Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts

Thursday, February 3, 2011

These Facebook Games Are Bigger Than You Think


If you've ever felt like comparing how much money a "traditional" video game makes as opposed to how much a Facebook game makes, check out this chart. It makes for interesting/depressing reading.
Put together by game site IGN, it's very important to note that this isn't hard science. Much of the information depicted is not given out in detail by these publishers, so some of the figures — like the exact revenue for the Facebook games — are put together from market research data.
This means that while the chart will be in the right ballpark as far as these games are concerned, don't go splitting hairs (or putting much stock in the player bases, since one requires a $50 purchase and the other often requires absolutely nothing).


from: kotaku via gizmodo (say that three times fast)


Man Steals $12 Million In Online Cash From Farmville Creators


Man Steals $12 Million In Online Cash From Farmville CreatorsBritish hacker Ashley Mitchell thought it would be a hoot to steal $12 million in online cash from Zynga, the creators of Facebook games like FarmVille and CityVille. And it would have been! If he hadn't been caught.
Mitchell's story reads like a textbook bungled burglary. He hacks into a Zynga server, running popular online card game Zynga Poker, and steals 400 billion of the game's betting chips, which have an official worth of around $12 million.
Only once stolen, they're not worth anywhere near that much. Outside the bounds of the game, on the black market, they're "only" worth $300,000. And Mitchell could only offload a third of them before he was caught.
He's admitted his crimes to a British court and, once convicted, faces "a substantial jail term".
Hacker admits stealing $12million worth of poker chips from US gaming company[Herald Express]
Send an email to the author of this post at plunkett@kotaku.com.
from: kotaku via gizmodo

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Why is this post on this site? Because social network gaming is a multi-million dollar business that is world wide in scope. And because it's funny when stupid criminals get caught doing something brilliant. So here is my question for you: Why couldn't this guy just take all of that skill and ability and develop his own Facebook game or something? Hmmmmm... - Cliff