My previous Blog was directing thought towards the convergence of platforms within Asia. The impact of smart phones, iPad, netbooks, tablets and other mobile online engagement methods – meaning mass market reach. Since writing that we (Omake) have been involved in many discussions both from the development segment to publishing. The focus towards Asian social gaming and community management through SNS based gaming is evolving rapidly. We are seeing a number of publishers (not necessarily the traditional MMO majors) positioning towards cloud/browser and social gaming. It must be noted that the larger established Asian SNS are not yet fully open to 3rd party applications so there is a flurry of partnering discussions occurring. I and the Omake team believe in many cases these will form a stepping stone to more focused community management of their own game users. Meaning the publishers will aim to develop their own game focused SNS by combining games with community content and networking. The fundamental change is away from single “hit” driven MMO to wider view of managing their large player traffic. It had to occur as the risk involved in single hit focus is high, not to mention the community monetization through advertising; SNS micro-transaction has been missed. For some time the major publishers in the core Asian markets have moved from hype and cosmetic game selection, towards focusing more on the business models both in monetization and distribution and now segmentation/community management. As the markets like China continue to grow rapidly the publishers are experiencing far more competition and the segmentation of the consumer. We can almost compare this stage to the past new console hardware releases of the western markets. There will be a wide burst of social gaming content and we will see some publishers handle this SNS strategy extremely well where others will miss the total community engagement strategy. It will be different to the west in that the consumers already enjoy and expect larger social gaming experiences. They are used to micro-transaction and will require their “friends” to be part of any new content experience. One of the biggest challenges in the MMO community is to create an offer which brings not individuals across but groups and clans. No friends – no SNS.
