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Casual MMOs: Keeping virtual peeps coming back
When people think of massively multiplayer online games, they think of “World of Warcraft” of other brawny, mind-bogglingly huge video games that include “Everquest,” “Tabula Rasa” or “Eve Online.”
But many of the most popular online games are aimed toward casual users and offer simple graphics, quick gameplay and a much broader potential audience. “Scrabulous,” the popular Facebook Scrabble-like game, is an example, as are many kid-friendly online worlds like Club Penguin and Habbo.com.
As the fest wound down on Tuesday, a half-packed panel called, “Casual Multi-Player Online Games: Serious Revenues” began with a limerick about journalist Sarah Lacy and her keynote with Mark Zuckerberg, but soon got down to more serious business.
Panelists, including representatives from Mind Candy (“Moshi Monsters”), Gaia Online and Conduit Labs agreed that the challenges in creating these new virtual worlds are making money online. Should casual games charge a subscription or should they rely on sales of virtual objects or advertising?
Another challenge is keeping players engaged: they have an insatiable desire for new content and it falls on the developers to keep these games fresh, interesting and fun.
Disney is putting $100 million into 10 virtual world projects, including the recently launched “Pirates of the Caribbean” and many online games will seek to take advantage of a generational shift: players younger than 25 don’t make such clear distinctions between “Virtual” and “Real” life because they’ve lived with both for much of their lives.
One thing is clear: if there are more successes like “Scrabulous” and “Puzzle Pirates,” expect a flood of games.
“Once big media wakes up to something, they tend to oversaturate the market,” said panelist Nabeel Hyatt of Conduit Labs.
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