Every month some 235m people – more than a quarter of Facebook’s known user base of 910m people worldwide – play video games on the social network. That’s an 8.4pc increase since the beginning of the year, when 205m people were playing games on Facebook every month.
The new figures, revealed at GDC (Games Developer Conference) Europe in Cologne, Germany, today, also point out that five of the top 10 game developers on Facebook are from European countries, compared to one out of 10 last year, highlighting major opportunities for games developers outside the US.
More than 80pc of Facebook’s global audience is outside the US.
The top 5 developers include Wooga, King.com, Peak Games, Rovio and Social Point.
Wooga, for example, is hiring 100 new employees this year, there are currently 120 open positions at Gamsys, and King.com is hiring two employees per week as it readies itself for an IPO.
Facebook’s new App Center has staying power
“Since the launch of the Facebook App Center, installs of one of our most popular games, Diamond Dash, have increased by about 10pc,” said Sönke Bullerdiek, senior partner engineer, Wooga.
“The App Center is Diamond Dash‘s second-biggest source for new users and also removes some of the barriers in installing an app, as you can start playing straight away rather than having to go through the install process. It’s early days but we’re looking forward to seeing the growth through this channel,” Bullerdiek added.
According to Facebook statistics revealed especially for the GDC, more than 150m people used the App Center in the past month, and it’s driving 2.4 times more installs than the old apps and games dashboard.
People who install an app from the App Center are 35pc more likely than the average user to return to the app the following day, and 17pc are more likely to return within a week.
