Remember Zynga? Big-name publisher of free-to-play mobile games, they
first game into public notice when "Farmville" became mega-successful.
But they've sort of gone under the radar over the past few years.
They're still around - although now operating as a subsidiary of
Take-Two Interactive - and still just as skinky as ever.

Not least because of how they handle their "whales" - the big-spenders
of the mobile free-to-play market. Oh, sorry; we're now supposed to
call them "VIP Players" now, apparently. Whales account for up 70-90%
of revenue for some games, making Free-To-Play publishers extremely
dependent on their goodwill. But rather than improving their games to
appeal to a large clientel, Zynga and the rest have doubled-down on
keeping their biggest victims happy.

Zynga - and other FTP publishers - have always recognized the
importance of this minority, but they're going to new extremes to
harvest them. VIPs now get their own personal account managers to help
them with any problems, and are feted with special promotions, and can
win prizes that offer perks ranging from studio visits to free cars.
If this sounds suspiciously like the tactics used in Vegas casinos,
that's because Zynga and the rest are actually hiring people that
worked in Vegas and have familiarity with all the tricks to not only
keep those players happy, but encourage them to keep playing when
their attention starts drifting.

Software companies frequently reject the idea that micro-transactions
and free-to-play games are anything like gambling, and that there
shouldn't be any similar restrictions or regulations put on their
games like there are on casinos, but when they start using the same
tactics and people as Vegas uses, then that argument seems pretty
weak.

And even if the abuse of these misguided whales isn't a concern,
regular games shouldn't take this behavior for granted. This focus on
a few big-spenders also makes for a poor experience for everyone else;
money spent on keeping this minority happy could be spent instead on
improving the game, and games become increasingly grindy to keep
spend-levels up. The industry increasing becomes focused on revenue
generation rather than creating fun and interesting products.



* details from here https://www.gamesindustry.biz/how-does-zynga-hunt-for-whales-this-week-in-business

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