The ad service, called New Payer Promotions, was first launched in February to help developers generate revenue through the users who play their games.

Players making a first time purchase on Facebook with their credit card or PayPal account will be shown such an offer. The offers will be sponsored by Facebook. Early results indicate that about 20% of those who purchase such offers return for more within a month. That is a good sign, as it predicts that the feature is very likely to be popular among users.

Developers will now be able to place offers in their games by making use of a new unit called DealSpot. This unit will be seen only by those users who are eligible for it. In other words, only those who have never purchased such an offer before will see it. Those who have made such a purchase in the past will not be shown the offer again.

An eligible user will see an in-game icon that promotes the offer. When the customer clicks on the icon, the offer overlay is seen. By paying $1, the gamer will be offered Facebook credits worth $1 and an additional $4 worth of the developer’s in-app currency.

New payer promotion on Facebook

Developers who already have DealSpot running in their games can make use of the New Payer Promotion directly. Developers who do not already have DealSpot running should load it. Facebook recommends that developers offer in-app currency in order to make the most of this feature. If a developer does not have an in-app currency, the user will be able to redeem the $4 in Facebook Credits.

According to Juniper’s forecast, the total end-user mobile games revenue will reach $18.3 billion by 2016.

The revenue that is expected to be generated has been broken up into various categories to get a better idea of the capacity of revenue generation. The categories are downloads to tablets, downloads to smartphones, downloads to feature phones in-game purchases on smart phones and in-game purchases on tablets.

Total mobile end-user games revenues predicted for 2016. Source: Juniper Research

Downloads to smartphones, are likely to have the lion’s share of the revenue generated, followed by downloads to tablets and in-game purchases on smartphones, both of which are expected to have nearly equal share of the revenue.

In contrast, the revenue generated from downloads to feature phones and in-game purchases on tablets will be much smaller.

Currently, in-game purchases, which are a small fraction of the revenue generated, account for about $2.1 billion worldwide, and are expected to reach $4.8 billion by 2016.

In 2009, the total revenue generated by mobile games was $6 billion, and by 2015 this figure is expected to cross $11 billion.

Of late, it has become the norm to offer games for free initially, in order to gain popularity and to get users hooked onto it. Later, additional extra gaming levels and game-play items are made available for purchase.

The report forecasts that the number of users downloading games through off-store and in-store means will rise significantly, thus adding to the total revenue through the pay-per-download and in-game purchase services. Mobile advertising spend is also set to increase substantially.

One of the main challenges that developers face today is that of discoverability. In other words, the game should be able to catch the attention of the user, given that there are thousands of apps and games now available on the iPhone and Android mobile app market places, all of which compete with each other.

This is a vicious cycle, in which a game that is downloaded frequently becomes prominent, but in order to be downloaded frequently, the game has to be prominent in the first place. Since only a few games are able to do this, most of the games usually remain obscure, and therefore clock very few downloads.

Another important feature guiding the growth of this market is the development of new handsets with modern technology that improves the mobile game experience.

Though the information has not been confirmed by Google itself, TechCrunch claims to have checked with several sources that Google has indeed invested between $100 – 200 million in Zynga.

The deal which is believed to have gone through about a month ago, is likely to be followed by a strategic partnership between the two companies.

The investment has been made by Google as they are believed to be in the process of launching Google Games by the end of the year.

The partnership with Zynga will not only allow Google to have a good support for building up their social games, but will also indirectly help to attract more users to their social site through the games. If available statistics are to be believed, about 155 of Facebook users play FarmVille daily.

Zynga is known to have played a similar role, to establish Facebook as a leading social network in the past.

If Google is able to replace PayPal, with Google Checkout as the main mode of payment for Zynga games, that will be an additional benefit to them.

In the mean time, Zynga has been doing pretty well for itself. They have raised $500 million in the last year, and their revenue for the first half of this year is $350 million.

Facebook on their part will have to remain on their toes, if they do not wish to lose their top ranking in the social network market. They have also recently signed a 5 year distribution deal with Zynga, which may not seem very prudent now.

Earlier games on twitter have required users to answer various questions or solve mathematical problems in less than 140 characters. There has, however, not been much of self-promotion or leveraging done through these games so far.

Terminator Salvation from Sony Pictures, which is due to be released on May 21, has now launched a game on Twitter, called Resistance2018. To play this game, Twitter users have to help out in the fight between Skynet and the Terminators, and they will be awarded points for each successful move they make.

Needless to say, if the game catches the fancy of the public it would be a great promotional move for the movie.

To play the game users have to follow Terminator Salvation on their relatively bland Twitter page:

@resistance2018

Users must then log in with their Twitter ID on 2018blog.com and look out for Tweets from@resistance2018. When they receive a tweet, they have to reply through @replies with hash tags to @resistance2018 or RT through the blog. Twitter will then send them direct messages with updates on points earned. The higher the number of points a user scores, the more chance he has of joining special squadrons.

Playing this game will entail a certain degree of engagement and concentration from the user, unlike previous Twitter games that could be played quite casually.

This is certainly a new means for advertisers and marketers to promote their products in the future, rather than the passive and traditional method of displaying banner ads, and when successful, it will hold the user’s attention completely.

This could also turn out to be a novel way for Twitter to generate some revenue, though Pamela Godwin-Austen, the spokesperson for Sony has denied that there has been any monetary transaction between the companies.

www.google.com/ads/games

In February 2007, Google acquired AdScape Media for a sum of $23 million, which will now be put to use for this latest venture called AdSense For Games.

During the beta phase, Google will concentrate on different ways of placing the ads in the games. The test will incorporate video ads, as well as text and image ads into online games.

To start with, Google will work with PlayFish, Mochi Media, Demand Media and Komani. The games will first be placed in Frogger and Dance Dance Revolution. Companies like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sprint and eSurance have already signed up to promote their brands via AdSense for Games.

Google is not the first company to incorporate advertising in games, and will have to compete with others like Double Fusion, IGA, and Microsoft’s Massive. Google’s entry into in-game advertising confirms that this market has huge untapped potential. Speaking to CNet, Jonathan Epstein, CEO of Double Fusion, said, “Google does not enter into markets that don’t have billion dollar-plus potential for them.”

Christian Oestlien, the senior product manager of AdSense for Games, explains that Google will establish a presence in this market with the help of their vast network of advertiser partners and effective placement of print, image and flash-based ads.

The success of Google’s venture will depend largely on their ability to integrate the ads appropriately into the games. If the ads are placed in a relevant and non-obtrusive manner, they will be appreciated. Otherwise, users may show their displeasure. Results would also depend on how well users interact with the ads, especially for click-through ads.

While pessimists may also wonder, if this is the right time to invest in a new advertising medium, given the insecurities in the current financial markets, many believe that gaming is a pretty resilient industry and game players tend not to let economic worries stop them from playing.

EA hope to commercialise this game through advertising and micro payments. This is the first attempt by a major PC / PS2 / Xbox games retailer to make forays into the world of wholly ad-funded revenue generation in the West. This is probably also an attempt from EA to improve its image on Wall Street and make up for losses incurred by the company in 2007 as against the profits shown in 2006.

A Fifa game from EA has been available for free in South Korea. This program has fared very well in that test market and is reported to be earning more than $1 million a month through in-game sales.

“Online gaming has a massive audience,” said EA’s Gerhard Florin, in a statement. “People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to North America and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play.”

These are baby steps by the video games industry in the field of digital distribution. It is hoped that this new model will do well and EA may then apply it to several other franchises. Ben Cousins, senior producer at DICE, creators of Battlefield Heroes, told BBC that the idea was to explore new revenue models and make the game more accessible. He expects that 95% of people who play the game will not spend any money on it.

The game will be available for download in the USA and Europe from:

http://www.battlefield-heroes.com/