Indie Game Companies Seek Growth Opportunities by Doubling as Social Platforms

Why it matters:

• The U.S. mobile gaming market is expected to total $100.54 billion this year, according to Mordor Intelligence.
• While multiplayer video games and social media have long coexisted, a new era of seamless convergence between the two pastimes has emerged, allowing for more communal experiences among gamers.
• Multiplayer mobile games like mega-hit Among Us, which eschews complex battle scenarios in favor of chill environments and quirky characters and where gamers socialize via voice chat, are gaining popularity.
• Startup Rune, for example, recently raised $8 million to support its transition to an app providing games and simultaneous voice chat.

The increasing technological capabilities of mobile devices is enabling some innovative independent game companies to combine social connectivity and gaming in a single, hand-held platform.

The popularity of multiplayer video games and the ubiquitous appeal of social media have long coexisted, but a new era of seamless convergence between the two pastimes has emerged, allowing more immersive experiences for players.

“Something that I have understood about business strategies is that you always go after a core human need,” said Sanjay Guruprasad, Co-founder and CEO of Rune, which recently unveiled a multiplayer mobile gaming platform that allows simultaneous voice chat. “For us, that fundamental need was the need to connect with your friends socially and hang out. What we are doing is making sure that that happens really well on mobile.”

Due in large part to the widespread adoption of advanced mobile devices and the power of 4G and 5G networks, the U.S. mobile gaming market is expected to total $100.54 billion this year and grow at a compound annual rate of 10.39% through 2029, according to a recent report from Mordor Intelligence.

“Improved hardware in mobile devices has enabled richer and more immersive gaming experiences,” the report concluded.

Independent gaming companies have embraced this trend, leveraging the appeal of social media for a range of related functions, including game development, marketing, and interpersonal connectivity. Many of these games, such as the animated, multiplayer strategy game Among Us, have shunned the complex environments of so-called “AAA” games that feature realistic battle scenarios and have instead focused on more simplistic, relaxing game environments that target casual Gen Y players.

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Rune combines voice chat with multiplayer gaming to amplify ‘the social experience’

Guruprasad points to the popularity of Among Us as contributing to his company’s decision to rethink Rune’s go-to-market strategy.

Previously, Rune had provided a social platform where players on other companies’ highly produced, hyperrealistic games could chat while they were battling aliens, monsters, and other in-game enemies. Several months ago, however, the company shifted to what it calls Rune 2.0 — an app that hosts games and social conversation simultaneously.

“We realized we really needed a single app where you had both the social and the games seamlessly running in one place,” Guruprasad said.

Guruprasad and his partner, Co-founder Bjarke Felbo, decided to shift gears and focus on offering a platform for relatively simple, fun games where people — especially young players — can compete and collaborate while they socialize with each other.

“When people are hanging out, they don’t mind too much what they’re playing,” Guruprasad said. “They’ll play the flavor of the month game, and they’ll jump from game to game. The part that stays constant is the group of friends and the social experience. That’s what drove us in this direction.”

The transition to hosting both games and chat meant that Rune now had a new audience that it needed to reach — game developers. Previously, the company had only to focus on providing a platform for players of other games, but with the transition to the new business model, the company suddenly needed to recruit developers to create games exclusively for Rune. As a result, Rune has been “super engaged” with its developer community, Guruprasad said.

“We’re a small team — there’s about 10 of us — and all of us respond to developers to help them build pieces of their game,” he said.

The team at Rune discovered that developers were more than happy to create multiplayer games — which are more complex than single-player games such as Angry Birds or Candy Crush — once the company created a system that took away many of the challenges involved in doing so.

“We weren’t sure if they would like that, or if they would want more control over how they made their game, but it turns they are even happier if we can take away more and more of their problems,” Guruprasad said. “We’ve taken multiplayer game development from something that takes months to something that takes less than a week.”

Games on the app include a wide variety of simple, colorfully animated diversions, from basic chess and checkers to more whimsical creations such as Cathead Defense, in which players team up to battle flying, disembodied cartoon cat heads.

The company recently raised $8 million in financing, led by Makers Fund and byFounders. Guruprasad said the funding would help finance the transition to the new model as it works on building a revenue-generating business model. The company has not yet begun game monetization, which typically includes in-game purchases and so-called “social” purchases, such as for the ability to use certain avatars.

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‘Among Us’ breaks new ground on mobile: ‘Social media helped us gain a lot of organic reach—friends telling friends, influencers telling their audience’

As video games became more and more sophisticated throughout the last several years, boasting realistic imagery and movie-like quality, a company called Innersloth countered that trend with the 2018 release of Among Us, a simple, multiplayer, animated strategy game that relied heavily on social connectivity and became a sensation on streaming platform Twitch. It soon spawned discussion groups on Reddit and thousands of postings on YouTube and other platforms celebrating the game’s unique look and characters.

Among Us took flight in 2020 amid the pandemic, when YouTube reported that videos about the game were viewed 4 billion times in September alone. The #AmongUs hashtag on TikTok has more than 5.8 million posts, such as this one from a Rubik’s Cube enthusiast.

Among Us players, who number up to 15 in each game, try to complete a series of tasks in various outer space settings as they simultaneously work to figure out who among them is seeking to sabotage their mission. The saboteurs, meanwhile, employ various tricks to thwart the mission and kill off the other crew members. The game requires that players socialize via chat, as they repeatedly work together to eject the Imposters in their midst.

The simplicity and distinct appearance of the game and its colorful, armless characters — known as either Crewmates or Imposters — helped give the game a quirky appeal that offers an alternative to typical battle-game scenarios.

“Social media helped us gain a lot of organic reach—friends telling friends, influencers telling their audience, and in general keeping us top of mind,” Victoria Tran, a spokesperson for Innersloth, told CO—.

The company has embraced the social media popularity of Among Us with an organic, content-focused strategy, she said.

“We are a part of the community we participate in, have fun with them, and dedicate time and resources to it,” Tran said. “We are a small team, so we've optimized our working process so that community management and art can work together to create memorable silly moments, whether that’s on the fly or planned.”

An example of such community engagement is the “see Among Us everywhere” meme, in which Among Us fans post images of everyday items — from garbage cans to chicken nuggets — that remind them of the distinct shape of the characters in the game, which are basically just legs and an egg-shaped head with a rectangular visor for eyes.

Fan reactions to the game on social media can also help developers fine-tune the experience for players, the spokesperson said.

“People love sharing their experiences — whether that’s in a game or real life,” Tran said. “Social media provides that gateway into connecting with others over similar interests. Now more than ever it's popular to share what kinds of games you're playing, the achievements you've made, and bond with others over a shared adventure.”

Loftia brings a ‘cozy’ approach to MMO gaming

Like Innersloth and Rune, independent game developer Qloud Games is also placing social connectivity front and center in its innovative approach to game creation.

The company is developing Loftia, which it describes as a “cozy” game, a feel-good animated adventure in a fantasy world with cuddly characters and a positive message. The MMO (massively multiplayer online) game seeks to carve out a new niche as a simple, enjoyable adventure where players can interact in a world where humans coexist with nature. It features such sustainability-themed activities as building wind turbines and growing crops in vertical farms.

Unlike better-known MMO games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy that are considered “AAA” caliber, Loftia aims for an audience less interested in intense action and competition and more interested in chatting and working together to build a world in the game’s universe.

The charm of the game — which the development team describes as being inspired by games such as Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing — is derived from its wholesome nature, personal creativity, and “immersive and relaxing” world that is well-suited to multiplayer activities, according to the Loftia team.

In a statement on its website, the company said it can manage the more complex multiplayer activities of an MMO effectively because it won’t have to manage the complexity of coordinating battles between scores of players and monsters in real time, as is the case with the AAA games. In addition, it will also host players on different servers as they embark on adventures on the various “sky islands” within the Loftia world.

“We want to provide a place where you can meet new people, collaborate with the community to change the in-game world, and watch it grow over time,” the Loftia team said.

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