Up until fairly recently, many predicted that Facebook was the future of video games. Well, that may no longer be the case, according to a new study.
MCV reports that IHS Screen Digest Media Research found that from the end of 2010 through 2011, gaming on social media declined 50 percent. IHS senior analyst Steve Bailey states: "Facebook rocketed to prominence as a gaming platform in 2009 and 2010. However, with equal speed, the market then settled into a state of maturity in 2011, with conditions becoming markedly more challenging for game operators."
Various factors were cited as the cause for such a decline. There are less new players on Facebook, due to less new Facebook members -- most everyone who's going to join is already there. What's more, the social gaming boom that saw its rise on Facebook is now elsewhere, such as smart phones, which translates to other platforms that Facebook games now complete with.
IHS also believes that the overall popularity of casual games is on the wane, and gamers in that space are now looking for tougher, more skill-based challenges. The study does, however, note: "Undoubtedly, Facebook will remain a powerful player within the gaming landscape, but it’s now part of an emerging multichannel, cross-platform approach to connected gaming."
Even though Facebook gaming is no longer the hottest thing, it isn't completely vanishing into thin air either. At least not yet.
Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot, and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode, and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via Twitter, or his personal home-base, FORT90.com.
