VentureBeat, By Dean Takahashi: Facebook’s gaming boom has come to an end, according to a report from IHS Screen Digest Media Research. The subject is open to debate and players such as Facebook and Zynga will no doubt dispute this. But IHS Screen Digest has put together an argument that will likely get a lot of attention, as games such as those made by Zynga have driven the growth of the social network. Facebook’s gaming boom has come to an end, according to a report from IHS Screen Digest Media Research. The subject is open to debate. Facebook will no doubt dispute this claim, as will Zynga, whose success as
a gaming company has been dependent on Facebook — and has helped drive the growth of the social network. But IHS Screen Digest has put together an argument that will likely get a lot of attention. IHS Screen Digest says that the total number of users is stagnating, barriers to entry are rising, competition is increasing, and companies are intensifying their fight for consumer mindshare against other social network activities. While the number of Facebook gamers grew dramatically in 2009 and 2010, the number grew little in 2011. In 2010, about 50 percent of Facebook’s users were gamers, but that percentage fell to just 25 percent in 2011. The assessment is a contrast to one offered by analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, who argued yesterday that social games are not a bubble. Monthly active users for Facebook game giant Zynga fell in the fourth quarter to 225 million, from 266 million at the end of the third quarter. (Zynga’s own numbers show a rise, from 230 million in Q3 to 240 million in Q4; IHS says it counts users in a different way). Click Here To Read Full Article At VentureBeat
