Analyst: Facebook Will See $470M Revenue From Credits In 2011

A new report by market research firm eMarketer has found that behemoth social network Facebook will make around $470 million of revenue in Facebook Credits during 2011. This figure is more than three times as much compared to the $140 million in revenue taken in 2010. In 2009, the company saw $39 million in revenue from Facebook Credits. Credits now make up 11 percent of Facebook's total revenue, compared to 7 percent in 2010 and 5 percent in 2009. Earlier this year, Facebook switched its Facebook Credits system so that it was mandatory for developers to use Credits as part of monetizing Facebook games. Talking to financial news site Venturebeat, eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson explained, "On July 1, Facebook began requiring social game developers to use credits as their form of payment on Facebook, and Facebook takes a 30 percent cut of all Credits purchases." "Given the strong participation in social games among Facebook users, and their strong interest in making virtual goods purchases in those games, we believe that Credits is gaining real traction at Facebook." Back in April, Electronic Arts' social game subsidiary Playfish abandoned its cross-game Playfish Cash system in favor of individual game currencies purchasable with Facebook Credits.