Virtual Goods, Real Pleasure: Game Mechanics and Virtual Economies

Virtual Goods are fast becoming the business model of choice for online games. Companies like EA, Sony, Playdom, Playfish, and Zynga are having success with free-to-play games monetized with virtual goods. Social networks like Facebook, Hi5, myYearBook and Dogster are developing new revenue streams by integrating virtual gifts and currencies into their platform.

What does it take to build a thriving virtual goods business? What game mechanics and social rituals are effective at driving virtual goods sales? In this talk, we’ll review the psychology and system thinking behind game design, and take a deep dive into the virtual economies powering top-performing online games.

Speaker Details

Amy Jo Kim is an internationally-known designer of social games and communities. Currently she’s CEO of Shufflebrain, a games studio developing next-generation puzzle games, including Photograb (http://apps.facebook.com/photograb). Past projects include Rock Band, The Sims, Ultima Online, There.com, Family.com, and eBay. She’s also the author of Community Building on the Web, a social design handbook available in 7 languages (English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese) that’s required reading in game design studios and universities worldwide. She holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the University of Washington, and a BS in Experimental Psych from UC San Diego. She’s also an adjunct professor in the USC Film School, where she teaches Game Design.

Date:
Speakers:
Amy Jo Kim
Affiliation:
ShuffleBrain