Social game creators gaga for Google Plus already (is Facebook that bad?)

Apparently so, considering several heads of major social game studios are already interested in what Google Plus can do for their games, Gamasutra reports. Google's next answer to Facebook just launched its invite-only closed beta tests of the Plus service, and the monolithic search and web apps company has yet to make a peep about how Google Games is to fit in all this. Though, we're sure it will now (somehow) that developers are going gaga for Google Plus mere days after its release.

What's most interesting to developers like Kabam and publishers like RockYou is the Circles feature in Google Plus. Circles are customized groups for friends to share information that are tailored toward specific interests.It does have the potential for games shared through it to go viral throughout connected Circles, but again we don't even know how games fit in this equation.

While Kabam Ceo Kevin Chou is visibly cautious, he said, "In terms of whether or not the platform can eventually be a great place for games -- and specifically for Kabam... -- I think it's certainly something we're heavily evaluating, should we decide to go head in that direction."

However, publishers like RockYou have an insider view on Google's game(s) plan, and have already hinted that RockYou will work with Google on future game projects. RockYou SVP Jonathan Knight said to Gamasutra, "People who play games on social networks typically have groups of people they play games with, who don't necessarily overlap with 'true' friends they see socially."

But, Facebook has been doing that for months now, no? While I'm admittedly skeptical of Google Plus (I am not in the beta currently) based on its work with Buzz and that "+1" button, this could certainly work if stretched over the Chrome Web Store, the Android Market and anywhere else games are sold through Google.

However, it's interesting that developers are so interested in another platform just as Facebook prepares to drop an Iron Curtain around its social game ecosystem, reportedly controlling developers' pricing on other platforms so as to keep them inside. Perhaps developers are right to run away, but who is to say Google would never impose the same restrictions? Now with Google Plus as its secret weapon, we'll be watching Google Games rather closely.

Half of all U.S. social gamers own a game console, RockYou study says

As if we already didn't know: Some social gamers are more "hardcore" than we thought. But the next study released that attempts to drive this point home is courtesy of Zoo World creator RockYou and conducted by Interpret, a media research firm. Titled the "Social Gamer Thought Leadership Research Study," it finds that 50 percent of U.S. social gamers own a traditional gaming console.

The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.

Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?

The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.

What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.

What do you think of the numerous reports on the growing hardcore crowd in social games? How do you think this will change the industry in the long run? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment