Tumbleweed-plagued Google+ is minus Bejeweled and Wooga
EA'd rather have 70% of something than 95% of buggerall
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Two games developers are withdrawing from Google's troubled social network Google+. Kiddie game dev Wooga and Popcap, which is owned by giant Electronic Arts, confirmed they are deploying their resources elsewhere. Popcap markets the popular Bejeweled game.
Ironically, it is in games developers' long-term interest to see alternative platforms to Facebook succeed. Facebook's vast audience, coupled with the lack of competition, mean that the social network can get away with wolfing down a 30 per cent cut of revenue. Google's bite is just 5 per cent.
But games publishers must go where the audiences are. And for all its nice features – and there are a few – people are going where their friends go. A survey earlier this year showed Google+ users were spending an average of four minutes a month on the social network, compared to an average eight hours Facebook users spend.
At this rate, the only entertainment to be found on Google+ will be the sight of Robert Scoble playing Solitare in an empty room, as tumbleweeds roll past. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Tumbleweed-plagued Google+
"....MUCH bigger and comprehensive than Facebook or Twitter, it's the best bits of both."
So it's fuck-all then?
Re: Tumbleweed-plagued Google+
Gosh. So it's like a newsgroup. Or a forum. Or a Steam group. Or any of a billion and one interest forums.
I agree that's different from Facebook. Facebook isn't interested in that, so much. You can "like" things but the only people who will really care are the friends / family you already have linked on there. That's probably why Facebook is filled with people linking in their entire social circle and G+ is regarded as a bit of a dead-horse, then, really?
I'm on Facebook to share photos with my family and put the odd bit of family news or funnies on there. I'm not on G+ because of the reasons you state - there's nobody on there who's doing that, it's all just "interest groups". I have that. That's the whole point of things like newsgroups, forums, etc. But I can't get my granny onto G+, because of lots of associated hassle and the fact that NOBODY else I know is on there. Literally. I have 5 different IM accounts linked into Pidgin, I have Facebook, hell I have my own pseudo-private family website to share things like Christmas lists and wedding photos, etc. What I don't have is a single person from those lists wanting me to come onto G+ so they can do something we don't already do on other media.
Facebook isn't about meeting strangers. Google+ isn't about meeting friends. That's the problem. That's why nobody's on it. I don't WANT to meet other educational ICT specialists with an interest in Counter-Strike and Encryption. If I did, there's places for me to meet those people already. Google Calendar, on the other hand, is fabulous for sharing among people and we often use Google Calendar to organise international meetings of friends. But what, precisely, would I let my Google account go on G+ for that I can't already do?
No games a benefit.
The lack of farm, etc updates filling up my G+ feed is one of the attractions. OK, I can kill them on FB (individually) but on G+ I don't have to bother. And if I did want to play games on G+ they are already separated off for me on a different tab.
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