Game developers give Facebook Credits mixed marks

Now that Facebook game developers have been testing out Facebook Credits in their games fora whilenow, its about time we found out what those developers thought of the new payment option for in-game items. A recent story in the Wall Street Journal does just that, and the verdict on the Credits so far seems decidedly mixed.

On one side, you have developers like Gonzo Games' Robert Van Gool, who bristle at the idea of paying a 30% fee to Facebook for the privilege of selling items using their currency. "Thirty cents off of every dollar adds up," Van Gool told the Journal. Others quoted in the piece don't like how the portability of Credits could encourage players to easily take their money to other games.

On the other side, there are some developers who've seen the Credits greatly increase their in-game purchase rates. Crowdstar CEO Peter Relan said his company's item sales have doubled since the Credits were introduced, and Arkadium's Kenny Rosenblatt and Jessica Rovell said 10% of their users have bought items with Credits, more than triple the rate for any other payment method. "With Facebook Credits, when someone wants to buy on an impulse, they can do it immediately," Rosenblatt said. "They don't have to leave Facebook to go fill out a form on another site."

Like them or not, Facebook Credits seem like they're going to be an increasingly important part of Facebook games going forward. Do you use Facebook Credits to buy in-game items? If so, what do you think of them?