Los Angeles Games Conference - Facebook as a Gaming Platform
Continuing this series on the recent Los Angeles Games Conference, with prior conversations about the state of the business of the gaming industry, this time around I took some time to watch a "debate" that argued whether Facebook is a gaming site or not. The event organizers described it as:
Structured as a formal academic debate, panelists are divided into two teams which present arguments either pro or con Facebook as a gaming platform. Each team will be given 5 minutes for initial arguments and then it's time for rebuttals. The audience will determine the winner via show of hands. This is one session that you don’t want to miss. Sparks are sure to fly!
The debaters included:
-Mari Baker, the President & CEO of Playfirst
-Rick Thompson, the CEO & Co-Founder of Wild Needle
-Alex St. John, the President & CEO of hi5
-Geoff Cook, the CEO of myYearbook
The moderator is Mike Vorhaus, president of Magid Advisers, who started by describing the "rules." The audience was asked, at the outset, whether we thought Facebook was a gaming platform or not. The consensus in the conference was that it is.
Cook says games are not the reason people log into Facebook. The number one reason is to connect with friends. It's a social environment aimed at people you know, which is different than what most games are trying to do.
Baker vigorously suggested that if you don't see Facebook as a massive revenue source, you're nuts. If nothing more than for the 1.7 billion hits a month and nearly 90% market-share among social media sites vs. the falling numbers for most other social media sites.
St. John pointed out that on-line gaming didn't start with Facebook and many have been immensely successful without all the funding Facebook has and without all the plans to be a game platform like a Yahoo Games experienced as it was just an add-on. He, also, indicated that it's not the strongest revenue model as he cited his own company being a stronger revenue generator, with a fraction of the visitors.
Continued on the next page
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