Farmville became a phenomenon on Facebook by leveraging social aspects and encouraging viral sharing. It targeted both casual and hardcore gamers, especially women, and was also popular among kids. Farmville's business model involved microtransactions for virtual goods, which generated substantial revenue. It created new advertising opportunities and showed social games' potential on platforms like iPad. While many imitators emerged, new genres like FIFA Superstars on Facebook could match or exceed Farmville's popularity by appealing to soccer fans.

1. Il Fenomeno Farmville Gaming, Target, Business, Advertising Appunti e Considerazioni Maggio 2010

3. Gaming: dal “Casual Gaming” al “Social Gaming” Source: http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/105/1051439p1.html http://www.gamecritics.com/wii-and-the-casual-gaming-boom http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/12/14/farmville-the-biggest-social-game-of-2009-by-the-numbers/ Se la Nintendo Wii ha “creato” il segmento dei Casual gamers, Farmville ha esploso quello dei Social Gamers

4. Gaming: dal “Casual Gaming” al “Social Gaming” Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/MarkNewheiser/20091204/3733/Farmville_Social_Gaming_and_Addiction.php http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/05/10/facebook-social-games/ “ Farmville leverages the social aspects of Facebook very effectively: every time you so much as sneeze in Farmville, a message pops up and asks you if you would like to share with your friends how much fun you're having sneezing and and encourage them to come sneeze in Farmville with you” “ The game is also more than happy to bribe players for participating in its viral spread : cute lonely animals will show up on your farm periodically and as a player you face a dilemma in sentencing them to virtual abandonment and death unless you post on your Facebook wall that you need one of your friends to start playing Farmville and "adopt" the adorable little self-promoter ” “ THESE GAMES ARE TRAINING GAMERS IN HARDCORE ACTIVITIES LIKE HARVESTING OVER AND OVER ” I social gamers si differenziano dai casual gamers per il rapporto tuttaltro che “casual” con I loro games preferiti

5. Target: un fenomeno per tutti Source: http://www.infosolutionsgroup.com/2010_PopCap_Social_Gaming_Research_Results.pdf Il target di Farmville è prevalentemente femminile creando una rottura con il passato (il mondo del gaming è da sempre associato ad un target maschile)

6. Target: un fenomeno per tutti Source: http://factoidz.com/why-facebook-farmville-game-is-good-for-kids/ http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2010/04/08/12-year-old-goes-into-farmville-credit-debt/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/nov/04/farmville-game-zynga-facebook-criticism “ Kids could be encouraged to switch from violent computer games to the pastoral life on the farm in Farmville. The reason kids are enthusiastic about Farmville when they first hear about it is simply because it was originally marketed as an adult game on Facebook. So the original draw for kids is that playing Farmville makes them feel grown up , but as they get into the game they become hooked” Farmville piace anche ai più giovani e ai bambini complice anche lo spirito di emulazione (è un game per “i grandi”) É un bene o un male? Il mood “pacifico” è considerato positivo mentre le preoccupazioni sono rivolte al lato “addictive” del gioco

7. Modello di Business: micropagamenti e Virtual Goods Source: http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/social-gaming/ http://hubpages.com/hub/Facts-About-Farmiville http://www.socialtimes.com/2010/05/zynga-players-raise-110000-to-build-school-in-haiti/ Il Social Gaming, e Farmville in particolare, rappresentano un’allettante e ambita fonte di revenue grazie al fenomeno dei micropagamenti legato all’acquisto di oggetti virtuali (ad es. i trattori) On an average day, FarmVille players purchase 500,000 tractors. John Deere, the biggest US manufacturer of real tractors sell around 5000 a year […] “ The money was raised through a “Sweet Seeds” campaign , where Farmville players purchase Sweet Yam seeds and the money goes to the charity ”

8. Modello di Business: micropagamenti e Virtual Goods Source: http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/social-gaming/

9. Modello di Business: micropagamenti e Virtual Goods Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/rumour-farmville-to-leave-facebook--688310 http://www.gamesbrief.com/2010/02/why-facebook-is-dependent-on-zynga-not-the-other-way-round/ http://mashable.com/2010/05/18/facebook-farmville-zynga/ “ I conclude that Facebook *needs* its gaming partners like Playfish and Zynga. They have been the engine of growth , stickiness and MySpace-beating throughout 2009” “ In the days preceding this announcement, some bloggers speculated that Zynga’s departure from Facebook was a sincere possibility . The concern was that Facebook’s decision to deploy Facebook Credits (from which it takes a 30% cut of all revenues ) and remove or lessen the number of notifications in users’ newsfeeds from games could inspire Zynga to seek an alternative platform ” Il valore di Farmville lo ha portato ad acquisire potere contrattuale verso il social network “host” del gioco Facebook

10. Advertising & Media: nuove opportunità di comunicazione Source: http://mashable.com/2010/04/08/farmvilles-newest-money-maker-brand-sponsored-crops/ http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/asus_warmville?size=_original Il Fenomeno Farmville crea nuove opportunità di comunicazione (ad esempio i virtual goods sponsorizzati) e ispira la creatività

12. What Future? Source: http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/02/26/best-of-the-lists-10-potential-ipad-games-and-concepts-to-build-plus-bubble-ghost/ http://uk.wireless.ign.com/articles/108/1080039p1.html http://werule.ngmoco.com/ L’iPad potrebbe dare nuova linfa ai Social Games. WeRule, social game per iPhone, è già disponibile per iPad

13. What Future? Source: http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/05/11/jungle-extreme-a-facebook-game-that-combines-farming-and-survival/ “ Overall, Jungle Extreme is not a bad game, but it does feel a bit average at its core. It has a lot of interesting ideas, but the central concept has just been done to death. Frankly, it would have been infinitely more interesting to focus solely on some of the survival elements such as the trapping of bugs and animals, chopping wood, and cooking food. Obviously, these features have been enough to interest players as the game has been fairly steady around 400,000 monthly active users as of late, but there just isn’t enough to make it really take off, that we can see. With even FarmVille slowly losing users , it is time for new core concepts to come about.” Nascono molti me-too di Farmville che cercano di ritagliarsi una fetta del business generato dal Social Gaming

14. What Future? Source: http://www.wired.it/news/archivio/2010-05/13/fifa-sbarca-su-facebook,-sara-il-nuovo-farmville.aspx http://www.joystiq.com/2010/05/10/fifa-superstars-facebook-game/ “ quanti appassionati di agricoltura ci sono nel mondo? E quanti appassionati di calcio? Se nel giro di pochi mesi FarmVille è riuscito ad arruolare nelle proprie fattorie 78 milioni di utenti, quanti pensate riuscirà a conquistarne FIFA Superstar? Un Social Game sul calcio potrebbe eguagliare o superare i numeri di Farmville