Friday, October 26, 2012

251 Million People Are Gaming on Facebook, Up 35 Million From ...

Some 35 million more people are playing games on Facebook today compared to a year ago, the social network has revealed.

In September 2012, 251 million people played games on Facebook, up from 226 million in September of 2011. That growth is attributed primarily to the thing Facebook is best at: social.

?When you sign up for a social game where only one or two of your friends are playing, it?s not as fun as if 10 to 20 of your friends are playing, ? said Facebook?s Alex Shultz, during a private press event Thursday.

Games grow on the network in five ways: via App Center, Notifications, News Feed, Timeline, and games users have Bookmarked to play later on. Seeing in the App Center that five of your friends are playing a game, for example, tends to make you you want to try the game out too.

Across gaming on the platform the social network says it?s starting to see a few key trends emerge, particularly the quality and diversity. Once a place for fairly simple games, games on the platform are getting better and better and more complex.

Those games are getting more diverse ? both in genre, and in the location they come from.

The most popular genre of game being played on Facebook today? Simulation. Second place goes to Arcade and Puzzle games, a category that has seen significant growth over the past year.

Games like SongPop, an online version of Name That Tune, are seeing astounding growth.

?The amount of volume of guessing is extraordinary,? says Shultz. ?When I first saw them I thought there was a bug in the system?

Mobile, now a huge focus for Facebook as a whole, is also a major focus for games. Eight of the top 10 iOS games are currently integrated on Facebook, and games such as SongPop and Words With Friends can be played by gamers on mobile or via Facebook on the web ? opening the door to more and more players.

So where does Facebook see gaming going from here?

Long-term, it sees Strategy games growing on the platform. In the next year there are a host of titles making a splash on the social network, such as the Wizard of Oz and CityVille 2 on Facebook.com, with Hay Day and NFL Pro 2013 on mobile.

Do you play games on Facebook? Where do you see Facebook gaming this time next year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/10/25/facebook-gaming/

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