Facebook eyes making console-type games

Apparently not satisfied with the limited range of its present lineup of games, Facebook is looking at expanding its offerings to include first-person shooting games and simulators. Facebook’s global head of game partnerships Sean Ryan said he wants the site to offer a wide range of options like those found on consoles like the Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. “If you look at the breadth of games on the console – Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo – you see hundreds of types of games, from sports to core shooters to family games and social games. Then you look at our platform… and we don’t yet have that type of breadth," he said in an interview on computer-video game site MCV. He said Facebook’s aim is to have more people playing on Facebook or via games on consoles using the Social Graph. The MCV article noted Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony use Facebook’s Social Graph API for 360, PS3 and DS to let gamers post messages or pictures to their Facebook newsfeeds. Ryan said Facebook wants to get a range of of sophisticated games on its platform and get high-end games to reach bigger audiences. “There is no question the hours spent on Facebook have to come from somewhere and that may mean eating into other traditional gaming areas," he said. He also noted game publishers like Take-Two, EA and even Activision are now talking about the move to social. “In the last 20 years we have seen the expansion of the game business from what used to be young boys to young men, to now everybody; women and men of all ages. Gaming is no longer seen as something you do by yourself," he said. “Everybody games, just at different levels. What Facebook does through social games, as Apple and Google have done in mobile, is broadening the types of users who play games. So is this a challenge for the traditional companies? It’s an opportunity," he added. — TJD, GMA News