To be or not to be an app…the tradeoffs of building on-Facebook vs off-Facebook

This blog post comes out of a Q&A thread at Quora, a cool new startup that’s all about sharing knowledge. Awesomely, hanging out on Quora is spurring a renewed interest in writing, mostly because Quora is super social and I like riffing on ideas with other people.

The question was: What are some of the cost/benefits associated with building an app in Facebook vs building a standalone site?

So at ohai! we are supporting both on-Facebook and off-Facebook experiences. We’re seeing some interesting data so far with our first ...Read More

Tags: city of eternals, facebook, facebook connect, games, massively multiplayer online games, mmos, ohai, social games

CRV and GDC partner to revolutionize gaming industry

We at CRV are producing a new program at GDC called Startup Launchpad.  Essentially, it’s a way for game developers - indie to amateur to professionals within studios - to learn how to become entrepreneurs and to become unshackled from the confines of the traditional game industry structure.

 As I’m sure many of you know, many game developers/designers toil long and hard for game studios, only to receive very little if any equity for their efforts.  It’s an inequitable system.  I was an indie game developer for many years (MUDs, Mods) but I never ...Read More

Interview with Worlds in Motion

Leigh Alexander, who is one of my favorite writers on the subject of virtual worlds, interviewed me about the future of online gaming.

The whole thing is worth a read – it turns out it’s a lot easier to speak casually with someone than to blog (surprise!).  In it, I talk about one of the holy grails of online gaming:

“One of the hallmarks of a successful Web company is — if you look at the track record of the most successful companies that have stayed independent and sustainable, like ...Read More

Introducing Conduit Labs

We just announced our recent Series A investment in Conduit Labs, a Boston based company that’s focused on building a social networking / casual MMO hybrid.  Well, what does that exactly mean? And aren’t there a hundred companies now doing this exact same thing? 

This new space – the intersection of Web 2.0 and online gaming – is a very difficult one to define.  This categorization encompasses companies like Kongregate to Areae to Three Rings – each of whom is vastly ...Read More