The value of Zynga is continuously increasing. Its total revenue reached USD 850million and the number of total users was 72 million in 2010 after being founded in 2007. After launching several consecutive hit games, Zynga has become a killer content provider.
How can this happen? Why do users like Zynga’s social game?
1. Easiness
The social game is totally different from MMORPG(Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) which needs to follow a complicated manual. But Zynga’s social games are so easy and intuitive that beginners can play a game without any manual or detailed information.
Though the user interface is simplified and the number of buttons is minimized, the scrupulous attention to detail graphics makes Zynga games more interesting.
[ Intuitive UI of Farm Ville ]
2. Vicarious Satisfaction
Zynga’s games are based on real world such as an aquarium(Fish Ville), a city(City Ville) and a restaurant(Cafe World). A user can be a mayor or other wannabe in this virtual world and gets vicarious satisfaction. As the level goes up, a user can do more advanced jobs and get rare items. So the vicarious satisfaction from these achievements is too strong to stop from playing the game.
[ Screen Capture of Fish Ville ]
3. Friends
Zynga’s games are dependent on social networking information of Facebook. The series of Zynga’s games are based on your real friends. It means that your friends recommend you to play a game together and you can maintain relationship through the game. To get a rare item or level-up, it needs to use Facebook relationship. Zynga intrigues new Facebook users as well as using Facebook database.
[ Recruits Menu of Mafia Wars ]
4. Evolution
Zynga considers many aspects from a user’s preference to its strong and weak point. Because Zynga’s games are consisted of routine activities, people can easily lose their interest on the game. A game can attracts a lot of users in a short time, but if the game doesn’t keep a user base stable, it would be a bad signal to make a profit continuously.
So Zynga has developed several joyful functions. For example, a user of Mafia Wars can choose a tournament function only in Las Vegas. This event makes a user feel the strong achievement for a champion belt. And recently there has been a lot of new missions for users to keep playing a game in City Ville.
[ Tournaments Menu of Mafia Wars ]
5. Time-efficiency
While a popular MMORPG focuses on the targeted heavy-users, the scope of Zynga’s users is broad. And the threshold to start a game is comparatively lower than other types of games in a way that gamers don’t need to put all their all energies and time into the game.
Zynga’s most games have its restriction such as an energy bar which limits the total number of jobs.
[ City Vill with Energy Bar ]
How can Zynga develop its power?
1. Multi-device Expansion
As Zynga has launched the Farm Ville for iPad users and the Mafia Wars for smartphone users, the company will make various versions of the hit series for more users. And this game would be more powerful on the version for smart TVs. Some of the hit games such as Angry Birds would be launched as a console game.
2. Combination with Other Industries
Like the case of Kart Rider which has been a very famous arcade game of Nexon, Zynga’s games can be used as a marketing tool or an advertisement channel. Kart Rider promoted Coca Cola and McDonalds with a background image and Luzzi, virtual money which can be used to buy an items in Kart Rider. Many people including myself bought an event product for gaining Luzzi and special items.
Zynga’s social games are strongly related with the real items and it can be effectively used as a promotional tool and loyalty program. For example, City Ville can adopt a real advertisement banner on the fence or window of a building. Even, when moving into a new house, a vehicle can be a Fedex or a UPS truck.
And it is possible that sellers display their products in Zynga’s virtual world. And users can buy real items while they are playing with the game. Though this scenario is far from the present, it can be realized someday. Regardless of where Zynga expands its business, it would be a new trend to drive the social game.
[ Kart Rider’s Promotion with McDonalds ]
