Gaming meetup of "Open Technology Week" by Sigma Software, Kyiv 2017.

1. ‘Not so-Social Gaming’
Sigma Software Gaming Meetup in Kyiv, December 5th 2017
Vasily Shamray @Gameloft

2. Speaker info
• Past: a lot of graphical / advertisement design, some production management,
some programming, also touring crowds of people on vacation
• Developing games since 2011, ‘following a dream’
• Social Game Designer @Gameloft since 2013 — 2015
• CD at Gameloft Kharkiv — our most awesome ‘evolution’ studio, perhaps :)

3. 1. The honeypot of virulence
Virulence is the online equivalent of word of mouth.
Unlike word of mouth, you can use game mechanics to influence people to share
your message.

4. How I think this had started:
• Released in 2012 in browser / FB,
8 months before hitting the mobile
• Utilized Facebook requests in ‘asking
for lives’ mechanic, that presumably
ensured attracting a huge number
of players

5. How I think this had started:
• Released in 2004, maybe the first
‘social’ game
• Featured number of mechanics
involving cooperation / competition
between players
• Influenced many browser / mobile
games, including top grossing

6. Then
• Request exchange between people
is visible to outsiders who are sns-
related to them both
• Smart feeds
• Application-to-user notifications are
owned by a user who generated a
notification
• Facebook
• CTR is affected by CTR itself
• Request exchange between people
is visible to their sns-related outsiders
• No relevance filtering
• Application-to-user notifications are
owned by application
• Many social platforms
• Measuring CTR is hard-to-impossible
Now

7. 2. Social retention
Socially sticky games use social interaction to motivate players to return regularly.
Social aspect provides players of a multiplayer game with an extra reason to
come back the next time, except whatever fun there was in playing a game itself.

8. Social skinner box
• Reinforcement depends on other
player’s reaction to request
• No instant delivery
• ‘Card house effect’
• Positive reinforcement is delivered
on a pre-designed schedule, allowing
varying delays and reward size
• Rewarding can be connected with
progression and engagement

9. WoW is a really, really old game
• ‘Make Love, Not Warcraft’ South
Park episode was in air in 2006
• Tinder – in 2012
• The market of ‘finding friends online’
been developed for six years more :)

10. What about GoW?
Daq the tagh joH'a' created the chal je the
tera'.
DaH the tera' ghaHta' formless je empty.
HurghtaHghach ghaHta' Daq the surface vo'
the deep. joH'a' qa' ghaHta' hovering Dung the
surface vo' thebIQmey.
joH'a' ja'ta', “ chaw' pa' taH wov,” je pa'
ghaHta' wov.
joH'a' leghta' the wov, je leghta' vetlh 'oH
ghaHta' QaQ. joH'a' divided the wov vo' the
HurghtaHghach.
….

11. 3. Case study
• ‘Social whales’
• ‘Friend numbering’
• ‘Racing with ghosts’

15. 4. Enigmatic social needs
Social games provide a way of satisfying needs of a person.

16. What needs exactly?
‘naah, I have an iPhone’

17. What needs exactly?
‘naah, I have an iPhone’
Dating apps and SnS
are more accessible and
work genuinely better*

18. What needs exactly?
‘naah, I have an iPhone’
Dating apps and SnS
are more accessible and
work genuinely better*
???

19. ‘Some’ self-esteem

20. Visibility of anger

21. I'm convinced that the time of mobile games that satisfy
player’s needs for belonging or for a sight or achievement
has gone, or perhaps never happened.
However, in a world that is changing so quickly and moving
so far, there is yet a space, a room for creativity, spontaneity,
places that let people to be not judged by others,
to experiment and find themselves.

22. Thank you for watching!
vasiliy.shamray@gameloft.com