Farmville May Be Dying but Social Gaming Isn't Attending the ...

Despite past success, social game Farmville is on its way out. Such a prediction should not come as a surprise, considering all the technical difficulties and drawbacks that have plagued this particular game from the beginning. What is surprising, though, is that some people are also questioning the future of social gaming.

Farmville?s Successes and Failures

Farmville alone has amassed monthly game-playing usage exceeding the 44.5 million mark since its inception, according to cNet.com news. There has been a decrease in usage that?s attributable mostly to technical difficulties like the game crashing too often and slow loading on old systems. The game?s ad-heavy nature also doesn?t help. However, there is no indication that social gaming is going away anytime soon.

The maker of Farmville may have posted recent losses but social gaming is still a multi-billion dollar, still-expanding industry. This industry is also giving the computer and game console industries a run for their money.

Online Gambling and Social Media Converges

Enter the online gambling sector ? another area that is continuing to grow on a regular basis; like free games from Intercasino.com have been released in the form of Facebook. This convergence of online gambling and social media is expected to be the next big thing.

More Than Sunlight and Fertilizer are Behind Social Gaming?s Growth

Stats don?t lie, and they?re telling us that with each year, more people are using mobile devices than PCs to access the Internet. This is creating a totally new hot market for social games. Developers and manufacturers are creating social versions for their traditional games. Social networking is a very strong commercial driving force, and social gaming is an offshoot or product of this explosion.

Other Social Gaming Platforms

Social gaming is finding other platforms besides Facebook, and spurring new gambling games and apps all around the web. This growth will be aided by the following strong economic realities:

• According to an article in Slate magazine, makers of social games are vowing to enter the lucrative online gambling market in 2013
• We are now seeing the marriage of live sporting events and social games that let fans try to predict what?s coming next. This is a totally new arena
• Third world populations now use mobile devices more than PCs. Social gaming has proven to be an excellent tool for tapping into this huge new market
• We?re seeing the injection of ?gamification? into many aspects of our private life, thus creating new uses for computer technology
• Social games have led to a unique form of gaming and are changing the way we engage with the web
• The joining of TubeMogul and TrialPay will inject real-time bidding into social video ads in games, thus further increasing revenue
• Social games are only a small portion of the $7.3 billion ?virtual goods? market; this is a relatively new, evolving economic powerhouse
• Social gaming will be even bigger once adapted for the mobile device industry

It?s apparent that the convergence of gaming, social media, and mobile apps is the next phase of digital entertainment. This opens up new doors to opportunities for everything from ?edu-tainment? applications and online gambling to new forms of corporate brand engagement. It should be interesting to see what social gaming trends are in store for the remainder of 2012, as well as the endless years to come.

Guest Post By: Bethany Ortiz

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Source: http://wegetgeek.com/2012/09/10/farmville-may-be-dying-but-social-gaming-isnt-attending-the-funeral/

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