Forty-two percent of Internet users played a social media game in the last three months; 26 percent of social game players purchased virtual currency with real money; and in 2011, Facebook earned $470 million in revenue from the sale of Facebook Credits, the platform’s exclusive virtual currency. Indeed, the latest statistics evince the continued growth of social networks and social gaming, particularly as smart phone adoption among U.S. consumers continues to rise. Aside from the expressive aspects, social media has become an important source of casual entertainment, with users playing games on social network platforms ranging from poker and board games to virtual farming and zombie eradication. Within this emerging field, many intellectual property holders and other entities have sought to create their own social games.
This article will discuss social gaming generally and the important considerations and issues of the video game software development process.
