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Success of social networking games inspires game developers

Monday, 29 March 2010, 03:52 Hrs | 2 Comments

Success of social networking games inspires game developers

Bangalore: Success of social networking games in last one year has been the topic of discussions in almost all major game developing conferences around the world. Game developers are baffled at how an easy and low graphic game based on farming manages to attract more than 80 million people. The game mentioned here is Farmville from Zynga which involves managing a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops and raising livestock.

"The 800 pound gorilla in social games is Zynga's 'FarmVille,' which has over 82 million people worldwide playing at least once a month and over 32 million people playing daily," said Justin Davis, Founder and Editor of SocialGameCentral.com. Zynga, which has created five of the 10 most popular social games, also attracts an audience of 30 million monthly and 9 million daily with "Cafe World," its second most popular game. Davis said overall Zynga has over 230 million active players across multiple social networks.

"Now through social network gaming and browser-based games portals, gamers of all types can share their experiences and compete against each other in original experiences like 'Poisonville,' as well as licensed content like the upcoming 'Battlestar Galactica Online," said Hubertz.

Michael Pachter, videogame analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, said social gaming has grown from around $600 million in total revenue in 2008 to $1 billion in 2009 and expects social gaming to bring in around $1.6 billion this year. "The growth rate should remain very high at around 40 percent each of the next three years, so my guess at 2011 is around $2.2 billion, 2012 at $3 billion 2013 at more than $4 billion," said Pachter.

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