If you're active on Facebook or MySpace, chances are you play or know someone who plays Farmville or the Mafia Wars or Pet Society. The games are free, but every time you click to buy a cow or another virtual product to advance your standing in the game, you add to the revenue of developers like Zynga, Playdom and Playfish. In fact, Playfish was recently acquired by Electronic Arts, a combination that will only intensify the competition in this fast-growing market.
The social media angle adds to the enjoyment and the buzz has credibility because users recruit users. Farmville, introduced by Zynga, acquired 60 million monthly players in just a few months as players posted their scores and achievements on Facebook and invited friends to join the fun.
Yet some of the games are drawing criticism because players don't always understand the advertised offers for virtual products or subscriptions and inadvertently make purchases they didn't intend to make, says Time magazine.
To earn and retain the trust of players, game developers must be sure that offers are clear and unambiguous. Online, as in the off-line world, marketing transparency is the key to long-term success.
