A major reason behind the popularity of Facebook is the galore of apps and games available to users. A major share of these games have features which can only be unlocked by buying them as virtual goods. Until now, users were able to purchase these virtual goods directly from the developers, but a January announcement from Facebook mentioned that all transaction on its platform have to be made using Facebook Credits from July 1, 2011.
The US social gaming revenue is expected to reach $1 billion in 2011, 60 percent of which comes from virtual goods. So, it is not surprising that Facbook wants to tap this revenue source. Facebook earns 30 percent of every credit spent on Facebook. With the recent initiative of Warner Bros. to release its 2008 thriller, The Dark Knight on Facebook, which can be watched against 30 Facebook Credits and Sony’s interest to follow this as well, there is now even greater appeal for people to trade in Facebook Credits.
Mobile-commerce company, Beam, is setting out to make life easier for the 6 million Facebook users from India. The company is in talks with both Facebook and the Reserve Bank of India, to make Facebook Credits available in the country. Facebook Credits is available in fifteen currencies and if INR is approved then it will be the 16th. Beam Chairman and Managing Director Anand Shrivastav said that the company’s user base corresponds to that of Facebook with 60 percent of them being below 25, which is a major reason behind pushing the approval of Facebook Credits.
Earlier, in July 2010, Facebook had partnered with MOL AccessPortal Berhad to bring Facebook Credits to be sold at retail shops across Asia. Needless to say, this deal did not gain much traction in India. Recently, Zynga has also partnered with MOL to bring similar cards. To which WATBlog Editor Rajiv Dingra had written, “Our guess is the uptake of these cards will be low in India as consumers are unlikely to buy to play the game by further buying virtual items.” And I second that.
Santosh Desai, managing director and CEO of Future Brands thinks differently though. According to Desai, “The idea depends on the robustness of the platform. In that sense, Facebook is on a firm ground, and a certain section of people is likely to engage deeply in virtual economy on that platform.” He does mention that this is not going to become a phenomenon in India as it has been in the US, but feels that, “If there’s any environment that may make the virtual economy work, it’s got to be Facebook.”
Will you buy virtual goods to play games on Facebook?
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