The Next Step for Facebook Credits

Facebook Credits is a virtual currency that enables fast and easy transactions across games on Facebook. With Facebook Credits, people enter their payment information once and can buy, earn and spend safely across lots of different games. Facebook Credits is currently used in more than 350 applications from 150 developers, representing more than 70% of virtual goods transactions volume on Facebook.

Starting July 1st, we will require all social game developers on the Facebook canvas platform to process payments through Facebook Credits. All developers keep 70% of the revenue from virtual goods transactions using Facebook Credits. Although we are not requiring developers to use Facebook Credits as their sole in-game currency, we are offering special incentives to those who do (see below for details).

Over the next five months, we will work closely with developers to onboard those who are not yet using Facebook Credits, collect feedback to improve the product, continue to innovate on the user experience, and help developers grow their revenue on Facebook. We're excited to give Facebook users the confidence that when they purchase Facebook Credits or receive them as a gift, they can spend them in any game on Facebook.

Over the past six months, we've worked closely with many developers who are using Facebook Credits as their in-game currency to provide a seamless user experience and drive increased ARPU. We are now introducing special incentives for developers who choose this level of integration. These developers will receive early access to product features and premium promotion on Facebook, including featured placement on the Games Dashboard, premium targeting for ads, and access to new co-promotion opportunities.

Many of our partners have seen great results so far with Facebook Credits, including Zynga, Playfish, CrowdStar, Digital Chocolate, PopCap, Arkadium and others. To learn more about their experiences or get started integrating Facebook Credits, please visit http://developers.facebook.com/credits

Deb Liu, a platform marketing manager at Facebook, is excited that Facebook Credits is moving out of beta.