Top 25 Facebook Games for February, 2010
Just to keep everyone informed on the web. Big HUGE numbers for FarmVille. Now you know why you get some many updates.
Product manager for Oberon Media, Baseball Fan & Husband. A man with opinions on everything - but expertise in online products and online casual games.
My name is Laurent Courtines. I am a Product Manager at Oberon Media. Don't be afraid to call (646) 374-8311
I am a New Yorker and it is definitive trait! I just started at Oberon Media after five years at AOL's Games.com I like to push the envelope and bring change. Contact me - I will respond and help wherever I can.
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download games
Online Game Disruption: We don't need your stinking portal.
Since in and around 2001* big portals (AOL, MSN, Yahoo etc.) have been where a game developer needed to be in order to sell and make money in the downloadable game world. They needed the eyeballs and had no other way to sell their games. The portals held all the cards and extracted heavy, heavy margins - up to 40%.
Times however they are a changing! In the last 2 years the price of downloadable games have dropped (iPhone is a big reason for that) and the developers have taken back control of their products. Companies like Popcap and BigFish Games are becoming portals in their own right and creating verticle businesses where they create, produce and publish their own games on their own sites. They are able to sustain the lower price points because they never were getting that much money in the first place! Throw in the fact that there are more arenas to buy games (Steam and Amazon) and you've got a revolt. Big portals are a relic and we don't hold a big stick anymore. If there is not a new way to make big money on downloadable games there is no way to sustain the size of the portals. The bigger question becomes? Why should I come to Yahoo Games? AOL Games or MSN Zone? *In 2001 the online ad market crashed and it looked like the online game business was in trouble. The download try before you buy model came in and sustained the online games industry for many years.You got an answer? Let me know.
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Online Game Disruption: All download games now free!
Seeing as no one really listens to me at work or thinks I am crazy I thought I throw some little ideas I have that could be wildly disruptive to the online games/casual game business.
Disruption #1
What if all downloadable games from big publishers went free free?
If tomorrow BigfishGames (known for the Mystery Case Files series) and PopCap (known for Bejeweled and Plants Vs. Zombies) decided all their games were now available for the price of free.
No barrier of entry, no nothing just all their games for free. Would your business (if you are a portal or small download game developer) be ready? I am not even thinking about what their business model would be yet. Let's just start with the problem.
Let me know your thoughts? What would you do with your games or your online game portal?
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