Gamepro has posted a very interesting article on the rise of Facebook gaming. The author looks at the Facebook platform and the current trend of big name developers to focus a lot of energy on the platform.


Facebook currently has more than 100 million users per month who play games and is second only to Sony Playstation 2 in potential gamer reach (Sony estimates 140 million PS2's in the market). Other things discussed include the low-cost and low-risk of Facebook development and the different styles of games that are being developed for the platform, focusing more on social interaction rather than single player experience.


Micro transactions are touched on briefly including an estimated $300 million in revenue for Zynga this year. Farmville, undoubtedly Facebook's most successful game currently has 70 million players. Compare that to World of Warcraft's 11.5 million and you'll see the potential in Facebook.


Among game's commented on include Brian Reynold's Zynga games, Sid Meier's upcoming Civilization Network, and Soren Johnson's Strategy Station. Parallels and benefits are spelled out for the online social gaming platform as heralding the next biggest revolution in gaming.


An interesting message that comes out of the article is that Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and Soren Johnson (all Civilization lead developers) have moved from traditional hardware platforms to online social gaming. Does this mean that Jon Shafer too will move onto the next greatest gaming revolution after Civ 5?

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