Facebook's Games Product Manager Matt Wyndowe has revealed that the social networking giant will soon focus more than ever on games—and not just the ultra-casual click fests that currently infest the platform.
"Games are extremely important to us at Facebook. As early as 2010 we didn't have a dedicated games team and now we have 40-plus people working full-time on games," he told GamesIndustry International.
He pointed out that studios like Kixeye are focusing on "more hardcore" games for "less traditionally mainstream audiences".
"This is a team that is focused on a more hardcore gaming market. They skew way more male than most of our game developers [and develop] high quality games that drive incredible engagement," Wyndowe explained.
"We showed a teaser of the new Kixeye RPG at GDC and it looked incredibly cool. That trend of taking games and game categories that have not traditionally been on Facebook and putting them there is going to be huge this year."
He said he wants to express to developers that Facebook, with 900 million active monthly users, is home to every kind of gamer.
"If you're a game developer and you're targeting some niche of gamers, that group is on Facebook and they're engaged with Facebook," he said.
"If you look at huge franchises that are built like World of Warcraft, Diablo, and those types of games, all of those people are on Facebook and want to engage with their friends in these kinds of things."
Would you spend more time playing games on Facebook if they started offering more hardcore experiences? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter.
via Pocket Gamer
