Quote of the Moment: '[Xbox Live's] too small a demographic' for Zynga
"[Xbox Live's] too small a demographic. Think about, of my friends, how many of them own an Xbox 360? Well, I'm a game developer and I even come from a triple-A space so we might even be in the double digits... Twenty or maybe even thirty percent of my friends might have an Xbox 360, but effectively 100 percent of them have Facebook and effectively 100 percent of them have a mobile phone. Of them, probably 90 percent have a smartphone."
Brian Reynolds, chief game designer at Zynga, said this to Industrygamers.com in a recent interview. He's referring to what might be the next move for the omnipotent social game developer. While all signs point to mobile, it's not silly to assume that Microsoft's Xbox Live could be next with its over 30 million players. As it turns out, 30 million just doesn't stack up to Facebook's over 500 million, that of which half is said to play social games. A game like CityVille on Xbox would grab probably over a few million players, but that's small potatoes compared to the 90 million that already play on Facebook. Reynolds continued, explaining that mobile is next, because while plenty of his friends have Xbox 360s, the average social gamer doesn't have as many friends with the console. On the other hand, Reynolds said that at least 90 percent of his friends likely have a smartphone. You do the math. (Sorry, Microsoft.)
[Image Credit: The Baltimore Sun]
What do you think of Zynga's dismissal of Xbox 360? Is the company making a mistake in leaving it out or is the company right on track? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
