Tag Archives: Playfish

Train2Game news: Sims Social has ‘redefined’ social games say EA

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Train2Game students will be aware that social gaming has changed the industry and indeed, potentially allows them new ways to get into the business of building games.

Indeed, as the Train2Game blog reported last week, social developer Playfish believe that there hasn’t been a better time for smaller developers to be successful.

Social gaming is still growing and Playfish believe that the fact EA have brought big names like The Sims to Facebook has already fundamentally changed the sector after becoming the No.2 game on the social media platform.

“In bringing one of EA’s most popular game franchises to Facebook, Playfish and The Sims team have redefined the meaning of social in video games,” Playfish founder Kristian Segerstrale told MCV. Playfish are owned by EA.

“By combining Playfish’s expertise and passion for social play with the deep creative heritage of The Sims franchise and the insights of its creators, we feel we’ve brought something very special to life – and tens of millions of players around the world have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm over the last few weeks. “

“We’re looking forward to working with players to evolve the game and its features in new and exciting ways in the coming months and beyond.” Segerstrale added.

EA has previously brought a number of high profile names to the social media scene, including the likes of FIFA and Dragon Age.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on bringing established franchises to Facebook? Has it already fundamentally changed social media gaming? Could it encourage casual gamers to pick up more ‘hardcore’ titles?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: MCV]

Train2Game students have never had a better chance to compete with big companies

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In what will be music to Train2Game students ears, there’s never been a better time for small developers to be successful.

That’s according to Kristian Segerstrale, the boss of Playfish. As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Playfish social games are played by 55 million people a month.

“Never before has there been a time where as a small company you have such an unbelievable opportunity to challenge the big giants in any sector.” Segerstrale said while speaking at an event in London.

“And nowhere is there such an opportunity as in mobile.”

As Train2Game students will know, the rise of mobile gaming has made it much simpler for aspiring developers to get their work out there. Indeed, Train2Game student Georgij Cernysiov from the North East of England has released his own iPhone game, Euro Destruction.

And Segerstrale believes the number of smartphone owners could rise from 1.5 billion to 4 billion over the next five years, thanks to the world’s emerging economies.

“There’s an opportunity that big companies can’t do: it’s hard to focus on this platform when you’re big. People are migrating from desktops to mobiles, and big companies won’t do it, you guys will,” said the Playfish boss.

“It is horrible today to be a big company and want to do something new and innovative and different.”

And as reported by the Train2Game blog, UK developer Ninja Theory appear to agree with Segerstrale in that they believe it’s easier to be creative for a mobile or digital device.

Train2Game students can get an insight into life as an indie developer from the Train2Game blog interview with Liverpool based micro studio Hogrocket. The ex-Bizarre team recently released their first iPhone title, Tiny Invaders.

What are your thoughts on Segerstrale’s comments? Does the emergence of mobile really mean that small developers can compete with the established giants? Would you prefer to develop for mobile?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Develop]

Playfish social games played by 55 million people a month (and other fun facts for Train2Game blog readers)

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Playfish Madden Superstars Train2Game Blog Image

Casual game developer Playfish has released some figures that Train2Game students may find interesting.  The EA casual firm now has 55 million users a month, a very impressive number given that the studio was founded in just November 2007.

Playfish has revealed a lot of other statistics that could very much encourage a Train2Game student to take a look at producing casual Facebook games in future. They certainly quite fascinating, especially with the fun facts and images included by Playfish.

  • 55 million people play Playfish games every month.
  • More than 340 million Playfish games have been installed and played worldwide.
  • More than 90 million items are virtually transacted daily in Playfish games
  • There are nearly 57 million restaurants in the game Restaurant City
  • Over 2.2 million American football teams have been created in Madden NFL Superstars
  • Almost 80 million people own virtual pets in Pet Society.
  • 1.7 billion apples have been purchased and fed to virtual pets since July 2008
  • 187 million pairs of shoes have been bought in Pet Society.
  • 10.9 million people have built their own ancient Roman city in My Empire.
  • 10.6 million football clubs have been created using FIFA Superstars
  • And nearly 25 million people own hotels in Hotel City.

The numbers are very impressive indeed, but pale slightly next to the Facebook giant that is Zynga. As reported on the Train2Game blog last week, their latest social game Cityville now has over 100 million users playing.

That news came just a day after a report stated that one fifth of consumers are now playing casual games online. And with an increasing amount of users purchasing in-game items, there is an increasing incentive for Train2Game students to look into producing social games in future.

For more information about in-game purchases, be sure to check out the Train2Game interview with industry consultant Nicholas Lovell.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of Playfish? Have you played any of their casual games? If so, what do you think?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Souce: Playfish via MCV Online]