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This is a debate that regularly comes into play in the world of social games; the battle of the developers, Playdom and Zynga - which is the better developer? We all know that Zynga currently reign king at the top of the social gaming ladder on Facebook - in fact, Zynga's CityVille on its own currently outranks all of Playdom's games combined. Playdom certainly have the wit and the intelligence, as well as Disney's intellectual property at its disposal while Zynga has the numbers, so lets delve deeper into this topic, and expose which developer is better.
Playdom has a lot of fighting to do in order to compete in Zynga's realm.
First, here's a little history on both developers. Playdom was founded in 2008 and developed and released several games on MySpace under several aliases until going unveiling themselves in 2009, naming John Pleasents as their CEO. At this time, Mobsters on MySpace was the most popular game on MySpace with over 20 million players, and its other titles made the developer the largest developer on the site (at this time, MySpace itself was the top social networking website in the world). Mobsters is still available on MySpace, however it isn't as popular as it once was due to Playdom focussing on other things, and MySpace's dwindling popularity. The popularity of its games on MySpace saw the developer expand to Facebook, releasing all of its future titles on Facebook. However, the only games that were released in 2009 that are still available to play today are Mobsters 2: Vendetta and Wild Ones, the latter of which is one of Playdom's best performing games over a long period. 2010 saw a period of acquisition after acquisition by Playdom, and the acquisition of Playdom itself, being by Disney. 2011 was a quiet year for Playdom in terms of new games, however; Gardens of Time, which is another of Playdom's most popular titles, was released during this time. Things are picking up once again in 2012 with the release of many new titles expected.
Zynga on the overhand was founded a year earlier in 2007. Zynga first developed games for MySpace, including Mafia Wars, however Zynga would cut the support and shut down all of their games on MySpace - moving exclusively to Facebook with a deal that they had with the site. As a result, Zynga became the largest developer on Facebook with their games generating tens of millions of daily players, and over a 100 million monthly active players. FarmVille, CastleVille, CityVille and Zynga Poker are some of the developers most popular titles on Facebook. The difference in company structure however, between Playdom and Zynga is that Zynga is still an independent developer (and sells its shares on the public market), Playdom is a subsidiary.
The question on Zynga's titles becoming so suddenly "popular" on Facebook has to bring into question on how they are acquiring their popular. As mentioned above, Zynga has a deal with Facebook to use their virtual currency system and in exchange, Facebook would help Zynga achieve "certain monthly growth targets" for its games. What this basically means is that Zynga's monthly active user count is very manufactured - essentially controlled by Facebook as Facebook is making money out of Zynga's games. This also makes it impossible for smaller developers to get their foot in the door on Facebook, with the social games economy being manipulated as it is. This however, does have its advantages; the developers, including Playdom, that trail Zynga have a lot more competition and thus, must produce bigger, better, more revolutionary games in order to remain competitive. Including the use of big name brands (Take The Sims Social (PlayFish) and Marvel: Avengers Alliance (Playdom) for example), which gainer even more attention for the games using these brand names.
As far as Zynga are concerned, they can smile and laugh as they can get the numbers for their games without putting in any promotional work.
In terms of customer support, Playdom have the better customer service two-folds compared to Zynga. Again, the idea and misconception that Zynga have the better customer service is also very manufactured. Most of the customer support for Zynga is handled through their community forums, whereas Playdom has a ticketing system. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, however the idea of a private, one on one ticketing system for communicating your concerns with the developer seem far more appealing then communicating your concerns on a public forums were things can get very messy very quickly. Also, Zynga don't like the idea of communicating negative feelings on their forums, either which further complicates things (Playdom allow for at least a limited freedom of expression on their community forums) in terms of customer support and makes it easy for the average player to be mislead into thinking that the company indeed has "fantastic customer support" when Zynga delete any objectionable content. Not to mention also that Zynga's forums are moderated primarily by internal staff, as opposed to volunteers.
People also complain of Playdom shutting down games. However the truth be told is that Zynga are just as bad in this department (if not worse) and this is again a misleading and another manufactured statistic on Zynga's part largely due to what is mentioned above. Of course, with Zynga having over 3000 employees to Playdom's 500-ish, Zynga of course are going to have more resources when it comes to maintaining and supporting their games as well as other aspects of the company - and this is true as Zynga currently have around 30 active games to Playdom's increasing number of 15 active games at this present time. Will the slew of new games currently being released by Playdom result in more closures? Only time will tell, but Zynga are having a relatively slow year this year so far with very few titles being released.
Although Zynga do release games that are relatively stable and bug free, they are very limited on ideas and have often resorted to taking ideas first revolutionised by other developers and capitalising on them due to the growth targets promised to Zynga by Facebook in the deal that they have. While there is no real law against taking ideas and giving them new meaning, it doesn't really look good for the other developer (in this case, Zynga). Lets take Hidden Chronicles for example which was coincidently released several weeks after the release of Playdom's Gardens of Time. Although hidden object games are not new to the world of gaming, they are certainly new to the world of social gaming, and Gardens of Time made an impact on Facebook because of this. Further proof on Zynga's growth numbers being manufactured are the fact that Gardens of Time has around six million monthly active players as compared to Hidden Chronicles 20 million plus monthly active users (with Gardens of Time being released first).
Playdom are the better developer by a mile when it comes to the Playdom versus Zynga debate. Are Zynga's games popular? Yes they are as if Zynga's games weren't popular, Zynga wouldn't be able to support them. However, they aren't as popular as Zynga or let alone Facebook, make them out to be. Playdom's growth numbers and its monthly active user counts are at least real and they aren't manufactured like Zynga's are. Furthermore, Playdom don't censor players if they have a negative opinion or give objectionable feedback about one of their games.
There has been a number of changes to the player versus player aspect of Marvel: Avengers Alliance on Facebook. This announcement was made on the Playdom Community Forums this afternoon by a community representative of the developer.
The changes include the addition of a rating system, in that players who win against a higher rated player will gain rating points, in contrast to those who loose against such players, who will loose points. This is variable depending on the difference in rankings. As well as this, a number of other player versus player system changes have been made, including hero and item balancing, tougher match making and the removal of item usage.
"We understand that many players enjoy the ability to use items in PVP, but it is impossible to allow them to be used without creating a huge imbalance in the favor of attackers. Rest assured all item usage will continue to function as it currently does in missions."
Many of these changes were aimed at improving the balancing of the player versus player aspect of the game. Playdom have stated that they would "continue monitoring the [Marvel: Avengers Alliance] forums and strategies of top PVP strike teams to see if there are inadvertent exploits for certain item or hero combinations."
Marvel: Avengers Alliance made its public debut on the first of March 2012 and currently has 5 million monthly active players.
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Are you good with design or graphic arts? If so, you may be interested in designing a cover photo for our Marvel: Avengers Alliance unofficial fan pagein our very first competition!
All you need to do is use the template above (which is 960 pixels wide by 322 pixels high) and create something that best represents an unofficial fan page for Marvel: Avengers Alliance. The top 10 entries will be put forth to a public vote to decide the winner. The winning entry will have the honour of becoming the cover photo for the Marvel: Avengers Alliance unofficial fan page, being displayed to thousands of monthly viewers and fans alike.
Once you have done, upload the picture to tinypic.com, copy the "Direct Link" URL and send it directly, via inbox, to the Marvel: Avengers Alliance unofficial fan page (which is linked above).
Disney Social Games, in conjunction with developer Playdom, will launch the first Facebook game with a direct tie-in to one of The Walt Disney Company’s theme parks this April. Disney Animal Kingdom Explorers was developed in conjunction with theme park scientists and zoologists to bring authentic animals, plants and birds into the virtual world. The new social game will also emphasize the importance of conservation.
The game blends two popular genres into a unique experience. There’s a hidden object game that features photorealistic art and a large assortment of animals for players to find. The game also includes a simulation mode where players can build their own nature preserve. Gameplay is divided evenly between these two genres. The experience is connected with players unlocking new animals, plants and trees for the nature reserve by unlocking them in the hidden object game.
Thousands of photos of the Disney Animal Kingdom park were taken by the developer and were used to created themes and objects for the game. Two of the game’s locations will be particularly familiar to Disney fans, as Harambe and Anandapur draw inspiration directly from the Animal Kingdom theme park. While the Tree of Life from the park will be the starting point for every nature preserve, the gameplay doesn’t have players building a Disney park. Rather, they’re creating a unique preserve to house and protect hundreds of animals, plants and birds from around the globe.
The game’s eco-friendly storyline has Facebook players joining the Global Wildlife Research team and traveling the world on expeditions. The game will launch with animals and plants from six major regions like the Rocky Mountains, the Amazon Rainforest and the Australian Outback.
Eric Todd, vice president of product and creative director, Animal Kingdom Explorers - had this to say:
"Players will work with friends to collect the necessary materials to grow their habitat. The hidden object portion of the game offers online leaderboards for players to compete and compare scores in a social setting.”
Playdom worked with Disney scientists to produce environmentally correct gameplay. Players will be rewarded for placing giraffes with the correct trees within their preserves, for example. There will also be no popcorn or vending areas and no cages for the animals. In addition, the game will feature thousands of animal facts that will be incorporated into the game.
The game will be featured in the Disney Animal Kingdom between April 13 and 14 as part of the park’s Earth Day celebration. Visitors will be able to play the online game at the park as part of a bigger integration among the Disney Nature studio team, Disney Social Games and Disney Parks.
There will also be regular cross-promotions between the virtual world and the theme park. There’s an in-game newspaper that allows the game developer to announce things relevant to the park and events as they come up, including the Earth Day celebration. Players will also be able to find links to the theme park’s Web site.
"Once they’ve been to park players recognize how things tie in from our game.We’ll continue to update the game every week or two with new locations. These updates will include five or six different hidden object gameplay scenes and new items based on that location for the nature preserve.” said Todd.
Playdom’s Garden of Time was Facebook's most popular game in 2011. This marks the first foray of expanding the hidden object style of gameplay into a Disney-themed experience. Disney Animal Kingdom Adventures is also the first animal-themed hidden object game, which Todd believes will appeal to many of Facebook’s 750 million users.
"Hidden object games have been popular in the traditional games space for a long time. As Facebook games continue to evolve and mature, things that were popular only on consoles and portable devices before now are gaining popularity on Facebook.” said Todd.
The new Gardens of Time April Calendar features scenes from Chapter 35, A Mystery of Titanic Proportions! Curious about what the Time Society is doing on the Titanic? Will the agents able to save the doomed vessel? You’ll also learn more about Alistair in this chapter. Get the April Calendar and play the Titanic Chapter now!
To download the calendar, just click the image size you want, right click on the image and select ‘Save image as’ to save it to your desktop! Once saved, just open the image and right click to select it as your desktop background.
The highly anticipated Marvel: Avengers Alliance has been in private beta for a few months, but now, players from all over the world are able to play what is arguably the best game Playdom has produced, ever.
Marvel: Avengers Alliance takes the form of a game where you battle other people, as well as characters. In fact, Marvel: Avengers Alliance is very similar to the battling side of a now defunct Playdom game, Deep Realms. Basically, you control a bunch of Marvel super-hero characters (a maximum of three in any one battle) each with varying abilities as well as strengths and weaknesses - and must fight off various enemies which range from Mobsters to super-natural beings in the form of missions, with the player's heroes gaining experience as they are used for tasks.
If you are familiar with the whole theme of Marvel, the characters that feature in the game should be very familiar - ranging from Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, among countless other playable characters. Marvel: Avengers Alliance is definitely a big name game and it has a lot of star power behind it, and it also has the potential to grow to be one of the biggest Facebook games yet.
For the most part, Marvel: Avengers Alliance is a very polished game, which is what you would expect for a game that has been in BETA for a few months. Though there are some slight loading and streaming issues with the game, for the most part - you will be transitioning between screens with ease and very little frustration. Though it must be emphasised that even though this game can be played without the need for allies, the basis of Marvel: Avengers Alliance still plays around the use of allies, who can make your life a whole lot easier as you play through the game, particularly for staffing.
Aside from doing missions, there are countless other side tasks that are available for the player to complete which can earn the player several in-game rewards that can benefit the player. The option also exists for players to send their heroes out on "remote missions" to various locations (named after real-world places) for certain durations, which allows people who can't dedicate all that much time into this game to be able to play. It is these touches that make Marvel: Avengers Alliance a fantastic game and adds so much depth to the gameplay also.
Soundtrack wise, the music and other sounds are used superbly throughout the game. The main theme music is very deep, melodramatic and really sets the overall tone and theme of the game. When doing battles, the sound of guns as well as other hero weapons and abilities are wildly over-exaggerated which is what you would expect from a super-hero themed game.
The main concern of this game, however - is the acquiring of premium currency; S.H.I.E.L.D points and Command Points - the former of which are used for training, research and the buying of weapons and the latter of which are used for the recruiting of new heroes. This can be both a burden and a blessing in disguise as it is an effective method of keeping the game from becoming unballenced. There is also another premium currency; Gold, which can be used for various other things in the game from premium content, to speeding up tasks.
Though highly refined and polished, Marvel: Avengers Alliance is still not without any noticeable bugs, but currently the only major issue with the game in relation to bugs is the loading and streaming of sounds - in battles sometimes, sounds will fail to load which can be quite off-putting. Most of the time though, a re-load of your web browser will ensure that things work smoothly again. There is also some occasional lag issues.
There is also a player versus player element in the game which is unlocked after you progress to a certain point in the games storyline. This is yet just another element of the game that gives it more depth and player versus player battles can be quite fun also, combining gameplay that is very similar to Wild Ones, minus the real-time battle part.
Marvel: Avengers Alliance is a game that anybody who is into action-RPG games can easily get into. Likewise, obsessed Marvel fans will have as equally as much fun as those who aren't. This is a game that will become huge and become one of Playdom's biggest hits and is definitely a game that is highly recommended that you give a try, even if you don't play Facebook games.
Playdom have partnered up with upcoming developer Spry Fox to publish Triple Town, and while not a "Playdom game" per se, this partnership will mean that Triple Town will have the Playdom logo and the Playdom name even though a different developer will still be retaining the development rights to the game, while Playdom handles the support and community management and as far as this game is concerned, Playdom couldn't of picked a better game, or a better team, to join forces with.
Triple Town's main premise is town-building. You are given a series of objects in the game that constitute your "Moves", which there is a limit and these regenerate over time (or you can simply buy more moves from the store for a modest fee of in-game currency) and it is your job to place these objects on the field of play to get matches of three or more of the same item, giving you a bigger item. Think Triple Townas a game that combines Bejeweled Twist meets Tetris with a unique twist! For example, three trees will give you a hut, three huts a house, three houses a mansion - the bigger/more advanced the building is, the better - considering that you will receive bigger rewards for better buildings. Getting the higher-class buildings can be a challenge though! Of course, as with any challenge, it certainly isn't impossible, and getting these buildings can be rewarding - both in game as well as for bragging rights. Of course, there are several other special purpose items at your disposal.
This game is an incredible and almost flawless experience that you will almost loose hours into at a time, provided of course you have enough coins to purchase moves as you will chew through your moves rather quickly and you will be down to zero even before you realize it. This is quite unfortunate as it can disturb the flow of the game to quite an extent, with having to wait several minutes for your moves to build up again if you are not intending on buying currency to constantly purchase additional moves from the store. This is probably one of the only issues with Triple Town.
Triple Town however does have amazing charm as with most games on Facebook! Bears will growl at citizens as they bop around them, and citizens will give a yelp as you hover an object over them, and bop away quickly into their huts and other buildings. Of course, the citizens you will see will depend on the buildings that are on the field of play. The game, being from a top down perspective, uses sprites for objects and other images. These images are incredibly well designed for the most part, and the animations, as described above, just add to the charm. As for sounds, the sound of birds chirping in the distance as well as other subtle sounds really give the impression of peace and harmony, that you are in a setting that is secluded. The sounds are an absolute pleasure to listen to, and they are not overbearing in any way, as they can be in some other games on Facebook.
Loading times are also incredibly quick, with the player being able to access and play the game in under 30 seconds. The game itself is also, technically, flawless and it is this reason as to why simple is sometimes better then complex. You can also easily tradition from the map screen, to your town, and back to the map screen with speed and ease at the press of a button. It is a minor complaint though that the button that takes you to the map screen could be more distinguishable, but this is just a minor issue in something that is otherwise flawless.
Overall, Triple Town is a game that is definitely worth checking out! Quick loading times and a simple interface is what makes this game fun. Though it is simple, this game is definitely challenging like any good strategy game. It can probably be said that this game, is probably one of the most technically refined games currently available on Facebook with its quick load and transition times. You also don't need hoards of people added on Facebook that you don't know in order to play this game. So if you are into strategy and planning, try this game out now!
Seeking a larger audience to play its game, Spry Fox has formed a partnership with Disney’s Playdom to publish its social game Triple Town on Facebook, starting this week which will involve Playdom handling support for the game, as well as community management; on behalf Spry Fox.
Spry Fox has stated that it will retain all creative authority over the game, and added that, going forward, it won’t have to worry about acquiring new users or figuring out how to run advertising campaigns.
In a statement, Spry Fox said: "Our games have reached millions of users, but never concurrently. We have constantly worried about our ability to scale without major service interruptions or other related problems … We are grateful for the opportunity to learn from [Playdom] and lean on them.
”The idea of publishing third-party content is not new in the world of gaming, but it is for Disney’s Playdom. It said while it sees an opportunity to leverage the creativity of independent developers, it will not be at the sacrifice of developing games internally.
Over the past year, Playdom has been struggling to keep up its development after they were acquired by Disney, but now the company says that it is back on track and has more than a dozen titles under development, including Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
"Playdom’s in-house development studios are still hard at work … but we also recognize that there are a lot of independent social game developers creating amazing new experiences, too,” the company said in a statement.
Spry Fox’s Triple Town, a puzzle game that challenges players to build cities by matching three or more of the same game pieces, has received some acclaim of its own. The trade magazine Gamezebo recently named it the best game of 2011.
Marvel is moving its way onto Facebook with today’s announcement of Marvel: Avengers Alliance, a unique combat role playing game experience with dozens of Marvel's most iconic heroes and villains. Marvel: Avengers Alliance will be live on Facebook Q1 2012 from Disney Interactive Media Group's Playdom studios.
Marvel: Avengers Alliance takes place in the wake of a
galaxy-wide disaster, known as "the Pulse,” exposing Manhattan to
attack from Marvel’s most formidable villains. This is a new storyline
for the Marvel Universe, created specifically for the game.
Players are recruited as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and tasked with
assembling and leading teams of superheroes to keep New York City safe
from the clutches of villains like Doom, Loki, the Red Skull and
Magneto, as well as holding off the forces of organisations of AIM and
Hydra. Marvel: Avengers Alliance will give players the
chance to build an unstoppable Marvel team from iconic Marvel
characters, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk,
Black Widow and many more.
Playdom and Marvel actually were developing the
game before Disney's acquisitions. "With all these interesting
confluences, we knew this product had to be different," says Mike
Rubinelli of Disney Interactive Media Group. It "couldn't just be a
casual click-fest."
The developers aim to attract fans of Marvel comics and films (including The Avengers,
due May 4). "We want to reach a mainstream audience but keep the world
and intellectual property authentic so the core audience is not
alienated," says Playdom's Chia Chin Lee.
At
the outset of the game, players learn to customise their character with
accessories and weapons, and are instructed in battle. "That character
will go right into the game and fight alongside Spider-Man or Thor and
Black Widow," Jefferson says. "We want to make the game approachable."
Once a hero is added to the Avengers team, players can begin training
them to unlock unique abilities and attacks, as well as using "ISO-8" to
further customise each character's stats. Players will also be able to
face-off against each other, challenging their social graph in
super-powered asynchronous PvP battles.
You can check out the official Facebook page at Facebook.com/AvengersAlliance and watch the trailer below. We can certainly tell that this game is going to be huge, so stay tuned for more news!
There has been a number of changes to the player versus player aspect of Marvel: Avengers Alliance on Facebook. This announcement was made on the 
Playdom have partnered up with upcoming developer Spry Fox to publish Triple Town, and while not a "Playdom game" per se, this partnership will mean that Triple Town will have the Playdom logo and the Playdom name even though a different developer will still be retaining the development rights to the game, while Playdom handles the support and community management and as far as this game is concerned, Playdom couldn't of picked a better game, or a better team, to join forces with.
Seeking a larger audience to play its game, Spry Fox has formed a partnership with Disney’s Playdom to publish its social game Triple Town on Facebook, starting this week which will involve Playdom handling support for the game, as well as community management; on behalf Spry Fox.
Marvel is moving its way onto Facebook with today’s announcement of Marvel: Avengers Alliance, a unique combat role playing game experience with dozens of Marvel's most iconic heroes and villains. Marvel: Avengers Alliance will be live on Facebook Q1 2012 from Disney Interactive Media Group's Playdom studios.
