Facebook platform developers could see $500M in revenue this year. A growing number of game makers on Facebook are making money from virtual goods — from poker chips to virtual clothes that users can buy or earn while playing gaming applications with their friends on Facebook. The combined ecosystem of these game developers and other companies supplying services to them could generate half a billion dollars in revenue in 2009. That’s significant, considering third-party applications on Facebook have been viewed as gimmicks making no significant revenue. Facebook itself appears headed toward the $500 million revenue mark this year, mostly through advertising. Before diving into some of the platform revenue numbers, lets be clear: These numbers are very hard to come by.
The virtual goods ecosystem on Facebook To understand what is happening on Facebook’s platform today, one has to understand how the ecosystem works. The points concept is where the revenue part comes in for most games. Once a game gets enough users, these small payments and offers add up. A Bit Lucky, Inc. - The New Generation of Social Games. Increase Engagement & Monetize Your Social Games With BringIt. Baking Life on Facebook (9) RockYou Raises A Whopper – $50 Million In Venture Capital. Social Network application developer and advertising platform RockYou has raised a whopping $50 million in a Series D round of financing from existing investor Softbank, we’ve confirmed with the company.
RockYou, which launched in November 2005, has now raised $119 million in capital and has revenues rumored in the $30 million to $40 million/year range. The company continues to develop and acquire social networking applications, but a big part of their business is serving advertising to their own as well as third party apps. And they are now taking a deep dive into the rather sensitive area of in-game offers. Last week the company spoke publicly about Scamville, saying that they would only offer Facebook compliant offers. When asked what types of offers that includes, the company said they’re looking at paying users to watch and respond to videos (like clips from upcoming movies), and getting them engaged with nonprofit groups like ASPCA and UNICEF.