Is PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz beating FarmVille where it counts?

According to PopCap VP of social operations Michael Carpenter, Bejeweled Blitz is the number one game on Facebook--just look at the numbers differently. In an editorial on Gamesindustry.biz, Carpenter goes into detail explaining how the success of social games should be measured. You see, Facebook games' popularity and reach are measured in two ways: monthly active users (MAU) and daily active users (DAU).

We all know CityVille surpassed what many thought might be impossible with over 100 million MAU. Yet just as quickly as it rose to the top, it's now began its descent just like Zynga's FarmVille did nearly one year ago. Carpenter doesn't address this, but rather makes his point that DAU is more important than MAU because, "A high DAU/MAU percentage means that players are actively engaged in a game, often returning several times a day to play," Carpenter said.

While PopCap, like everyone else, is beat by Zynga when it comes to reach, Bejeweled Blitz has a higher DAU/MAU percentage than any of Zynga's games. The DAU/MAU percentage is essentially the percentage of a game's total monthly active users that are also daily active users. An impressive 34 percent of Bejeweled Blitz's monthly players log in daily compared to just 26 percent of FarmVille's 54 million MAU. We're no mathematicians, but isn't 26 percent of 54 million still more than 34 percent of the 11.4 million monthly Bejeweled Blitz players? Yes, it's way more.

It's certainly an impressive feat for PopCap to keep over a third of its audience so dedicated no matter how you slice it. But Carpenter even admitted, "In a nutshell, while Bejeweled Blitz does not have as many players, it's doing a good job of retaining those it has." Most importantly, keep in mind that this is far from the first time the company has downright lashed out at Zynga for whatever reason. Now, cut the bickering and get back to making my dream of Peggle for Facebook come true.

Do you think this is enough evidence to say that Bejeweled Blitz is ahead of the pack? What do you think of PopCap's approach to its position compared to Zynga? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.