Interview with 3Blokes Studios

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Social media is booming. We asked 3Blokes to give us their thoughts on the industry and growth trends.

There has been an irrefutable increased interest in online social media of late, and the team at Brightlabs is undoubtedly social! So, we thought we’d drop in to visit the guys at 3Blokes Studios in Brisbane to talk to them about their experiences developing online content for this emergent and growing field.

Established in 2006, 3Blokes Studios is an independent developer that specialises in the production of fun, casual, and social games and they’re leading the charge to develop games for millions of Facebook users around the world. 3Blokes recently released their latest title on Facebook, 'Hospital Town', to great success. The team are now in the maintenance phase for this title, releasing new content regularly and growing their user base every day.

3Blokes major releases to date include the creature simulator 'Magical Forest', brain training game, 'Brainiversity', and the best selling hidden object game 'Jewel Quest Mysteries.'

Duncan, John, Marko and Nick, thanks for your time!

BL: So you all have come from a fairly traditional approach to games development and publishing. What made you decide to become involved in social media games development?

3Blokes: Well, the social media game genre is incredibly interesting, and has great potential for viral distribution and high volume sales. Leveraging Facebook as a distribution platform really changes the dynamic of the user experience and provides an opportunity to the designer to design games a little differently.

It’s important for people to realise that social media games have more depth than they used to. Sure, the first Facebook games were spreadsheet-based text-only games where the user could click a button to perform an action or send them an item, and certainly these types of games are still around. However, we’re now looking at the next generation of social media games that are bringing more sophisticated and socially engaging online content to a wider market than ever before. And quickly!

BL: What kind of growth rates are we talking about within this space?

3Blokes: Social networks can be very powerful mechanisms for distributing your applications and content. ‘Word of mouth’ endorsement from a friend is one of the most effective ways to grow your audience, and one of the strengths of online social media is that it makes this endorsement really simple; moreover, endorsement is often tacit when conveyed through the context of general usage of the system, which makes it much more subtle and effective. Because of this, it’s possible for applications to experience phenomenal growth.




Of course, it’s worth being very clear that using Facebook does not guarantee traffic; nor does using Twitter guarantee you traffic. The quality, frequency and repute of your online campaigns are very important – it is not just a matter of setting yourself up with an account on each, it’s necessary to use these promotional tools strategically and purposefully.

BL: What sort of price ranges are we looking at to develop a Facebook game, for example?

3Blokes: As with any kind of software development, that’s a real ‘how long is a piece of string’ type question! Of course, it’s going to depend on the features you define for the game, and the technology you want to use.

Another important discussion point before we talk about development costs is to talk about ongoing maintenance. You don’t want to launch with 100% of your content at once. Social network games need a constant, ongoing supply of fresh content to keep them interesting and keep them at the top of the news feed, where all your users’ friends can see them. There’s a catchphrase for this: ‘it’s not you we want to influence – it’s your friends!’

When you make a game for this medium you are making a long-term investment in order to build and nurture an attachment to your target market. You can really know a lot about your users once they add your game to their profile; which means you can meet their needs as an audience more effectively.

BL: Thanks for your time guys!

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Some of you may have played the games or even seen the advertisements while browsing your Facebook updates. It’s good to know that 3Blokes Studios are currently working on some exciting new updates and features due to be released this year, keep an eye out for them!

Visit the 3Blokes website here