Facebook Messenger could be the next platform where you could find the next ‘Big Thing’ when games are talked about. The social media company is said to be in talks with game developers to create games for its mobile Messenger product. a move that might jump-start the revenue the company generates from non-advertising sources.
News site The Information first reported about the development and the talks are at an early stage with no clarity as to how is that they are going to execute them on Messenger, which is popular among a growing number of mobile users. The gaming as an engagement among the users could boost the stickiness on the messenger and strengthen company’s gaming business, which has recently been hit by the declining number of desktop computer users.
Facebook generates most of its non-advertising revenue from games, where people can use Facebook’s Payments infrastructure to purchase virtual and digital goods. Facebook charges developers a fee for those sales.
The ‘Payments and other fees’ segment has seen a drop of 5 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2015. Much of that revenue is generated from games played on desktop computers, whose usage Facebook expects to drop, resulting in a fall of its payments business, the company has said in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Back in March, Facebook started allowing third party apps, but apps around photos and images – be it GIFs, stickers, or drawings into the chats. Facebook Messenger is now a platform for other developers’ apps, whose functionalities can be incorporated into chats.
Adding games, and ones that offer digital goods, could draw more users to Messenger and grow Facebook’s fees revenue.