7 social features that help mobile games to attract and retain users

Given the recent report on smartphone sales and the growth of social networking, it is no surprise that social mobile gaming has been the faster-growing industry over recent years.

Did you know, the mobile gaming industry is predicted to reach $99 billion in revenue by 2024? With this huge growth, developers across the globe are focusing on developing mobile games which have a variety of social features to boost user engagement.

According to Forbes, the best game could only manage user retention of 4.5% after 30 days. But research suggests that social features in games can help keep players engaged. Despite all of this, what exactly is a social mobile game?

What Are Social Mobile Games?

A single-player game is a game, but a social mobile game is a community of all mobile gaming freaks. In simple terms, social mobile games are those where you can compete or collaborate with other players to win a match or battle.

You might have played some of the social mobile games, for example, Fortnite, Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, PUBG Mobile, etc. where you can communicate and compete with your friends and other players over a match. These social features of competing, collaboration, and communication are what make these games popular and are played by millions and billions of users worldwide.

7 Social Features To Include In Your Mobile Games

Activity Feed

The activity feed is a must-have feature in mobile games where a user can view his/her friend’s activity feed. For example, if we talk about Clash of Clans, which recently became popular among the millennials, have an activity feed feature where a user can check when his/her friend was last active on the game.

By adding these features in mobile games, a user can follow the progress of others, ask for lives, share ideas about the gaming experience, and much more.

Live Chat

In-game chat or live chat is a great tool to boost player engagement. But, when using chat in your game, players will bring expectations based on their everyday experiences with apps like Messenger, Skype, Slack, etc.

For example, PUBG Mobile is one of the most popular games worldwide, where the developers have added a live chat and even audio chat option in the game. You can play this game solo, duo, or with a squad (4 players), and you can communicate with your teammates throughout the battle. How amazing it is? Right?

In-game Achievements Leader board

This feature allows players to see the activity of others within their network. For example, a user may want to know when their friend has a new score or has collected some items to complete a task.

It can also be as easy as displaying when connected gamers are active in-game and their overall experience points. Additionally, you can use a gamer’s network to share personalized leader boards.

Guilds

Guild help players build communities with similar interests, playing styles, and levels of engagement. With guild, players can exchange items, compete together, collaborate, and accomplish different goals. Social mobile games incorporating guild features are Homescapes and Fishdom.

Push Notifications

Push Notifications are a smart feature for every app. Just like when you get notified by a social media platform, similarly, players can get notified of new activities in the game. According to Urban Airship, more than 42% of players enable push notifications on their smartphones. For example, players can get notified about a new event in the game, new mode, it’s their turn to play, send a challenge, receive a gift, etc.

Push notifications are best for user’s re-engagement to get discontinued users back into the game.

Multi-player Mode

Multi-player mode is a must-have feature for every mobile game, as nobody wants to play alone all the time. With this feature, players can compete with their friends and other players when playing their preferred game, as a result, increase user engagement. Connecting through the cloud is the most obvious, but supporting connectivity through Bluetooth is also necessary.

Replay Sharing Mode

Allowing users to record and share their progress is like Cherry on the Cake. Twitch is an example of it. They may not be there for the social aspects of the game, but they will appreciate them, allowing them to show off their accomplishments. This content can also help market the game.

Benefits of Social Features In Mobile Games

Group play provides social benefits

Whether users are playing games with friends or family members, these games can help nurture relationships through shared moments and enhance their social skills.

Promotes teamwork and builds confidence

Social mobile games allow players to take on several tasks that allow them to learn how to manage a team if they are a leader or manage ways to win as part of a group. The shared experience can be a great way to collaborate and learn from each other to raise confidence.

A fun way to stay active

Some popular games like Pokemon Go are an example of how games can help stimulate players to stay active while gaming. With the growth of mobile gaming apps, it doesn’t mean that users have to be stuck to a TV to play games, they can now, game on the GO.

Provide a way to develop compassion

Social mobile games can help users to manage their emotions and support kind behavior, kindness, and understanding.

Conclusion

Sooner or later, the social features we discussed are likely to become the future of mobile gaming because of their powerful user engagement abilities. Social engagement in mobile games matters because it creates a sense of competitiveness, enhances the gaming experience, prompts users, develops a strong sense of community, and most importantly, increases conversion, and saves costs on user acquisition.

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by Jyoti Gupta
source: CustomerThink