Zynga's games lose over 10 million players during April after Facebook site changes, company may launch its own social game network
Many of Zynga's Facebook games saw tremendous drops in usage over the last month, with the company's top eight games losing over 10 million users due to changes made by Facebook developers removed third-party notifications. With the drop and the introduction of Facebook Credits, rumors have begun to swirl that Zynga may launch its own social game network site.
Traditional retail games, and even console-based downloads may be subject to market changes, but they luckily don't have to contend with the entire marketplace changing, as many of Facebook game developers have had to over the last two months.According to a report published by Inside Social Games, the seemingly innocuous move by the designers of the social media site to recently remove third-party issued notification messages have kept players out of the loop regarding the latest developments in their games, and have kept many away for good. Zynga, in particular, saw a loss of over 10 million users across its top eight games during April, with Farmville losing over four million players, a drop that amounts to a little more than five percent of the game's entire 80 million player audience.
Other major drops over the course of April include MindJolt Games, which saw its 21 million player user base cut by over a third after suffering the month's biggest player loss of near eight million players. The second ranked Facebook game, Birthday Cards, suffered its second straight month of major losses, as it followed up a loss of over seven million players in March with a 5.5 million drop in April.
UPDATE:
To put more of a visual focus on Zynga's recent woes, Silicon Alley Insider has produced a graph showing the decrease in users amongst the developer's games, which we've posted below.
Image courtesy Silicon Alley Insider.
The changes to Facebook's notification system and the resulting drop isn't the only stick that's seemingly in Zynga's craw. The introduction of Facebook Credits and the cut that the website will take from in-game purchases have reportedly caused anger from Zynga, to the point where the company is preparing to launch its own social game network, which will be called Zynga Live. According to the initial report on TechCrunch, the network could be ready to launch within days.
It should be interesting to see if Facebook game developers can stop the bleeding during the summer, or if the site will have to step in and keep games popular. Zynga's next move, in particular, could have major ramifications on Facebook, and within the site's top game developers. To check out the top 25 Facebook games and how their audiences changed during April, as well as additional details regarding Zynga's situation, check out the source links below.
SOURCE: Top 25 Facebook Games for May 2010 [Inside Social Games]
Zynga Gunning Up (And Lawyering Up) For War Against Facebook With Zynga Live [TechCrunch]
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Monday, May 10, 2010