This is a pretty random article post (particularly the video!), but I’d really love to hear your thoughts on the world of virtual gifts. I was stunned to read an article on Mashable tonight about a social game called “Pet Society” that sells over 90 million virtual gifts a day, that translates to over 30 billion virtual goods transactions a year, at anything from few cents an item to a few dollars! (It’s interesting to note these guys were bought by Electronic Arts for almost 400 million last year.)
So, with that in mind, it’s interesting to look back at why Facebook closed its gift store back in August this year to focus on other aspects of the business. That meant one of a few things. Facebook either thinks virtual gifts will be a flash in the pan through the current hype (but I doubt it), the rise of virtual gift competitors like Farmville and the Pet Society (for example) have drawn the purchase interaction points away from their gift store by selling directly in-game, or Facebook just wants to own and control the entire virtual goods market by focusing resources on their “Facebook Credits” currency, which sounds pretty lucrative!
Interestingly, reports are saying that the virtual goods market was worth 5-10 billion dollars this year alone, and could grow 1000% over the next few years. Which means if I’m Facebook, and I can claim just 10-20% of that entire market this year, on a standard 70/30 developer to platform revenue ratio, I’d have made about 500 million in revenue alone.
So, moving back into reality, who has worked on/with a brand that has jumped on the virtual goods train? What did you create? How man items are bought? It would be great to hear a few stories!
The virtual world Habbo (open in 32 countries in 11 different languages, more than 15 million unique visitors) has been selling virtual goods for 10 years now and announced its best financial results this year.
http://www.sulake.com/press/releases/2010-06-14-Habbo_Hotel_Turns_10_Years_Old_and_the_Success_Story_Continuesx.html
http://www.sulake.com/press/releases/2010-05-20-Sulake_Habbo_Hotel_Reports_Strong_Growth_in_First_Quarter_of_2010.html
People PAY for this sh*t?? WTF??
I don’t give a damn about their corporate results. This isn’t reality. Kids need to steer away from this sh*t. It is encouraging a dangerous mindset about where the lines of the real world cross with the world of total illusion.
They could have turned this into some kind of educational tool for kids — but instead they are getting rich and fat off the stupifying of our children (the ones most likely sucked in by this vapid activity) — and dumbass people too lazy to go outside for a walk to stay in tune with the real universe.
As an adult, would you would pay REAL money for a stupid little pretend outfit for your lame little cartoon?? Then you need to get your d*mn head checked.
Hey its your money. Loser. Maybe just think for a second about what sort of values you’re passing to your kids, if you’re lucky enough to have any. Maybe get off your ass and show them the real world they are going to inherit when you (and your dearly bought and paid for cartoon animal) are done with it, so they have at least an inkling of what reality really is.
[...] (12% of the entire video game industry) and, as mentioned back in December, games such as “Pet Society” sell more than 90 million virtual gifts a day!So what can social commerce learn from social [...]