The FASTEST-GROWING game of all time is FARMVILLE (58 Million Players!!)

[mrstickball]

Onyxmeth said:

mrstickball said:

Erik Aston said:
http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2009/10/10/the-difference-between-customers-and-users/

Sean doesn't really relate that article to any specific games in the industry. Quite invalid, really.

Most of the social games have fantastic monetization structures. Average revenue per user varies from $0.30-$0.50 per user per month. If Farmville is averaging 50 million users a month, that means it makes anywhere from $15 million to $25 million a month. Not too bad given the costs shouldn't be too high, and they offer more than just Farmville.

What are the sources of revenue for Farmville? I ask because I've never played it and I'm curious as to how it is they're amounting between 25-50 million on a free Facebook application.

Most major social games use a 'free to play' model that involve an unlimited amount of microtransactions.

A few games that use this type are:

• Battlefield Heroes
• Farmville
• Mob Wars
• Mobsters
• Sorority Life

What happens is this:

Users are allowed to play the game for free, without issue. However, there are special promotional items that allow for better stats/abilities that can be only purchased via a transaction between the player and the host. Rather than state the item costs '$0.99 USD' they usually opt for coins or in game currency.

Players can get currency in one of 3 ways, usually:

• Play the game enough to earn it
• Buy it via a credit card, paypal, or other means (Boki, PayByCa$h, ect)
• Earn it via an affiliate program (by signing up for a survey which pays the host)

The advantage with this monetization structure vs. outright buying is the fact that the amount of money that can be gathered from a player is essentially unlimited. There is no set amount of cash that a player can purchase in a game, nor a set amount of items that the player can purchase.

It's a very innovative model, and it works very well for many users that would not otherwise purchase a video game, or content, as it offers content to those willing to work for it (in game, which may yield ad revenue), work for it outside the game (by doing an affiliate offer).

I work for a company that uses such methods. I can't really share exact data, but the fact is that there's a very small cross section between hardcore gamers that usually buy outright, and those that prefer the 'free' payment options. That is, that a company can meet the demand curve in a unique way via these types of schemes.

As for the '40 million farms vs. 58 million players' - if I read the article right, they state that there are 40 million farms created daily.