Facebook Credits for Websites
Facebook Credits expand further: outreach to every website, going beyond Facebook Apps; http://eicker.at/FacebookCreditsWeb
Tagged: Facebook Games Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Gerrit Eicker
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Gerrit Eicker
Google Plus Games Launched
Google: Today we’re adding games to Google+. The stream will remain focused on conversations; http://eicker.at/PlusGames
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Gerrit Eicker
Learnings: Games have a higher priority than business (profiles) and have definitely been on the agenda before G+’s launch. They even have a higher priority than usability fixes to the +Stream, +Notifications, +Circles. Well…
Google: “Today we’re adding games to Google+. With the Google+ project, we want to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web. But sharing is about more than just conversations. The experiences we have together are just as important to our relationships. We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life. – [G]iving you control over when you see games, how you play them and with whom you share your experiences. Games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t. … If you’re not interested in games, it’s easy to ignore them. Your stream will remain focused on conversations with the people you care about.”
GigaOM: “The first titles include Angry Birds from Rovio, Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap and most notably Zynga Poker from longtime Facebook game developer Zynga, which is preparing to go public. … The move ratchets up the competition with Facebook and gives Facebook game developers a new opportunity. Some have felt that Facebook has played favorites with Zynga, which is by far the largest developer on Facebook. Now this will give them more leverage in dealing with Facebook and another place to make some money. Google+ won’t have top Zynga titles like Cityville and Farmville because they’re exclusive to Facebook but it does show that Zynga is further branching out apart from Facebook. … I don’t know how big a deal that is, since Facebook has clamped down on some of the game notifications you see. But it’s one way that Google is trying to stand out.”
RWW: “Games are an important feature for a social network that wants to compete with Facebook for users’ attention, not to mention its gaming business. … The battle for game developer attention is likely to be heated. Tricia Duryee reported late last month at All Things D that multiple sources told her Google would try to undercut Facebook by charging developers a lower fee for things like in-app sales. – Mike Swift, a writer at the San Jose Mercury News (Silicon Valley’s paper of record), says that Facebook has already issued a call for a press conference on the topic of gaming tomorrow.”
VB: “Zynga has built its business on social games on Facebook, and it currently has more than 250 million monthly active users, according to AppData. The company has been so successful that it recently filed to go public and raise up to $1 billion, and it made $90 million in income last year. Part of Zynga’s success comes from its ability to promote games virally through notifications – something Google appears to be shying away from.“
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Gerrit Eicker
Google Plus Games
SlashGear: Help pages for Google Plus have officially confirmed the upcoming Games Stream; http://eicker.at/GooglePlusGames
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Gerrit Eicker
SlashGear: “Google’s help pages for Google Plus have officially confirmed the upcoming Games Stream, a place where results from what will presumably be social-style gaming on the new network will be pulled together. ‘If you’re looking for updates shared from games, check out your Games stream’ the help article suggests, though currently the link it mentions leads to a 404 page. … Such an inclusion would be another strike against Facebook, which has made significant strides in monopolizing the social or ‘casual’ gaming market with titles such as Farmville. Google is believed to have covertly invested between $100m and $200m in Farmville developer Zynga back in mid-2010.”
VB: “The Games Stream is apparently a social-style news stream that contains messages related to games that you play on Google’s social network. Google Plus has gained more than 10 million users and 20 million visitors in the last three weeks. However, games are not currently part of the network. … The topic also came up because Zynga revealed in a filing this week that Google was an investor in the company. Zynga makes the most popular games on Facebook. Google Plus might also be used to bring Android game results into a user’s PC-based game stream.”
TNW: “Google Plus Games could be the search giant’s take on Facebook Games and Apple’s Game Center, two of the biggest social gaming portals. – The interesting thing to note is that Google has taken feedback from Facebook users and used it to its advantage, separating notifications for games so that it does not pollute the stream, Many users of the world’s most popular social network have often complained about the lack of filters on games on their Home Feed.”
RWW: “There’s no official word from Google on a launch of a Games feature for Google Plus, but many signs are pointing to a feature that would be quite different from that of Facebook’s. The balancing act for Google Plus will be to have the Games help make the site a destination for people to return regularly while not chasing away those users who find the absence of casual gaming a welcome relief.”
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Gerrit Eicker
Facebook Music
Facebook seems to get serious about music and media after consolidating retailing, news, games; http://eicker.at/FacebookMusic
Gerrit Eicker
Virtual Goods
Inside Virtual Goods: U.S. virtual goods market to hit $2.1 billion in 2011; http://j.mp/b0YtUe
Gerrit Eicker
Games Drive Social Media
Dumenco on social networking: More and more, when you get right down to it, we are just playing; http://j.mp/cdCYnU
Gerrit Eicker
Online Means: Social Media and Gaming
Nielsen study: Social media and gaming account for one quarter of time spent online; http://j.mp/aQUqDU
Gerrit Eicker
Facebook Credits: Soon
Zuckerberg: Facebook Credits will soon role out to the whole network; http://j.mp/99tn5R
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Gerrit Eicker
VB: “New details emerged today on Facebook Credits, a long-awaited virtual currency on the social network that will likely have a lot of impact on how much money is made by Facebook’s ecosystem partners. – The discussion at a session at the f8 developer conference focused on how Facebook Credits can be used as a virtual currency in games, which you play for free but pay for specific virtual items with the virtual currency, which you buy with real money. … Still, this complaint is not stopping the app publishers from trying it out, particularly as a secondary form of currency, in addition to a virtual currency that is unique to a game or app. Almost all of Facebook’s major game companies, as well as some small ones, are trying the credits out. … Facebook wants to launch formally in June and that there are more than 100 apps testing it already. Crowdstar co-founder Jeff Tseng talked about how the test has worked out so well with his company’s games that he has expanded the beta test of Facebook Credits to the company’s top four hit games. … Users can still use a variety of payment methods when buying Facebook Credits. They can use a credit card, PayPal, mobile payments such as Zong, and special advertising offers (via TrialPay, where users can earn credits by purchasing flowers or sign up for a subscription).”
VB: “Zuckerberg: ‘You may not believe me when I say this. We are doing it for developers. But it’s not a revenue opportunity anytime soon. Ads are a very good business. We are doing this for developers. With credits, it becomes easier for people to buy things across apps. Rather than being locked into one app that has their credit card, they can buy in any app. This is a canonical economics example where it makes sense to have a standard and have just one, or a few, and that ends up being better for everyone.‘”
RWW: “When Facebook released their revenue figures in February, the Credits program accounted less than 2% of revenue – only $10 million out of $700 million. The consolidation of virtual transactions on Facebook into one currency means that these figures are likely to change substantially. Liu said today that there were around 800 million unique social gaming experiences on Facebook each month. Clearly there is potential for phenomenal growth in virtual currency – for developers and for Facebook – lies with users who are willing to pay for virtual goods to help them in their social gaming.”
TC: “Other future plans: Facebook will be seeding non-paying users with credits (to help get them in the habit of using them) and will also have a way to seed inactive users in the hopes of getting them to interact with apps again. There are also plans to offer bulk discounting on Credits, which will be paid for using some of the 30% fee that Facebook charges developers to use Credits. There will also be a feature for ‘auto top-up’, which can automatically refill a user’s account with 50 credits whenever they have fewer than five.”
Gerrit Eicker
FarmVille: 50M Players!
FarmVille on Facebook reaches more than 50M players in October (+18M month over month!); http://j.mp/5XwcB
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Gerrit Eicker
TC: “Social gaming startup Zynga is seeing some impressive traction. It now boats 129 million monthly active users across its portfolio of more than 30 games, according to both Inside Facebook’s AppData and Developer Analytics. That’s up from about 50 million three months ago, and 30 million in April.”
Gerrit Eicker 10:57 on 25. October 2011 Permalink |
Facebook: “Facebook Credits for websites – We have begun working with a few developers to test the ability to offer Facebook Credits on websites, with the goal of helping them offer a more unified app experience to users beyond apps on Facebook. One early example is Collapse! Blast on Gamehouse.com. – At this time, we are focused on gathering early developer feedback. We will keep you posted as our tests continue. If you are interested in Facebook Credits for websites should we broaden the test, please sign up here.”
GigaOM: “Facebook isn’t a true PayPal competitor, but it’s taking some steps toward becoming an online payments provider outside of its Facebook properties. The social networking giant has begun testing the use of Facebook Credits on two games, Uno Boost and Collapse! Blast, both available on gaming portal GameHouse. … This could be a big springboard for Facebook to become a major payments player if it aggressively takes its Facebook Credits to other properties on the web. … I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook is eyeing this market. Mobile payments is booming now and expected to become a $670 billion market by 2015. But it starts with small tests like the one with GameHouse. … Hulett said he believes though its early Facebook Credits could be a big driver of revenue for Facebook, similar to how PayPal has become the main engine of growth for eBay. That will still be ways off, but if Facebook plays its cards right and learns important lessons along the way, it might not be a stretch.”
IF: “Facebook’s virtual currency is currently the mandatory payment method for all Facebook games on the web, a payment option for Facebook apps, and became available as a payment option to mobile app developers last week. … If the test does indicate a demand for Credits as a payment option outside of Facebook.com, its unclear whether Facebook would require developers to use its virtual currency exclusively. It could simply make them an additional payment option, the way Credits currently work for Facebook.com apps as well as mobile apps and games. … More users maintaining a balance of Credits also makes Facebook a more lucrative platform for developers. … Facebook Credits for Websites could become a significant revenue source and powerful way to attract developers.”
ATD: “Facebook is now allowing its virtual currency to be used off of its social network, a feature that some game companies are finding valuable as they seek new ways to monetize their own sites. … GameHouse is one of the first to try using Credits off of the network, but there will likely be others following. – Earlier this month, Zynga announced Project Z, its own gaming platform, which will provide a seamless game experience between Facebook and its own Web site. Despite creating a separate game network, as we wrote at the time of the announcement, Facebook’s influence will be everywhere.”
ZDNet: “Facebook takes a 30 percent cut of all revenue earned through Facebook Credits, leaving developers with the remaining 70 percent. It’s not clear how much revenue the company makes from the virtual currency, but it appears to be a growing percentage of its overall revenue. It could be massive if Facebook Credits for websites takes off.“