropes? Then you'll love Rope Rescue

How do you best the crazy success of two of your most beloved iOS games? Make one game to rule them all! At least that's what seems to be EA and Chillingo's idea behind Rope Rescue. This upcoming game for iOS devices is set to release "soon," according to video posted by Kotaku's Brian Crecente (found below).

The game was spotted at an EA fall preview event, and it challenges players with--using a rope attached to one bird across pulleys and avoiding obstacles--freeing a slew of caged birds. Hmm, colorful, animated birds guiding ropes that are in danger of being cut?

That sounds as if Chillingo and EA are looking to hook Angry Birds and Cut the Rope (you know, the two astronomical iPhone games?) fans--though, that could entirely coincidental. In the duo's defense, neither are these birds "angry" nor is the goal of the game to "cut the rope." (In fact, your mission is to keep the rope intact amidst floating knives, bursts of flame and other threats.)


There looks to be around 60 levels that will be ready at launch, which will grow in complexity as you progress. And as you rescue more birds, they will be featured in a bird sanctuary of sorts. It also displays secret butterflies, should you manage to find them in each level. No official release date or price was announced during the event, but Kotaku seems to think we'll be seeing the game this September. Stay tuned, folks: This might be the next Angry Birds ... or should I say Cut the Rope? Oh, whatever.

[Image Credit: Modojo]

Are you psyched for an iOS game that has both birds and ropes in it? Do you think Rope Rescue could take off like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope did for Chillingo?

Zynga, Playdom, EA and Bioware vets cause a Rumble with new freemium studio

While many a story has come to light recently, detailing high-level game designers jumping ship to Zynga, here's one where a fairly big gun under the big Z's umbrella has left for new pastures. To be specific, John Yoo, lead designer on CityVille, is one of a few industry veterans that have joined with Greg Richardson [pictured], of former BioWare/Pandemic fame, in the creation of a new freemium (free-to-play) game studio by the name of Rumble.

After speaking with Rick Thompson, the founder of another major social games company - Playdom - the two partnered to form Rumble. Rounding out this new package are former EA employees Mark Spenner and David O'Connor. With these big names in their camp, Richardson's goal with Rumble is to create games that are free to play (supported with paid add-ons), but lie somewhere in between the expensive world of high-end PC games and the extremely casual games represented by many Facebook titles.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Richardson has faith that this middle ground holds a lot of merit. "We saw this third hill, and we think it's the biggest of the three hills," he says. This isn't to say, though, that Facebook games are out of the picture, as Richardson confirmed that they will use the social service, but will also focus on mobile devices and PCs through the browser.

In addition to developing its own games, Rumble will publish other developer's titles. While no specific details were announced about any of Rumble's specific games (we can expect the first sometime early next year), Richardson did list many of the company's areas of inspiration, which lie anywhere from Zelda and Super Smash Bros. to Diablo and Civilization. Regardless of the game in question, he says that Rumble looks to avoid overly complex gameplay. With this many areas of inspiration, we're definitely interested in seeing what Rumble comes up with, but for now - the possibilities are endless.

Are you excited in trying out this apparent middle-ground of freemium games that aren't too challenging, but aren't too basic either?

NHL Superstars coming to Facebook in October

Adding to its popular brand of "Superstars" titles on Facebook, Electronic Arts has announced the production of NHL Superstars for Facebook. This new game, as reported by ShackNews, comes on the heels of EA's NHL 12 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 breaking franchise records for the biggest launch week in the franchise's history.

As for the franchise's jump onto the Facebook ice, we're told this: "NHL Superstars will bring an all-new NHL experience to millions of hockey fans by enabling players to build and manage their ultimate team of professional hockey players. With dynamic and accessible gameplay, fans can compete head-to-head in games against their Facebook friends from around the world."

While specific details are still lacking as to what we can exactly expect from NHL Superstars, we can't imagine EA / Playfish breaking the mold. We'll likely be able to collect cards that contain professional hockey players, and then trade those cards out to create the best team possible. Each player will likely have stats, and we'll be able to use those players in virtual hockey games against others for supremacy.

We don't have a specific release date for NHL Superstars, although the game is set to take to the ice sometime in October. We'll make sure to give you a complete look at the game when we know more.

Are you excited to see NHL Superstars come to Facebook? Which players will you look for to create your perfect team?

Like the Risk: Factions Facebook fan page to unlock rewards

Hey, if it worked once, why can't it work again? Playfish is copying a page in its own playbook, offering fans of the upcoming Facebook game RISK: Factions a chance at some free goodies once the game finally launches (it's now in closed beta). This new "Operation Like" feature asks users to simply Like the game's fan page, and (just as it was in the Sims Social), the more fans that Like the page before the game's launch, the more prizes we'll unlock.

Of course, the game hasn't received much traction just yet, so we've only unlocked one of the six prizes currently listed. Here's a complete rundown of what we're eligible to receive, if you'd like to help out the cause:

5,000 Likes - Pig on a Spit
10,000 Likes - Guard Tower
25,000 Likes - Security Gate
50,000 Likes - Coins
100,000 Likes - Troops
200,000 Likes - Donkey Cannon

If you're keeping track, this top prize - the Donkey Cannon - is the same one seen in the trailer of the game from E3 of this year. Also, the Coins and Troops are basic prizes, but we're not sure exactly how many coins, or what types of troops we'll receive if the fan page eventually reaches that many Likes.

As of this writing, the fan page has almost 10,000 Likes, so we'll definitely unlock the Guard Tower. It's whether or not we'll receive the infamous Donkey Cannon before the game launches that's the real question. Want to do your part? Head over to the game's Facebook fan page and click on the "Like" button as soon as you can! Your fellow Facebook gamers will thank you!

What do you think of the Operation Like feature in RISK: Factions? Are you looking forward to this game's launch on Facebook?

Sims Social storage upgrade: Is it big enough to fit all of your stuff?

Hoarders, rejoice! Sims Social has increased the amount of storage in the game to 550 items -- so now you have more room to keep things, like, say, limited edition items, holiday themed items and whatever else strikes your fancy.

The lack of space to put things is a fairly common complaint in all Facebook games, but other games make you work for that extra closet space. That's, thankfully, not the case with Sims Social -- you just wake up one day and can start packing stuff in without sweatin' it. If you've got fewer than the max number of items, that is.

sims social storage increase

Does the storage upgrade give you enough room for all of your stuff?

Want exclusive freebies in The Sims Social? Register on the forums

I'd put away that credit card, if I were you, at least for the moment. I know, it's burning a hole and blah, blah, blah, but Playfish recently announced that it will give The Sims Social players exclusive freebies on a regular basis, but under one condition: You have to register on the Playfish forums. In fact, the game's community team created a new forum category just for this purpose.

Starting last week, Playfish gave away some free Relaxation--an ingredient used in crafting Fun Potions--in a short 24-hour window. So, it looks like, if you do decide to partake in the freebie-fest, you'll have to visit the Playfish forums on a regular basis to catch the next free giveaway that pops up. Perhaps eventually the developer will start to dole some beefier prizes like decorations for your Sim's house or straight-up Simoleons and Social Points.

EA and Playfish have been on a freebie frenzy as of late for all The Sims Social players. Just recently, the developer announced a week-long event in which it will post even more handouts on its Facebook page. At this point, we can't help but ask: Why? Well, considering just how close The Sims Social is to overtaking Zynga's CityVille as the number one game on Facebook in daily players, we're not surprised that Playfish would be pulling all the stops. To register on the Playfish forums, click right here.

Have you been reaping the rewards from Playfish on the forums and on The Sims Social Facebook page? What do you think of the game so far? Share with us in the comments. 1 Comment

Zynga, Playdom, EA and Bioware vets cause a Rumble with new freemium studio

While many a story has come to light recently, detailing high-level game designers jumping ship to Zynga, here's one where a fairly big gun under the big Z's umbrella has left for new pastures. To be specific, John Yoo, lead designer on CityVille, is one of a few industry veterans that have joined with Greg Richardson [pictured], of former BioWare/Pandemic fame, in the creation of a new freemium (free-to-play) game studio by the name of Rumble.

After speaking with Rick Thompson, the founder of another major social games company - Playdom - the two partnered to form Rumble. Rounding out this new package are former EA employees Mark Spenner and David O'Connor. With these big names in their camp, Richardson's goal with Rumble is to create games that are free to play (supported with paid add-ons), but lie somewhere in between the expensive world of high-end PC games and the extremely casual games represented by many Facebook titles.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Richardson has faith that this middle ground holds a lot of merit. "We saw this third hill, and we think it's the biggest of the three hills," he says. This isn't to say, though, that Facebook games are out of the picture, as Richardson confirmed that they will use the social service, but will also focus on mobile devices and PCs through the browser.

In addition to developing its own games, Rumble will publish other developer's titles. While no specific details were announced about any of Rumble's specific games (we can expect the first sometime early next year), Richardson did list many of the company's areas of inspiration, which lie anywhere from Zelda and Super Smash Bros. to Diablo and Civilization. Regardless of the game in question, he says that Rumble looks to avoid overly complex gameplay. With this many areas of inspiration, we're definitely interested in seeing what Rumble comes up with, but for now - the possibilities are endless.

Are you excited in trying out this apparent middle-ground of freemium games that aren't too challenging, but aren't too basic either? Sound off in the comments.