2011 will be remembered as the year that Zynga filed for its IPO, Google launched Google+, and Facebook executed the Credits transition. With the first potential social gaming IPO, Zynga plans to raise up to $2 billion to fund its continued global expansion. Meanwhile, Google is putting its weight behind what appears to have the potential to be the most serious competitor to Facebook as a social gaming platform in North America since the demise of MySpace. And at the same time, developers are still navigating through the Facebook Credits migration, while many are also expanding substantially onto mobile platforms to increase growth and expand reach.

Inside Network is proud to announce a new original research report by Justin Smith and Charles Hudson that is exclusively focused on the future of the social gaming market, entitled Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2012. This is Inside Network’s third annual edition of the Future of Social Gaming report. It will be released on September 20, but is available for discount pre-order now.

How big is the market, and where will social gaming go in 2012? How will existing players fare as Facebook Credits shifts the social gaming landscape and continued changes to the platform? Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2012 provides deeper insight into social game monetization, development, customer acquisition, and the key questions facing the space in 2012 than you’ll find anywhere else.

About the Report

Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2012 gives you an inside view of the future at this critical juncture in the intersection of social networking and online games.

We have compiled months of original research from dozens of top executives and entrepreneurs from all parts of the social gaming ecosystem to produce eye-opening source data and analysis that is not available anywhere else. Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2010 takes the closest look at the present state of social games and the future of this strong but still rapidly changing industry.

What We Cover

1. Facebook Credits and the New Monetization Landscape: Early Results - Now that the transition to Facebook Credits was completed on July 1, what are the early results that developers are reporting? We take an in depth look at metrics and trends.
2. Will 2012 (Finally) be the Year of Mobile Social Games? – Now that mobile games monetizing through the virtual goods model are becoming a bigger market in the US and around the world, many social game developers have expanded their efforts to tap these new platforms as well. Will 2012 finally be the year that social games take significant root on mobile?
3. Social Game Development and Design – How do small, medium, and large developers organize their teams? What do development cycle times for original titles and “expansion packs” look like? What is the role of testing and metrics in the development process? A few key game genres with proven mechanics and monetization have spawned dozens of fast followers. Understand how publishers are continuing to innovate as we head into 2012.
4. Monetization Data and Payment Trends- Now that developers have proven the virtual goods model, what are ARPUs, ARPPUs, and LTVs really like for different game genres? What is the lifetime value of users, and how long do players stick around? We take an in depth look at monetization methods and rates, and shed light on where payments are headed in the coming quarters.
5. Customer Acquisition and Marketing Trends – As the social gaming landscape has evolved over the past four years, so have the ways that developers acquire and retain new users. How have user acquisition costs changed, and what do Facebook’s changes spell for the future of the marketing funnel? We take an in depth look at data and trends.
6. Facebook’s Platform Changes, and What’s In Store for the Future – Facebook has continued to change Platform communication channels and functionality over the last year, significantly altering the way social games reach users through Facebook. Continued change is likely – what will it be, and how will it impact the industry? Finally, will we see another platform (like Google+) emerge? Our overview covers these developments, their impact on the industry, and what else is in store.

What you get

In addition to our deep dive into key aspects of the social gaming ecosystem, the report also offers extended coverage on:

• A brief history on the evolution and growth of this space in the US, including a description of all key players and how they rose to the top.
• Total social gaming market size estimates for 2012.
• Our take on the key issues facing the growth of social gaming, including our outlook and projections for 2012.

See the full table of contents below:

Table of Contents

Appendix of Related Companies includes: 50 Cubes, 51.com, 6waves Lolapps, A Bit Lucky, Activision, AddictingGames, AdParlor, Aeria Games, Amazon, Aol, Apple, Applifier, Appstrip, Arkadium, Atari, Aurora Feint, Bebo, BigFish Games, Bigpoint, Blackhawk, Boku, Booyah, Boyaa, Broken Bulb Studios, Cafe.com, Cie Games, CrowdStar, DeNA, Digital Chocolate, Digital Sky Technologies, Disney, Electronic Arts, ELEX, Facebook, Five Minutes, Friendster, Funsockets, Funzio, Gambit, GameClosure, GameDuell, GameHouse, Gameloft, Glu, GMG Entertainment, Google, Gree, Grey Area Labs, GSN, Happy Elements, HeyZap, Hi5, InComm, iWin, Kabam, Kaixin001, Kongregate, Kontagent, Microsoft, MindJolt, Mixi, MSN, MySpace, News Corporation, Nexon, ngmoco, Nintendo, OMGPOP, Orkut, Papaya Mobile, PaymentPin, PayPal, Peanut Labs, Playdom, Playfirst, Playfish, PlaySpan, Pocket Gems, Pogo, PopCap Games, QZone, Real Networks, Red ROot Labs, Rekoo, RenRen / Xiaonei, Rixty, RockYou!, Scoreloop, SGN, Shanda, Slashkey, Slide, Sometrics, Sony, SponsorPay, Storm8, Super Rewards (Adknowledge), SupersonicAds, Target, Tencent, The9, TheBroth, TinyCo, TokenAds, TrialPay, Twitter, Ubisoft, Viacom, Viximo, VKontakte, Wooga, Yahoo, Zong, Zynga

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