14 DAY TRIAL // A newcomer to the social games space believes that despite the domination of companies like Zynga there are still huge opportunities for new developers to make an impact on the market as long as they use mechanics taken from more traditional genres.
Frederic Descamps, one of the co-founders of A Bit Lucky, told Gamasutra that, “At one point, everybody was saying, 'Well surely there are no males that want to play Facebook games.' And we were like, 'surely it’s not true,' It was just a self-fulfilling prophecy that games on Facebook were just not made for men before.”
Jordan Maynard, the other co-founder, added, “With Lucky Space, for instance, we're bringing over the Diablo or WoW loot drop mechanics where you have the whole green, blue, purple, epic item hierarchy. I knew that that was going to be a success the first time we actually got a purple drop in Lucky Space and I was like, 'Oh yep, that hit that vein.'”
A Bit Lucky has just launched a game called Lucky Space, which is a strategy title that has some pretty hardcore mechanics and also uses detailed graphics to attract those who are accustomed to more complex experiences.
The developers say that one of the main limitations for the social gaming space is that it is driven largely by metrics, with companies interested more in analyzing how gamers spend their times rather than on delivering solid mechanics and experiences.
Recently the success of Zynga has been threatened by The Sims Online, the game from Electronic Arts, and a number of other publishers, like Ubisoft, has said that they have long term plans for gaming on Facebook.
With more and more titles launched on the platform it will be harder for each to make an impact unless very different aesthetics and mechanics are used.