If there’s been one shining star on social network applications platforms, it’s been casual gaming: Zynga is rumored to be making an absolute killing with their games, and Mochi Media’s unified Flash payment platform has shown some very impressive early results. Now hi5, one of the world’s most popular social networks, is looking to capitalize on the trend. On Wednesday, the social network will be launching a totally revamped site that places a much stronger emphasis on games and virtual currency, along with a new avatar system. The site won’t go live for everyone for a few days, but you can check it out now at http://new.hi5.com.
The new hi5 still retains many of the same key features you’ll find on any social network — your profile consists of a photo or avatar, you can browse through your friends, and so on. But there’s clearly a much bigger emphasis on the site’s games and virtual currency (called ‘Coins’) than there was in the past. In the old design, the Games link was buried in the header, which also included links to Photos, Messages, Applications, and more. Now Games and Coins are both featured just as prominently as the link to your Profile and Friends. If it isn’t the first thing people will click on, it’s probably the second.
Alongside the new emphasis on gaming, hi5 is launching an avatar system called hi5 Stars, which features Flash-based animated 3D avatars (no download required). You’ll be able to change the appearance and movements of these to fit your current status, which anyone will see when they visit you profile. There really isn’t much you can do with them at this point, but down the line hi5 will be using these as part of its social entertainment experience, in much the same way Nintendo has done with the Wii’s Mii system, we’re told. This means that you will likely be able to use your avatar in some games, which is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Hi5 is not especially popular in the United States compared to Facebook, but it’s quite popular abroad, with over 60 million monthly unique visitors (only 10% of which come from the US). This would normally pose a challenge to developers who would have to figure out how to engage in transactions with users around the world, but hi5 has that taken care of. The social network has set up 60 different payment systems for users worldwide, all of which convert to hi5 Coins. And aside from the benefits of making international payments relatively painless, virtual currencies tend to lead to more impulse buying (it’s much easier to toss away a few Coins than a few dollars). hi5 takes a 50/50 rev share of any money spent in a game.
Even before the redesign hi5 games section has been doing very well. It only launched in February and already accounts for around 1/3 of the site ’s traffic, and direct user payments through the game already account for 15% of hi5’s revenue. Expect to see that number jump substantially over the next few months.
Gaming as well as virtual gifts are probably the best sources of generating revenue for social networking sites. Advertising click-through stats suck on Facebook and others.
Game for everyday….
I gotta 502 error jumping from TC. Boo!!
Onlywire just added hi5 as one of their social networks so I joined up for some site promotion. The site looks really nice.
It may bring good revenue but I think we will see a steep decline in the membership of hi5.
Personally when http://www.netlog.com went into virtual currency and I was not allowed to look at profiles without paying with virtual coins I stopped going.
The only reason I have an account on hi5 was to meet cute Chinese girls several years back. But I was an early adopter and hi5 was to new to have a decent list of profiles.
HI5 really changed there strategy moving towards social Gaming which in the last few months have really picked up. I believe this is a smart move cause large number of user on facebook participate actively in playing social games on a daily bases.
Virtual currency is still a virtual risk…smart move if they don’t get trapped in the same mess Zynga is getting into with the gov’t… read they are under investigation…any update to that?
Looks more like a online gaming site than social networking site! I don’t get virtual currency either. You need to pay to get virtual coins so why it is called virtual? Maybe because you can’t spend it anywhere else!
I think its a ballsy move but one which they no doubt saw they had to take. Every social network realises that the FB behemoth will arrive and crush them, no matter what market they hide in, so may as well convert the users into something else before they leave. Nothing worse than a Zombie company, so good luck to them for trying something different while they still can.
Heh, sounds like Vaughn Gaming’s “VCoins”
Buuuuaaaaa…Hi5 is a shit…MySpace Lives!!!
If they focus on making money from selling credits, i think it will be a bad move.
Hmm… no Restaurant City/Farmtown ripoff, probably not gonna work.
cool, I like it there, good for them virtual cash too!
i lik me
stupeds mada furkers….. I dont like the new hi5..
i want the old hi5 because is more cool.. but the new one is orrible..,,
it is possible go back to the old hi5? the new is very bad , i dont like or… we dont like. and how he says “If they focus on making money from selling credits, i think it will be a bad move.” its true… hi5 it’s a way to make money? in the start was to fun now it’s for spend money? really bad move … sorry my english!