Will the First Social Games Survive?

When the Facebook platform launched last May, an influx of application developers realized that the quickest way to get a large fan base was to create games and apps that leveraged the popularity of existing brands. One of the first targets was throwback games. The Pacman game (which was later renamed “U-Arcade” probably because of a legal notice), rapidly gained over 2.5 million users. Ultimately, Pacman was removed and was replaced with a set of various arcade games.

I witnessed one application developer go and scrape all of Miniclip.com’s games and try to get as many users as possible prior to being forced to shut down. For some, the business model failed. For others, such as Mark Pincus who recently launched the Zynga Gaming Network, build entire portfolios on the back of copyright games. The most well-known case of copyright infrigement has been the Scrabulous game.

In new markets, the most aggressive survive. Often times we witness questionable tactics used to build mini-empires (and hopefully eventually large empires). I have to wonder if some of the questionable tactics that have been used in the social gaming space will eventually result in the downfall of a few mini-empires. Whether or not the result is the downfall of social gaming empires, the social gaming space is most certainly one of the fastest growing segments within the social web.

As we see platforms expand from one social network to another and eventually beyond social networks, we will witness the power of social gaming expand exponentially. Just the other night I was discussing the impact of cross-platform social gaming. Imagine being able to play the same game on your phone, on a social platform, or on a video game console. While this may not be immediately available, we are going to witness the expansion of social platforms beyond social networks and this is going to most definitely have a net positive impact on the social gaming industry.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.