Playdom Producer Talks About Future Opportunities In Social Games

Adriano, game producer from Playdom, talks about Social Games

You can download the podcast here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/cc-playdom.mp3

Or listen to it here…

[wp_youtube]WipC3gbQY58[/wp_youtube]

Show Notes:
Interviewer: Hey, I’m here at Casual Connect in Seattle, and with me today is a special guest. How about you introduce yourself?

Adriano: Hi, my name’s Adriano. I’m a producer at Playdom.

Interviewer: OK. And what does Playdom do?

Adriano: Playdom makes social games, both for Facebook and MySpace.

Interviewer: Can you talk about social games? What’s exciting about it? What’s different from what you see in casual games?

Adriano: Well, we’re finding in social games we have found a way to monetize what’s traditionally considered a non-paying user. The business model which has been around for a while and seeming to take off in America these days is showing us that there is a way to monetize the “free” game. And I believe that the free game model is moving toward the social model because it provides an incentive for users to spend money within their games.

Interviewer: Aside from that, would you consider social mechanics as a huge part of its social gaming revolution or not?

Adriano: Yeah. Social mechanics are extremely important, obviously. The social web is one of the most important concepts of social games. It’s the concept of having a multitude of friends creating a gaming experience with these friends, and every action that you make within a game affects that social web in some way or another which then creates the need for other users to join in and help you out, based on these actions.

Interviewer: Now, traditional game designers call that viral spam. What’s your perspective on that? Can you inform the rest of the game design community of why this is actually important? I think people seem to want to do this and actually respond to this and some of the other things that have surprised you in the social gaming sphere?

Adriano: Well, you know, it can be called spam, if that’s what you chose to call it. I think that what is successful is hard to argue with, and I feel a lot of people are making that judgment call in the development space. I think where you find this argument totally on the Facebook side of things is where they’re more concerned about their user experience. And I believe that the borrow nature of the games could be a little bit more intrinsic to the game play itself.

A little bit more insight could be made into creating those virals. I do believe that’s happening, but I do believe that it’s a slow progression for the industry, and we will find that these virals do become integral to the game play and less than spam over the long run.

Interviewer: So, in a social environment virality is going to be a natural component of anything that’s fun or good, right?

Adriano: That’s the way it should be. I think that’s what users are expecting out of it, and I think that’s what they want in

Interviewer: Maybe, it’s just old school game designers are a little bitter that you guys became a hit over night, maybe not.

Adriano: I think you’re just talking to a different crowd. I know that Sid Meyers is jumping into a social gaming space, and I’m convinced that his game is going to be amazing. It will be something that I want to play, and everybody else is going to want to play.

Interviewer: Now, there’s been talk about how the decline of some of the leaders in the social gaming space in terms of their daily active users signals that it might be hard to replicate this success. Do you feel that the social gaming opportunity is over, and where do you see social gaming going?

Adriano: Yeah. I don’t think the opportunity is over until Facebook shuts the door and says, “You can’t have games and you can’t post a notice to your friend’s wall.” It’s not over. What’s over is the days of easy virals and cheap virals. Again, you need to think about the virals.

That’s what Facebook is striving to. They don’t want more virals. They want smarter virals, and I think that it’s out there. And it’s up to us as designers and game creators to realize that that’s the direction that this is going to.

Interviewer: Yeah. There’s a lot of talk how even if you have a successful game, if you innovate, people are going to copy it. Is it still worthwhile to try to even compete in this space? Is there a way to get around the cloning?

Adriano: If people had that thought when video games were created, we wouldn’t have the video game industry. The entire industry is based on iteration, redesigning concepts, and it’s happened in every single segment that I worked in, and it’s happening in social games.

People will define themselves when they stop making simple games. As long as the mind set is to create a simple, shallow, engaging experience it’s very easy to clone those. It’s when you go that third or fourth or fifth level and start creating a deeper experience, something a little more tangible to the user and create that desire to come and play the game, then you can’t clone that, right? That’s the second life. That’s the [?] online.

There’s a million MMOs. Why do those users consistently go back to theirs? WOW, World of Warcraft, obviously is the biggest example.

Interviewer: Where do you see social gaming going then? Where’s the opportunity, and what do you think that space is going to look like in a year?

Adriano: Well, we’re seeing consolidation. We’ve seen it in the last six months. I figure that’s going to continue to consolidate, but I believe that the very nature of this business allows it to be a blue ocean for a lot longer period than people would give it credit for.

The ever-changing terms of service that are being put up for people, if you can learn what those changes mean and adapt to those changes. Again, I implore anybody to go there and check out and see if they can find a deep, engaging experience on Facebook. Until that game shows up, we have a long ways to go, I think.

Interviewer: Do you think these social games are just going to reside on Facebook or what about MMO, what about now just be immersed in everyday life, or do you just define them as being these games on social network?

Adriano: Yeah. No, I mean, Facebook is a means of delivery. Anything can be a means of delivery. If you have a platform with the right tools, you can deliver whatever content you want to in that. So, what we’re seeing is the emergence of alternative platforms, mobile especially, to give these social games a new breadth, if we can say that. If you subscribe to the current way of thinking, they’re driving additional growth for the current crop of games.

Again, there is such room for expansion on this that it’s a blue ocean, go for it. Start at Facebook if that’s where you need to and go from there.

Interviewer: It’s a really competitive space, and you’re in one of the bigger companies in the space. How’s it like because these development cycles are much more quick than traditional game design, game development cycles? Is it fun? Where’s the fun? What are the surprises of being in this part of the industry?

Adriano: I think that one of the biggest surprises is just the consistent level of success that is required of you to maintain your position in the space. I think that if you let your guard down for a minute, you have the potential to drop millions of users. You need to stay on top of your game. It requires very intelligent individuals to be part of the equation for it to be a success, but there’s no shortage of those in the games industry. So, I don’t see this being a problem.

Time lines are short. You work hard. You get the project done. You see the successes right away. If you don’t see a success, you can iterate on it right away, and that’s the beauty of it. And you work on it until it’s a success.

Interviewer: So, any other words of wisdom then for other game designers who want to get into the social gaming space?

Adriano: I would say, first and foremost, don’t be intimidated, but secondly, make sure you start thinking about the second level of questions. Make sure you start thinking about where you’re going to aim your initial bump in traffic. It’s really no secret that the bigger companies can launch a game to success, based on their ad spending.

Small development houses don’t have those luxuries. So, it’s up to them to create and get the game out there. Quite frankly, we’re in a viral space. So, all we have is creativity and get to work.

Interviewer: Where can people find out about more opportunities at Playdom or wherever else?

Adriano: Playdom.com is where you can come to opportunities at Playdom, and generally just keep your ear to the ground. Where you see the activity happening is generally where you want to be.

Interviewer: Thank you very much.