MySpace turns to videogames for recovery

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 24 Jul 2009 at 10:45

MySpace is turning to videogames, as it looks to keep touch with Facebook.

News Corp digital head Jonathan Miller admitted the company was hoping a new emphasis on using MySpace as a videogame platform could spur an uptake in users.

At the Fortune Brainstorm: TECH conference Miller said he saw opportunities to make MySpace an attractive place to launch videogames, and suggested game developers could use its user data to better develop games.

"None of the traditional media conglomerates are also significant video game players, so to speak, and I think that that's the missing piece of the equation, particularly when you see how much time is spent playing games online," Miller said.

"If you look at the big activities online, games right now is number three," he said. "Communications, search, games. So it's clearly going to be a major focus."

A focus on videogames could help MySpace revitalise itself and better compete against Facebook, which recently surpassed 200 million active users and has vaulted ahead of MySpace.

Facebook had more than 307 million unique visitors in April, while MySpace had less than 125 million, according to comScore.

At the conference, Miller was asked during an on-stage session to talk about News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch's recent assessment that MySpace should become an "entertainment portal".

"You must focus, and in our case we are focusing on music, games, video, things like that," Miller said.