Social gaming in Asia has grown with the proliferation of Facebook while other social networks, such as Friendster and Myspace, seek to follow suit in satisfying the MMOG craze. Could the draw of social networks no longer be on building online friendships but more on gaming? Inside Facebook took a closer look at Facebook’s growth in Asia last year and the numbers suggested that social games do play a part in increasing Facebook users. The Asian developer community has been quick to capitalize on this market with some taking a short cut, playing on the cultural differences, by copying Western games and adding some Asian flavor to spice things up for the local crowd through games like House Buying and Happy Aquarium. Features such as stealing and sabotage, considered foul play in Western context, appears to sit well with the Asian players. The Asian version of FarmVille, Happy Farm, provides a more competitive scenario where players are allowed to plant weeds and worms on competitors crop, all in lieu with the Asian fierce competitive spirit.

With over 83% of social gamers in a study commissioned by PopCap stating Facebook as their social gaming platform of choice, developers are seen at the mercy of the social network giant. With Facebook implementing changes, such as the latest removal of third-party notifications, developers have been hard hit in trying to maintain their monthly active users. In May, 14 of the top 25 Facebook games ranked by InsideSocialGames.com lost monthly active users ranging from 1-5 million each due to the change. Can developers figure a way to break this chokehold and tap on the lucrative market of social gaming? Can social gaming exist at such a scale outside social networks like Facebook?

Find the answers to these questions and more at echelon 2010 from big names in the social gaming industry such as Bret Terrill and Vishal Gondal.Bret has worked with Zynga, publisher of top-ranked Facebook games FarmVille and Texas HoldEm Poker, and brings with him invaluable  knowledge on how to make social games work. Vishal founded India’s number one online gaming destination, Indiagames, and is also an active venture capitalist. For a feel of the situation closer to home, Zaki Mahomed from Game Ventures, Rex Ng from 6waves and Benjamin Joffe of +8* will contribute their experience of working the Asian market.

echelon 2010 brings these experts to a panel discussing on Social Gaming – How a Fast Rising Global Phenomenon is Developing in Asia.. With Nicholas Khoo fom SCOGA moderating, the panel will delve into the Asian social gaming market, the challenges that social gaming developers face and ways to overcome them. Nicholas will end the discussion by tackling the idea of social gaming beyond Facebook.