From Start to Finish: Playing the Social Game

摘要

Developing and publishing social games is a tough business.1 Games must be engaging and well marketed to break through the clutter. Once a game is a success, it requires ongoing creative development, maintenance, and technical support.2 New game publishers face strong competition from established social game developers that have the ability to promote new games virally within their popular games. Additional competition comes from established media and entertainment companies looking to leverage their already popular brands. If that is not enough dissuasion, this article examines some of the key issues to think about if your client decides to develop and publish a social game. This is not an exhaustive analysis of all issues, but a good place to start for the aspiring social game publisher. The details in this article focus on the Facebook platform, since it is currently the most popular distribution channel for US-based social game developers.