Survey says, 'Two fifths of American gamers play Facebook games'

Of America's 160 million gamers, 41 percent of them are playing social games on Facebook or another social network, Newzoo's 2010 US National Gamers Survey says. As we all know, social games have just emerged in the later half of this decade compared to console games that been around--if we want to get technical here--for nearly 40 years, which maintain 56 percent of gamers' attention. This means that in just a few short years, social games like FarmVille have become more popular than MMOs, PC or Mac games and games on mobile devices, some of which have had decades to garner the same attention, Newzoo says.

But what's going on here isn't that gamers are switching platforms, rather they're taking on more platforms with the average gamer playing on three of the seven major gaming platforms simultaneously (define average), according to Newzoo.
Newzoo's US National Gamers Survey 2010
Of course, there's something to be said of social games' accessibility. In other words, they don't exactly require the amount of dedication or focus that console or traditional PC games do, which definitely contributes to the amount of social gamers. Though, if there is any metric that shows whether social games allow for true dedication, it's cold hard cash.

According to Newzoo, of the 115 million--71 percent of total--gamers who spend money on their favorite hobby, 25 percent spend their hard-earned dough on social games. With over 28.7 million players nationwide paying for in-game currency (at sometimes admittedly unreasonable rates), it's a no-brainer that social games are becoming a mutli-billion dollar industry.

These numbers beg the question: is it only a matter of time, with digital distribution becoming more robust every year (62 percent of console gamers pay for games and digital game content), before all games are free-to-play, taking the microtransaction model that social games seem to have mastered?

Will Facebook's privacy struggle finally end in January 2011?

While that question has yet to have an answer, the Wall Street Journal reports that the social network is currently conducting an investigation on the events that transpired earlier this month with the help of RapLeaf, a data broker who came forward to help Facebook with its mission. More importantly, the Facebook development team is working on a solution for app developers to able to share user data with content partners anonymously--which means no more User IDs being sent out--that will be mandatory by Jan 1. 2011, according to WSJ.

As the investigation continues, the company has suspended fewer than a dozen unnamed app and game developers from the website for six months for selling user information to equally anonymous data brokers. RapLeaf has agreed to delete all of its User ID data, but Facebook, who said the company is simply "the data broker who came forward to work with us on this situation," hasn't implied whether the company was guilty as well, WSJ reports.

Could this be the end of Facebook's struggle for privacy? (Doubtful.) If developers can provide user data anonymously to content partners, which we imagine would amount to mere numbers rather than specific information, our gaming experience could be vastly improved without the worry of being exposed to seedy Internet advertising agencies. We'll see what happens in 2011, but until then take care of yourself when you're out there farming.

Facebook games partnerships gig given to former LiveJournal CEO

Sean Ryan (pictured), who previously worked for News Corp. creating an online games division, is now director of games partnerships at Facebook, VentureBeat reports. The position had been open since August before the decision was finally made to take Ryan on, who also previously served as CEO for Meez, a virtual world for teenagers and LiveJournal, a once popular blogging service before the turn of the decade.

Now, don't get too excited--Facebook will not be making its own games anytime soon if ever. Ryan will purely foster the social network's relationships with developers like Zynga, Playdom, Playfish and more. In other words, it's this guy's job to keep dudes like Zynga CEO Mark Pincus peachy keen.

This is a smart move by Facebook, which hasn't had a stellar track record of catering both to gamers and non-gamers alike. Though, the company did recently create a new development division solely for improving the gaming experience on the site. It seems as if Facebook is finally serious about the half of its users that enjoy these games, which aren't going away anytime soon.

Gaia Interactive and Fever Studio partner to bring "new breed" of games to Facebook

Late last year, Gaia Interactive launched Monster Galaxy on Facebook. This monster collection game was influenced heavily by titles like Pokemon, and came with enough charming, colorful graphics and gameplay to make players want to catch them all. The game did so well that it peaked at over 19 million monthly active users, and now currently sits at a very respectable 14.9 million players.

Hoping to continue in this success with future games, Gaia Interactive has announced a new partnership with South Korean social game developer Fever Studio, that will see the companies bringing a localized version of "Everytown" to Facebook. Everytown is, as of this writing, the most successful game on the top South Korean social networks, so Gaia hopes that Facebook's extensive user base of over 750 million users will adopt it into their gameplay schedules just as regularly. In addition, Gaia and Fever Studio plan to create a "new breed of social games" for the site, using their previous experience with Gaia Online (an incredibly active social community based around dressing up an online avatar, forums, and virtual shopping) to determine what users like and how to bring those elements to Facebook.

"With Monster Galaxy as a catalyst, we aim to integrate high-quality social gaming into everyone's daily lives as Facebook has done for social networking," said Charles Park, co-founder and creative director of Gaia Interactive, via a company press release. "The partnership with Fever Studio will allow us to continue to offer a unique mix of highly-creative storylines, stunning visuals and engaging game mechanics that blur the lines between serious and casual games at an accelerated pace."

Sure, this might all sound like fluff language at this point, but Gaia has been able to continually bring players into Gaia Online since its launch eight years ago, so they've already exhibited a track record in longevity. Facebook, though, is an entirely different monster. Can Gaia Interactive's new partnership with Fever Studio help it tackle the big players like Zynga? We'll keep an eye on things, and will let you know either way.

iWin and Endemol to bring Deal or No Deal and 1 vs 100 to Facebook

After Microsoft removed 1 vs 100 from their Xbox Live service, I was more than a bit upset. I spent countless hours playing with friends and strangers alike from the comfort of my living room, all while trying to one-up my competitors with my pop culture know-how. That ship has sailed however, but the fun may soon be returning, as iWin and Endemol USA have announced a partnership (via company press release) that will bring not only 1 vs 100 back to life, but will bring Deal or No Deal with it, straight to Facebook.

Releasing later this Spring, the Facebook versions of both games will allow you to play with or against other Facebook members, whether they are your friends or strangers. In Deal or No Deal, you'll be playing against the Banker while opening cases and trying to keep the big numbers in play, but you'll also be able to add new "Sweeteners" to the deal, that add bigger valued cases to your particular episode, reveal low valued cases, or save the banker's offers for future use.

For 1 vs 100, you'll be able to invite your friends to join your own Mob and will compete against them in trivia questions across new gameplay modes designed specifically for Facebook. Should you make a mistake, you'll be able to invite your friends to "Right My Wrong," while you'll also be given the chance to climb to the top of the leaderboards by playing "Spin to Win."

We'll make sure to give you additional details about both of these games as we know more. Be on the lookout for both of these games on Facebook this Spring, and on PC this fall.

Will you play 1 vs 100 or Deal or No Deal on Facebook? What sorts of social features do you hope these games bring with them to the table?

Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says

Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.

Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.

Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.

Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.

Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.

It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.