Week 10: Social Gaming
Basically, Social games are played on social networking sites, game portals and websites. Players create profiles, chat, and share information with other players. The games are designed to encourage a positive social interaction and provide a sense of community with like-minded individuals who enjoy playing collaborative games, not competitive ones.
Gaming and entertainment are two of the factors that stand out with online gaming and how it engages with social media. At the end of the last decade, Facebook games somehow gained the right to be called "social" games, possibly as shorthand for "social network" games. One would like to think “Oh, online gaming... how lame”. No way, online gaming used to be more than that. It had much value and communicating with other players were key!
“A social game is a game that provides at least one type of social structure.
A social structure (within the context of a social game) is a persistent, dynamic, well-defined group of human players that can interact and participate in meaningful in-game activities together, either synchronously or asynchronously.” (Papathanasis, 2015)
This is entirely true – how can one important element in that definition dissolve so quickly away from all upcoming games that they’ve made in recent years?
The video ‘Online Gaming as a Social Media’ eradicates, through a documentary on how gamers can’t interact through public societies and can only start conversing with others through online gaming. It’s a significant fact to make as there are many people who escape to the online gaming world to communicate with friends and strangers rather than in real life because of social anxiety and the fear of communicating to another person in the flesh.
“Several people will play with others do not know if they’re looking to fill that free time and none of their friends are online. The security of Xbox 360 and the ability to report inappropriate or shifty players gives people the chance to meet and play with others they never would’ve met in real life. Because they’re entering the situation in a comfortable environment -doing something they know they enjoy the capability for communities to form is much easier. The communication with friends also provides a community to further relationships with people you already know.”
This quote directly from the video smoothes over how communication with others are widely accepted and fawned over with many other online gamers; the sense of comfortability is nigh and allows one to be relaxed and enjoy their comfort zone.
Multiplayer: If there's one thing that the annual record-breaking launch of a new Call of Duty proves, it's that online action gaming is very big business. When Call of Duty: Ghosts sold a billion dollars worth in its first 24 hours on sale, gamers weren't buying it for its single-player campaign; they were after the multiplayer. This simply proves one of the many reasons why many players don’t download games for the sole purpose of playing them but instead, a way to socialise with friends.
Major new games have completely eliminated the single-player goal and targeted the online gamer market with multiplayer functions.
Online gaming sites are much more active on social media today. Most major brands now better gear their social media to meeting players’ needs and expectations and have a much stronger presence on the main social media platforms. Anyone who uses Facebook on a regular basis and has even a slight interest in online gaming will have seen the ad campaigns that most major players in the market now run, as they have realized this is an effective way of attracting players to their games based on hot movie and video game franchises.
For any business these days, social media is an integral part of its success. These platforms allow businesses to connect with their customers, building interest and a community in an organic way. This also applies to games like Dota, in which it is one of the most highly played games where it even holds tournaments with the prize money being over $5 million. (There’s an entire documentary on Dota 2′s International Tournament).
Many players start off as ‘nobodys’ and then make a name for themselves by playing successfully, through this they then get sponsored by companies. However, the players then rely on social media through their employer to acquire a bigger following. With fans and more recognition, it allows them to have a bit of fame and of course, attain profit.
Game developers say there’s money for both sides in this convergence. Social networks that incorporate more features of massively multi-player online games could enhance their already-substantial earning power; gaming sites would benefit from increased membership and broader acceptance.
However, towards the future, what could there be after multi-playing games? What else can profit from the social media that simply keeps expanding into everyone’s lives? I haven’t found a downside to online gaming yet, but if anyone does find some, please do enlighten.
References
- Papathanasis, A (2015). Gamasutra. Social Games and Their Opportunity Frontier. Retrieved from <http://gamasutra.com/blogs/AndreasPapathanasis/20150512/243195/Social_Games_and_their_opportunity_frontier.php>
- Social Gaming Many Asians [Image File]. Retrieved from <http://jimsindia.org/technowhiz/images/online.jpg>
- World of Warcraft [Image File]. Retrieved from < http://www.gamecareerguide.com/education/theses/20050610/WoW.jpg>
Videos
- Michelle D (June 13, 2012). Online Gaming as a Social Media [Video File]. Retrieved from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isUXaf6GKWo>
- Valve (March 19, 2014). Free to Play: The movie (US) [Video File]. Retrieved from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZYMI1zB9s>
