In the first quarter of this year ending March 2011, Zynga generated about $235 million in revenue. Compared to last year's 89 million players, FarmVille has half the monthly players at 39 million. So, how did the game end up making more money than ever with half of its player base? According to VentureBeat, it's all about the content, baby.
Zynga released more content to FarmVille this year than ever before, with a full-blown expansion in English Countryside and more updates than you can shake a strawberry at. It's said that only 1 to 3 percent of social gamers pay, so either FarmVille's coveted 1 to 3 percent has been there all along, or the company has raked in new paying players with flashy content.
Considering the back lashing we read on the forums daily, we'll go with the latter. And this 1 to 3 percent of FarmVille players doesn't even need to pay that much for Zynga to make some serious dough.
According to VentureBeat's math, players only need to put up $10.67 to $31.66 USD to have filled Zynga's immense pockets. In comparison, over 11 million nerds fork up about $15 every month to play World of Warcraft. That says nothing else about Zynga's 1 percent other than it is massive in comparison to the competition.
For Zynga, the best way to generate increased revenue is simple: introduce more free and paid content, and fast. And not every game makes money. Treasure Isle, for instance, is reported to make little money by Zynga in its IPO paperwork. And according to VentureBeat, paying gamers stick around for 10 to 25 months. So, if Zynga hopes to keep making more dough, perhaps we can expect the next big FarmVille expansion to launch before next January.
Are you a paying FarmVille player? How do you think Zynga entices players to pay, and have you ever considered paying up for virtual goods?
Showing posts with label venturebeat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label venturebeat. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Noah's Ark hits Port Facebook, social games go crazy for Christians
When Sean Ryan said that Christians were an untapped audience for Facebook games, developers listened. And thus, we have the third biblical Facebook game to hit in the past two months: Noah's Ark.
VentureBeat reports that Making Fun--News Corp's social gaming arm--and Detonator Games have officially released the game to Facebook. However, the FarmVille-meets-Genesis social game looks have hit the platform earlier in August, according to its fan page.
Noah's Ark is the second game launched by Making Fun since it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp last year, and looks to cater to a woefully untapped audience that happens to be one of Facebook's largest. The game tasks players with creating--you guessed it--a farm of sorts to attract new animals to Noah's build site. Then, players must build their own Ark to prepare for the imminent worldwide flood.
Of course, players are governed by Energy and can buy boosts and other items with Facebook Credits. Noah's Ark will also test your knowledge of the story through trivia questions provided by Zondervan, a Christian publisher and News Corp subsidiary. (Finally, that Catholic education comes in handy!) And regardless of whether the game takes off--it sits now at over 260,000 monthly players and is growing steadily--Making Fun is committed to releasing games regularly.
Noah's Ark gameplay
"It's part of our plan to bring new and different games to the market that no one else is doing," Making Fun CEO John Welch told VentureBeat. "Our aim is to put out really high-quality titles in partnership with a variety of developers." Welch also said that the publisher will continue to release games through outside developers like Detonator Games, and that includes iPhone games, one of which will be a sports game.
Noah's Ark plays much like the FarmVilles and FrontierVilles of yore, but with a far smoother presentation and an interesting end goal: The Ark. As players gather new animals and materials, they will contribute to building the Ark throughout 10 stages. And there is an unbelievable amount of animals to collect across seven wildlife habitats. As players reach out beyond the limits of their small farmland, which is all visible on screen--but grayed out--they will learn how to attract new animals.
The game is a bit too biblically-charged for my tastes, and it doesn't do quite enough to differentiate itself from the "FarmVille meets the Bible" comparisons. Regardless, kudos to Making Fun and Detonator Games for exploring a relatively new subject matter in Facebook games. And considering 42 percent of Facebook users are Christian, the audience is certainly there.
Click here to play Noah's Ark on Facebook Now >
Have you tried this biblical Facebook game yet? What do you think of the influx of religious social games as of late? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
VentureBeat reports that Making Fun--News Corp's social gaming arm--and Detonator Games have officially released the game to Facebook. However, the FarmVille-meets-Genesis social game looks have hit the platform earlier in August, according to its fan page.
Noah's Ark is the second game launched by Making Fun since it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp last year, and looks to cater to a woefully untapped audience that happens to be one of Facebook's largest. The game tasks players with creating--you guessed it--a farm of sorts to attract new animals to Noah's build site. Then, players must build their own Ark to prepare for the imminent worldwide flood.
Of course, players are governed by Energy and can buy boosts and other items with Facebook Credits. Noah's Ark will also test your knowledge of the story through trivia questions provided by Zondervan, a Christian publisher and News Corp subsidiary. (Finally, that Catholic education comes in handy!) And regardless of whether the game takes off--it sits now at over 260,000 monthly players and is growing steadily--Making Fun is committed to releasing games regularly.
Noah's Ark gameplay
"It's part of our plan to bring new and different games to the market that no one else is doing," Making Fun CEO John Welch told VentureBeat. "Our aim is to put out really high-quality titles in partnership with a variety of developers." Welch also said that the publisher will continue to release games through outside developers like Detonator Games, and that includes iPhone games, one of which will be a sports game.
Noah's Ark plays much like the FarmVilles and FrontierVilles of yore, but with a far smoother presentation and an interesting end goal: The Ark. As players gather new animals and materials, they will contribute to building the Ark throughout 10 stages. And there is an unbelievable amount of animals to collect across seven wildlife habitats. As players reach out beyond the limits of their small farmland, which is all visible on screen--but grayed out--they will learn how to attract new animals.
The game is a bit too biblically-charged for my tastes, and it doesn't do quite enough to differentiate itself from the "FarmVille meets the Bible" comparisons. Regardless, kudos to Making Fun and Detonator Games for exploring a relatively new subject matter in Facebook games. And considering 42 percent of Facebook users are Christian, the audience is certainly there.
Click here to play Noah's Ark on Facebook Now >
Have you tried this biblical Facebook game yet? What do you think of the influx of religious social games as of late? Sound off in the comments. 3 Comments
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