Rumor Control: Facebook NOT entering the Chinese games market

Here at Games.com -- The Blog! we hear a lot of crazy rumors that we don't report on -- rumors so crazy that if you heard them, you would say, "Wow, that's really crazy." One such rumor hit the interwebs yesterday, courtesy of a Marbridge Daily post alleging that Facebook was looking to storm the Chinese market -- not as a social network provider, but as a game developer. The rumor post cited "an industry source" who said Facebook was recruiting a manager for a (rumored) Beijing office that would produce "high quality social games for the Western market."

While it seems likely that Facebook would be interested in taking a more active role in game development (and the virtual currency sales it generates), a few things just didn't make sense about this rumor. For one, why would Facebook open an office in China, where the service is currently blocked. For another, why would they try to create games for the Western market from a Chinese office? Wouldn't an American office be better positioned to create games for an American audience?

Well, it turns out our skepticism was right. A follow-up post on Marbridge Daily today explains that the rumor "may have been spawned from misinterpretation by Chinese media of a recent job posting from an unrelated social game developer." Apparently, U.S.-based Watercooler Games was looking for a manager for a new Beijing office devoted to "development of social games for Facebook." That means Facebook the platform, obviously, but someone must have thought it meant Facebook the company.

And that, dear friends, it how rumors get started.