Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his three roommates, and was initially limited to Harvard st
udents only. From there it slowly opened up to other colleges and eventually high schools as well. From the humble beginnings to being the most used social networking site in the world, Facebook has seen its user base constantly rise and it also a part of Fortune 500 companies.
Facebook is successful as it has constantly evolved and improved, and has made unique additions to the system which has led to new levels of interaction and immersion for the user. It has provided a platform for businesses to communicate directly with consumers. It has a robust system whereby different apps and games are also available to users games have developed new revenue streams for companies to tap in to.
Gaming on Facebook
Gaming started at a very casual level on Facebook. One of the earliest games on Facebook was a “Friend Game”. It quizzed you on information relation to your friends and was the start of may similarly-themed games.
From those simple beginnings, Facebook games continued to grow and improve. There were games based on quizzes, questionnaires etcetera, which were quite easy to play. Eventually games started to became more sophisticated with the introduction of heavier and more enhanced graphics. They provided new levels of interactivity and personalization. Games such as Mafia and Farmvilla were highly successful and were vital in their interactivity and immersion.
The defining factors in the popularity and the success of these games have been the model that they have been built on. These games are simple and easy o play, they involve your friends in one way or another, and emphasise on leveling up, that is, the more you play the more you can access/grow within the game. The more you can access within the game the more you can improve your character, your farm, your weapon etcetera.
More importantly, Facebook games have popularized the Free to Play model (F2P). These games are free to play, but to get promoted in the game, you either need to put in loads of playing hours, badger your friends to join in some way, or perform micro transactions. These transactions use real world currency in order to open up new opportunities within the game world and are useful if you don’t want to work too hard for progress.
This concept has now become popular due to Facebook games, and a similar model is being applied to major game franchises too. Micro transactions have been a game changer and is the reason there are a lot of games being developed for Facebook and mobiles.
With a large variety of games already available and more on the way, with it making business sense for developers, Facebook gaming is set to grow exponentially in coming years.
More importantly, Facebook games have popularized the Free to Play model (F2P). These games are free to play, but to get promoted in the game, you either need to put in loads of playing hours, badger your friends to join in some way, or perform micro transactions. These transactions use real world currency in order to open up new opportunities within the game world and are useful if you don’t want to work too hard for progress.
This concept has now become popular due to Facebook games, and a similar model is being applied to major game franchises too. Micro transactions have been a game changer and is the reason there are a lot of games being developed for Facebook and mobiles.
The Future
Games on Facebook will only grow bigger and better and will give players a larger variety of genres o choose from. There are games that are branching out of Facebook, with users having the option to log in through Facebook to pla-y on their specialist game sites.With a large variety of games already available and more on the way, with it making business sense for developers, Facebook gaming is set to grow exponentially in coming years.
