Inside Social Games

Online mobile game trial Mpowerplayer has recently launched the Mplayit Mobile Arcade app for Facebook. From a player’s standpoint, the application provides users with a Facebook version of the Mpowerplayer web site and allows them to play dozens of mobile game demos such as Spore Origins, The Sims, and Guitar Hero Mobile. As expected, Mobile Arcade is also fully integrated with the social network allowing you to share Mplayit links amongst your friends as well as “Recommend” specific games, allowing them to show up on your news feed.

The mobile controls are loosely translated for the PC, but is a little sketchy at best, and is better for some demos rather than others. Nevertheless, the app is still quite playable and would most likely entices users to buy a mobile game they might not purchase otherwise. In fact, you can simply click through the application itself to purchase games directly from the developers’ web sites rather than trying to figure it out on your phone.

This is great news for developers considering the volume of web games being played, especially on the Facebook platform. Michael Powers, CEO of Mpowerplayer states, “We grow the market for mobile games by helping consumers discover that they can play great games on the phone that they have right now…. Nearly all phones sold in America have games capability, but less than 5% of people have bought a game for their phone.”

Powers continues to say, “Contrast that with the fact that 70% of online consumers spend time playing web games. Facebook is a very good match for our strategy because Facebook users are online, they’re active on mobile, and - importantly - they’re on Facebook to kill some time, so they’re all ready in a recreational state of mind.”

As for Mpowerplayer, this is a new revenue stream for them. The company receives referral fees from the publishers featured from their application, and that’s all there is too it. Considering the demographic Facebook targets, and the ease in which users can play and buy mobile games, Mobile Arcade is certainly worth the investment, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more applications like this on the horizon.