After bursting onto the scene in March the wildly popular mobile game Draw Something is finally starting to drop back down to reality. Though still posting extremely high active user counts, OMGPOP‘s breakout hit has seen that number decrease by about 4 Million between April 2nd and May 2nd.
Some might point to the recent acquisition of OMGPOP – an acquisition that saw only one holdout – as the source for this recent downtick, based solely on who the developer was acquired by. Despite being the “fastest selling” mobile game of all time, Draw Something isn’t showing the type of staying power that Zynga might have hoped it would.
Farmville creator Zynga has had a longstanding reputation of monetizing nearly ever segment of their games to the point that it becomes more of a second job than a gaming experience. When Zynga purchased OMGPOP they clearly had their eyes set on maximizing the success Draw Something, and fans feared the worse.
But that idea still seems a bit far-fetched, especially when you consider the type of people who are enjoying Draw Something on their iPhone or Android device. Instead the real problem might rest with the Draw Something concept itself, which holds such a fleeting appeal.
When Draw Something first hit, and toppled the likes of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope from the number one spot on the App Store, any and everybody started up a bunch of games, and kept up with them pretty regularly. Unfortunately, as more and more of their Facebook friends joined the ranks of the Draw Something faithful, the willingness to keep up with each individual game started to decline, and eventually people started giving up all together.
Only time will tell what Zynga is able to do with Draw Something – whether they’ll be able to leverage the property in a way that sees players return after nearly a month away – but something has to be done to keep things fresh and exciting. Sure, new words can provide a short-lived appeal, but it’s making the app a daily routine that will set it apart.
Have you kept up with every one of your Draw Something games after first downloading the game? What could OMGPOP do to prolong the appeal of the mobile game?
Source: BBC News
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It was a fad, just like Temple Run.
I was super-addicted to DrawSomething for about three weeks. Then words started repeating themselves all the time, and when Zynga bought them over it was just more of a turn-off for me. I suppose I’d probably play it again if they overhauled it (new features, tons of new words, etc)
You hit the nail on the head for me, it was great fun when I had about 5 games going, but when it grew to over 10 it was too monotonous. Plus, I started getting the same words game in and game out. I could guess Titanic within the first 5 seconds of someone starting to draw it.
I can’t answer for anyone else but I uninstalled once I heard of OMGPOP’s sell out.
I love the game, but it has been hard to keep up with all the new game requests that I get now. Plus the words need a major update. I need some new words to make me want to get back into it.
Zynga also does not make game playing fun when you have little sub-games to play or have to spend extra money to move up in the game itself. They have ruined Hanging with Friends and will ruin draw something
this is the same trend i see with most apps, even if they are great, you play them non stop for a few weeks, then once in a while. they shouldnt hope for greater success than whats out there.
The downfall of the game is actually the dramatic increase of glitches. It used to be fun, and stable, but lately, the game frequently deprives me of the chance to guess someone’s drawing (a way to earn points). It also skips turns where I get to show my drawing to an opponent for guessing (another way to earn points). Sometimes, the game sends the drawing to an opponent with the wrong letter combination, thus making it impossible for the recipient to enter the answer. Most frustrating of all, Draw Something staff on the support forum (https://getsatisfaction.com/drawsomething) does nothing to address users’ grievances. Did Zynga’s acquisition cause these? Or did OMGPOP’s lack of respect for customers the root of the problem? I’m not sure, but by the time it’s fixed, loyal fans may be long gone.