Social media &
Social Gaming Trends 2012
Filed under: Facebook, Mobile, Psychology, Trends, Viral
As Social gaming is predicted to become a billion-dollar industry this year, let’s have a look at the trends for 2012.
Approximately 62 million U.S. Internet users — that’s 27% of the total Internet-using population in the U.S. — plays at least one game on a social network on a monthly basis this year, which is 15% increase from 2010.
So what are the biggest trends emerging in Social Gaming?
Integration with real life.
The idea with augmented reality is to let you physically perform tasks in the virtual world. This makes social gaming much more interesting and you’ll have the feeling of being more involved.
Take a look at Paranormal Activity Sanctuary
Cloud based gaming.
It was two years ago, when OnLive introduced cloud gaming and gave people the ability to play console-quality games streamed right from the cloud.
Cloud gaming makes console quality graphics possible on even slow internet connections. This means better gaming experience, and better gaming experience leads to satisified gamers.
Take a look at OnLive
Mobile social gaming
As mobile devices get faster and more powerful, MMO (massive multiplayer online) games are also getting more and more popular on these devices.
The new iPhone 4s provides faster graphics than ever, which will help take the mobile gaming to a new level.
Also, if Facebook games would be playable on mobile devices or standalone apps, the potential growth of mobile social gaming will be huge.
Take a look at Shadow Cities
New Facebook Open Graph
Changes to the Facebook Open Graph, like the ticker will also have a big impact on social gaming. You can now see right away, what your friends are playing at the moment.
But is this another source of unwanted friend-spam, or has Facebook found a way to create genuine interest among friends?
The most popular Facebook games at the moment
Cityville
The Sims Social
Texas Hold em Poker
Farmville
Empires & Allies
What do you think will happen with Social Gaming in 2012?
Posted on: November 1, 2011
“Life Playing Game” integrates with real life and makes great use of the new open graph.
http://faceplantgames.com/lpg
Facebook, with its recent Open Graph changes, is no doubt the current number one player in the social gaming arena but it definitely would be interesting to see what google and apple do with their touch devices and steadily increasing control of the gaming pie through their apps.
Another trend that might be interesting in the coming year is the ability to have console style experience using mobile touch devices as controllers to play games socially on the large screen. An interesting product in this space is Snapstick (www.snapstick.com) and recently launched its early beta. The gaming arena sure does look interesting with various approaches to discovering, consuming and playing games.