Social game ratings come back as Facebook seeks more paying players

Facebook wants more gamers--that's a given. But it looks like the company is willing to experiment to make that happen. The company recently updated its network, bringing back the long-dead ratings system to its Facebook games. This is just one among several changes to the way Facebook will try to attract more players, but there are a few catches.

According to Inside Facebook, players can't simply access a section through which they rate the games, but rather the network now randomly asks players to rate the app or game while using it, and it will always ask this question when a player quits the game. Inside Facebook argues that the latter could produce inaccurate ratings, but we say it levels the playing field somewhat.

These star ratings now appear underneath games in discovery modules or on the hover cards that appear when users mouse over a given game's name inside of a News Feed post. The change is a move by Facebook to rope in more paying players, one of the cornerstones of the company's revenue strategy at this point. Between this change and the company's recent Facebook Credit promotion, it's clear that Facebook is on the prowl for more payers--ahem, players.

[Image Credit: Inside Facebook]

Do you think small tweaks like this will cause the Facebook gaming audience to grow? What will it take for more social gamers to be born? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.