Bebo Games launched recently marking the social network’s entry into a deeper integration of virtual goods. While the games are not a direct approach to the virtual goods industry, the potential for growth around this concept is there.
What is notable about the Bebo Games launch, however, is the level of assimilation games have with the individual user experience. Bebo has weaved its games into several aspects of the user experience, from messages to alerts to in-site chat. What that means is that Bebo’s game partners have improved and increased opportunities to communicate directly with users. It also means that users have more opportunity to communicate directly with each other, around their gaming activity.
The social capabilities of Bebo Games is a nod to a particular trend we’re seeing develop across gaming, with hopes of better word-of-mouth marketing around these games as a result of increased user engagement. Friendster and hi5 are also trying their hands at a similar approach, acting as the controlled funnel for game developers to run through in order to reach end users.
Given the amount of friction the Facebook games scam has recently caused, several aspects of the virtual goods industry are being scrutinized for their own ability to create scandal, doubt and fear.
Bebo’s more controlled and restricted format for integrating games doesn’t follow the same pattern as the Facebook apps in question, but they do raise some interesting points towards the ongoing development of such unified platforms. So is Bebo’s approach better?
In some ways, yes. Bebo retains more control over the monetization capacity of its platform, forging more direct relationships with advertisers, developers, publishers and end users. This is a particular goal for many socially integrated platforms as of late, despite their ability to prove more fruitful than display advertising on social networks. While this method has yet to be a fully proven concept, the interest is still there.
Several developers and publishers continue to toy around with such platforms because of their cross-network and cross-device features. What this does is increase the number of access points they have to reach consumers, making it easier to reel them back in. For the most part, consumers don’t mind, as they have the convenience of obtaining the social games they already frequent.
When it’s all said and done, there’s still a lot to be learned and calculated in regards to platform approaches to social gaming, the space’s ability to monetize consumers directly through a virtual goods market, and the standards necessary to achieve this on a large scale. Networks such as Bebo are paving the way for the rest of the industry, taking notes and giving notes at the same time.
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