Licensed Facebook games about to explode, Schell Games CEO says

Confirming a long-time running trend, CEO of game developer Schell Games--the folks behind The Mummy Online--Jesse Schell (pictured) told GamesIndustry.biz he believes that branding and licensed content will be the next big thing in social games. And if the past few games we've previewed are any indication, he just might be right. Schell has been in the game for a long time, previously working with Disney on their browser-MMO Toon Town before he opened his own studio to develop online games in 2002.

Apparently, social games will follow in console gaming's footsteps, according to Schell. "That's how it always goes with videogames, " Schell said. "They always start out with no licensed IP, then some people start to float with it - and then usually licensed IP becomes about 50 percent of any game platform, in terms of where the money comes from. I think there's a lot of room for that with social games."

Like we said, this is kind of old news (but 50 percent?). Branding through Facebook games has been a growing trend for quite a while now, but the question is whether studios like Schell Games will do the source materials in question justice. There's a huge opportunity here to make some truly interesting social games backed by long-standing brands and licenses. Thankfully, Schell raises a good point that developers new to Facebook should understand.

"I often tell people that if they've not sure what platform they should be on, then their idea might not be strong enough - because a lot of things that really succeed have a lot to do with the platform," Schell said. In other words, don't bring your award-winning license to Facebook unless you know what the platform is capable of.

Let's just hope that developers don't take Schell's advice too close to heart. Everyone knows we certainly don't need to see Mega Man working as a farmhand. Thankfully, some of the big league studios know better. For better or worse, even more signs are pointing recognizable brands to Facebook.

If Pawn Stars works on Facebook, Storage Wars will feel right at home

What the hey, let's throw Parking Wars on their too while we're at it--oh, never mind. It's official, folks: Now that Storage Wars has made it to Facebook after just a single season on A&E, reality TV has staked its claim in social gaming. The game based on the popular--though, we can't understand why--TV show hits Facebook today as the second season premieres tonight on A&E. (With Pawn Stars still kicking, this is A&E's second Facebook game.)

In Storage Wars on Facebook, players join animated versions of characters from the show in high-stakes bidding wars on things in folks' storage units. Players travel around the world in-game to bid on various relics with virtual cash in order to earn more digital bucks to bid on more things. It sounds like a boring vicious cycle, but ultimately players will go all-in for Wanted Treasures that come with huge profits.

"Storage Wars fans have shown that they are eager to get in on the bidding action themselves and our new game for Facebook lets them do just that," said A+E Networks SVP of Games Kris Soumas in a release. "We've put the same emphasis on developing a fun and addictive game experience that A&E brings to its program development."
Gallery: Storage Wars on Facebook
Based on these first screen shots, the game looks to pack numerous storage units with items to bid for inside. More importantly, however, players are guided through the game with none other than quests, or folks craving for Wanted Treasures. But what about our Wanted Treasure, Mario Kart on Facebook?

Click here to play Storage Wars on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of Storage Wars on A&E? What do you think of the rampant growth of branded games on Facebook?

Backyard Monsters creeps up on Yahoo! Games through Viximo

Who knows, maybe there are as many hardcore gamers on Yahoo! Games are there apparently are on Facebook. Viximo, a company that works with social game developers to get them onto new platforms, announced that Kixeye's Backyard Monsters is now available on Yahoo! Games. Backyard Monsters pits players against one another in all-out warfare with various monsters.

The game was Kixeye's first "hardcore" strategy game on Facebook, and has since become its most popular with 3 million monthly players and 760,000 daily players, according to AppData. Backyard Monsters allows players to create their own home base to defend from other players using numerous turrets and laser weapons against encroaching monsters. Of course, players can then retaliate with baddies of their own for resources and general bragging rights.

Backyard Monsters is far from the first Facebook game to make the leap to Yahoo! Games. A number of Zynga games, including Mafia Wars and FishVille, have taken the plunge along with EA's social version of Scrabble. While it makes sense for developers to expand beyond Facebook, we can't help but wonder how Yahoo! Games stacks up against Facebook games in terms of players.

Since its flagship game, Kixeye has focused entirely on strategy games for Facebook and other networks. Most recently, the company released War Commander, a strategy game with strong similarities to the Command & Conquer PC game series. And, considering Kixeye CEO Will Harbin thinks most social games suck, we're sure more "hardcore" games are in the oven.

Are you a fan of Backyard Monsters? How about games on Yahoo! Games? What do you think of the growing amount of strategy games on Facebook?

With new 'Social' update, Xbox.com wants you to play more with friends

Say what you will about Facebook games, but you have them to thank for nifty stuff like this. Microsoft has announced incoming changes to Xbox.com that will reflect the upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Namely, Microsoft touts "Social", the new version of "My Xbox" that places a major focus on what's new with your friends, rather than what's new with your Xbox.

The new Social section of the website should launch within a few days, and will be the first place players can find the previously-teased Beacons feature. This allows players to place "Beacons" on the games that they wish to play with others. Basically, Beacons are a way of saying, "Hey, I really want to play this game with you," but to all of your Xbox Live friends at once. Players can have up to three Beacons active at a time, and can attach custom messages to them.

The new Social page will serve as the new homepage of Xbox.com for those already logged-in to the service. Taking on the Microsoft-coined "Metro" design found on the new Windows Phone (and soon the new Xbox Dashboard), the Social page features all the most important updates to the Xbox universe up top in compact boxes. Down below, however, is where Xbox.com begins to look a lot like the games you play on Facebook.
Xbox.com Social
The rest of the Social page is dedicated to what your friends are up to on their Xbox 360 consoles from what games they've played recently to what games they're playing right now. (It appears to be broken down by the games you own.) Players will be able to send messages to one another, as well as check out what Beacons they've posted. Xbox.com is beginning to look a lot like Facebook, no?

[Via VentureBeat]

Have you been looking for easier ways to play games with your friends on Xbox Live? What else do you think traditional game consoles and platform can learn from social gaming?

Winter is coming, and so is another Game of Thrones Facebook game

Since HBO's second season of Game of Thrones won't hit until April 2012, our guess is that it'll hit long after that nasty winter. USA Today reports that another social game based on the acclaimed novel series turned hit TV series is in the works already. Of course, that's along with two more games under development, enjoying close involvement with the property.

If you remember, a Facebook advergame surrounding George R. R. Martin's work launched earlier this year, Game of Thrones: Battle for the Iron Throne. (And just in time for the HBO show's debut ... how convenient.) While we dug it--for an advergame--the game has since been shut down.

The game was pretty impressive considering its sole purpose was to generate hype for the then-upcoming fantasy drama. However, we can see why the game was canned: Chatter about Game of Thrones has been at a minimum since for awhile. Hopefully whatever developer is currently working with HBO and Martin gets the chance to create a Facebook game that's longer lasting than its predecessor. USA Today briefly described the game as "think FarmVille comes to Westeros." If that's the case, then we'll pass on the social Iron Throne, thanks.

[Via PC Gamer]

Are you a fan of A Game of Thrones? What did you think of the first Facebook game based on the series, and what would you want from this second crack at it?

Free Team Fortress 2 turns 20 to 30 percent of players into payers

Show me the mon--wait, scratch that. Valve has already seen it, and co-founder Gabe Newell is interested. During a conference in Seattle, the overseer of hit hardcore game franchises like Portal said that Team Fortress 2--its popular multilplayer shooter that recently went free-to-play--has seen incredible results in how many paying customers it has created.