Browser Games

[playrhq]

Browser games have boomed alongside the social networks like Facebook,

where many of the most popular reside.

 

The daddy of the Facebook or "social" games was FARMVILLE - popular with

women, it's a kind of farm management game. It's since been toppled by THE

SIMS SOCIAL - the social network version of the horrendously ever popular

Sims franchise - and by CITYVILLE, think Sim City.

 

In the kids space, MOSHI MONSTERS - think Tamagotchi - has been one of the

the success stories of the year. It is a social network for 7-12 year olds.

Boasting, 50 million players who pay for membership,

it also spawned a DSi game that sold big this Xmas.

 

All these games are essentially single player experiences but importantly

they have "social" features which allow players to co-operate and share

their experiences with their social network friends. "Gifting" virtual

items is a key element of many social games.

 

Traditionally Facebook games represented the more casual end of gaming and

were largely played by women, but that's changing with the rise of

hardcore games pioneered by the likes of Kabam. There are many start ups

in this area operating innovative games like I AM PLAYR.

 

There are of course browser games that don't reside within the social

networks such as the wildly popular RUNESCAPE - probably the West's

biggest free-to-play MMO RPG - which has been around for over 10 years.

 

Before Facebook, portals were the big home for browser games and still

are. Popular portals include:

www.yoogames.com

www.bigpoint.com

www.kongregate.com

 

And running alongside all this is of course the phenomenal rise of

free-to-play gaming, which goes beyond the browser space and covers all

forms of pc and mobile gaming. It's already killed the traditional

subscription-based MMO business, with nearly all the major MMOs having

gone free-to-play in 2011.

 

Other genres will be effected in time as the traditional publishers take their franchises

in to the Freemium space and start-ups produce impressive games that grow audiences

of millions almost overnight.

 

Recent successes in this area include FIFA ONLINE, MINECRAFT and WORLD OF

TANKS. Notable future releases include GHOST RECON ONLINE, which is

looking to take a chunk out of the huge FPS market.

 

Making money from Freemium is based on huge audiences who pay nothing and

then a dedicated hardcore who will pay lots to receive boosts and benefits

that put them at the top of the leaderboards and give them status in the

community. For example, EA have reported that top FIFA Online players can

spend upwards of $5,000 per year on the game.

 

As they offer much richer gaming experiences and yet are still free to

play, ultimately the rise of free-to-play gaming must have an impact on

the popularity of less sophisticated browser games .

 

 

THE COMPANIES

 

ZYNGA - the big boys. Phenomenally popular Facebook games including

Farmville, CityVille, CastleVille and Texas Hold'em.

 

PLAYFISH- bought by EA. Now responsible for taking EA's mega franchises in

to the social space with titles like Fifa Supetsars, Madden Superstars,

NHL Superstars and Sims Social. Also seem to be majoring on licenses, with

the likes of RISK: Factions and Monopoly Millionaires coming late 2011.

 

BIGPOINT - One of the top 3 portals, also develop their own titles.

Pushing hard with free MMOs based on licenses like Battlestar Galactica

Online.

 

JAGEX - UK based. Now employ over 600. Phenomenal growth largely based on

the success of free-to-play MMO RPG Runescape.

 

KABAM - the pioneers of hardcore browser based gaming. These guys have

been hot, hot, hot with investors.

 

YOOGAMES - old school free browser games portal with some of the year's

hottest games like Call of Gods and DD Tanks.

http://www.yoogames.com/

 

GAZILLION - newer entrant, well funded, creating Marvel Universe, free to

play MMO.

 

 

 

USEFUL LISTS OF BROWSER BASED GAMES

 

Top Browser Games of 2011 Poll

Really useful snapshot of what's hot. Hundreds of thousands of votes polled.

http://contest.bbgsite.com/gameprize/2011/index.php?controller=priz...

 

50 Browser Games

Some of these are not technically browser based, but more evidence of the

range of popular free to play stuff.

http://uk.gamercharts.com/charts/top-50/google?gclid=CMzx743Gp60CFU...

 

 

EDITORIAL

 

This is a bit sparse.

 

Free MMO Gamer

News and a weekly video podcast on free MMOs. Has a useful section on free

browser based MMOs.

http://www.freemmogamer.com/

 

MMO Front

Fanboy newsite with a slightly wider remit than the title suggests.

http://www.mmofront.com/

 

Massively

One of the big sites for MMO news, from the guys behind Joytsiq. Covers

some of the more hard core RPG-based browser games.

http://massively.joystiq.com/