Jeopardy Rises As Wheel Of Fortune Falls, But Developer Believes In TV Game Show Game Appeal

Jeopardy is a licensed Facebook-based adaptation of the trivia TV show of the same name developed by GSN Digital. Though social games based on TV game shows seem to struggle to connect with an audience, the developer is confident that it can build a competitive experience that draws users on a daily basis. Our data service tracking application, AppData, indicates that Jeopardy's monthly active users climbed to 48,000 since the initial closed beta of 10,000 people which started on March 28. Daily active users sits at 15,000 after an initial spike to a little over 30,000 on April 25, when the game officially launched to the public. The game follows a similar format to the TV show, with players choosing categories and monetary values then answering questions using multiple-choice answers. Possible answers aren't revealed until the player chooses that they are going to answer the question. Players also have the option of either passing on questions they know they won't be able to answer, or using a 2x multiplier for questions they think they definitely know the answer to. Play is limited to a certain number of "episodes" -- players are given an initial "allowance" of episodes to play, then given an additional free episode 8 hours after they have played a previous one. Additional episodes can also be purchased. "The Jeopardy experience falls most closely in line with the other game show executions like our own Wheel Of Fortune, iWin’s Family Feud and Ludia’s The Price Is Right," says Jeremy Shea, VP of GSN Digital's Lab division. "It is a casual game and not an RPG, so there is little in terms of character development, but rather we rely on the inherent competitive nature of these types of game to provide the real value to the player." The social aspect of the game comes from competition against friends as well as the opportunity to ask for assistance on the Final Jeopardy question. If a player wagers more that $1,000 of virtual winnings on the final question, they are able to ask friends to help them. Players can also request and gift excess pass and multiplier boosts as a means of encouraging friends to play more. The game is monetized through the sale of boosts, extra episodes, and Gold, the in-game currency. Facebook Credits can be used to buy each of these things, but Credits are the only available payment for batches of each (e.g. a 50 pack of boosts). As such, players who spend real money on the game will be able to play much more frequently than those who do not. "As the app has only really been out in the market for a few days our product roadmap is mostly focused on testing and enhancing the key user experiences, conversion points, viral mechanics and revenue drivers," says Shea, speaking of the game's future. "We have a set of features in the initial stages of development that we anticipate will drive daily repeat play and will also add a quick and fun game mechanic to the overall experience." Jeopardy's launch comes as the MAU and DAU figures for GSN's previous TV-inspired game, Wheel of Fortune, are both showing steady decline. "A part of our team is still dedicated to ongoing development on the Wheel Of Fortune game, including a large set of enhancements to the experience that will address much of the feedback we have solicited from our players over the past 60 to 90 days," says Shea. "We are also working on two other projects that will remain a secret until later in the year. Both are significantly different than the Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy applications and will add nicely to GSN’s portfolio of titles. Players can expect one of these toward the end of summer and the other before the holiday season." You can follow Jeopardy's progress on Facebook with AppData, our traffic tracking application for social games and developers.

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Jeopardy Rises As Wheel Of Fortune Falls, But Developer Believes In TV Game Show Game Appeal

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