Zynga and Social Games

Zynga was founded in April 2007 by Mark Pincus. Zynga's first game, Texas Hold'Em Poker, now known as Zynga Poker, was released on Facebook in July 2007. There are 333 million users and 72 million daily active on the games that Zynga create.

How Does Zynga Make Its Money?

Zynga makes money in many ways. They sell what is called 'virtual goods.' For example, if you were on Farmville and you wanted more land, then you would buy this land using the online store to purchase it with your credit card. Another way they make money is advertising for other companies. There are three ways to of advertising: banner ads, video ads and product placement.

Banner ads usually surround the page. They are the biggest part of advertising revenue for the social gaming industry because the games generates so many views. They have a CPM of about $2.

Video ads are the ad format with the most revenue per view. They are priced either by a CPM of $35 or cost per completed view.

Product placement is were a brand places itself into a game somehow. For example, McDonald's had included in-game goods. Starbucks had an in-game quest which was to collect all the ingredients to make a Frappuccino. 

My Gaming History

My Gaming History

I have been playing games since 2005. My brother (who is 18) got a ps2 when he was 10 but I didn't really play on it. There was a game that I enjoyed watching him play which was called Sly 2: Band of Thieves. I got a Nintendo DS when I was 10 which was fun. I got Mario Kart, Super Mario Brothers and Animal Crossing. Good times.
I actually didn't get a proper console until Christmas which was the Nintendo Wii. It came with Wii Sports that I played for a bit until I got Mario Kart with the wheel that you play it with. I couldn't get fully used to it so I just used the controller and the nunchuck. I also got Super Smash Brothers Brawl and Animal Crossing: Lets Go To The City which I played for roughly ten hours a day. I also got Super Mario Galaxy which is probably one of the best games I've ever played.
My brother got an Xbox 360 in 2007 and xbox live a year later. The first game I got in to was Halo 3. I completed the campaign on legendary which was an achievement (in both terms). The multiplayer was a completely new experience for me because obviously I'd never been on it before and the possibilities that it opened up for online gaming was amazing. I did play Call of Duty but only online, not the campaign.
The next game I got in to was Halo Reach. It was kind of the same but it had more advanced multiplayer and graphics. I still play it because there is nothing else to play.
I forgot to mention I had Nintendo 64. Again, I only played Mario games because nothing is as good on nintendo.

Rockstar Studios

 - Rockstar Japan - started in 2005 and still exists today, this is responsable for localisation of rockstar games and products in Japan.
 - Rockstar Leeds - started in 2004 and still exists today, this was formally known as Mobius Entertainment, based in Leeds, England. Specializes in handheld games and was also responsable for the microsoft windows version of L.A Noire
- Rockstar Lincoln - started in 1999 and still exists today, previously known as Tarantula Studios, based in Lincoln, England.
 - Rockstar London - started in 2005 and still exists today, took over the production of Manhunt 2 when Rockstar Vienna closed
 - Rockstar New England - started in 2008 and still exists today, based in Massachusetts, developed Xbox 360 and PC Ports of Bully
 - Rockstar North - started in 2002, based in Edinborough and previously known as DMA design, famous for the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt Franchises
 - Rockstar San Diego - Started in 2003 and still exists today, previously known as Angel studios and is responsable for RAGE system featured in Red Dead Redemption

Introduction

My name is Liam and this is going to be my AS Media blog