Blog post

Social Media: The Next Gen MMO?

May 19th, 2009

I’m sure you’ve heard about one form of social media or another… MySpace, Facebook, Twitter being among the most popular.  There has been much speculation that Twitter is poised to be purchased by Google, and Facebook has been topping the charts with their Zynga games such as Mafia Wars and Texas Hold ‘Em poker.

Considering that signing up and interacting is free, with no microtransactions for additional content or monthly subscription fees for the games that Zynga provides, could this be the face of the future MMO?  Just think, Zynga boasts 10 million active users a day.  I don’t think even World of Warcraft can say that.  11 million registered users, sure… but do they all log on every day?

I’ve had a few discussions with friends in the gaming industry in recent months, and they all seem to be in agreement that browser-based games of some fashion are definitely gaining a much larger foothold in the industry, and may be a force to be reckoned with going forward.

Well, let’s not forget there are some very large titles out there now that are browser based.  Runescape anyone?

I think that many of the big development companies, who traditionally produce multi-million dollar retail/subscription titles, are realizing that they are missing out on a very lucrative market. Recently, Sony Online Entertainment launched their first browser-based, free-to-play model, Free Realms, and within just a couple of weeks reached one million registered users.

Coincidence?  I think not.  Put such a widely recognized name like SOE on a cute browser title and splash “FREE!” across the front of it, and you’ll have a winner every time.

Wonder if we can look forward to World of Cutecraft in a free browser-based game in the near future?

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