Facebook to hire gaming manager

The giant social networking website Facebook has underlined the importance it places on social gaming by creating a management post titled ‘Head of Games Partnerships’.
The appointee will be responsible for developing and enhancing relationships with games publishers and development studios.
A company spokesman said this week that over 200 million Facebook users play games such as Zynga’s popular FarmVille each month, demonstrating the huge potential of casual gaming.
The move is being seen by observers as an initiative to improve relations with developers, which became strained after the social networking company cut off its viral notifications channel and pressured developers to adopt official Facebook Credits, allowing Facebook to take a 30 percent cut of revenues.
Reports earlier this month (see previous bulletins) indicate that Google is about to ramp up competition in the sector by introducing an alternaive to Facebook with a particular focus on social gaming. Google recently invested $182 million in casual gaming company Slide, and is said to have pumped up to $200 million into a partnership with Zynga.

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