Business Solutions

Many people don’t understand or even realize that a lot of web gamers have been buying “virtual goods” for real cash, to be able to advance in their games of choice, and the size of the market has been steadily increasing to a projected $1.6 Billion this year and is project to reach over $3 Billion by 2012.

Because there are so many gamers on Facebook now playing “Farmville” and “Café World,” tech startups are currently in a race to create new methods and processes to purchase virtual goods, and the real challenge is how to make it an easy process for the kids playing these games, along with making the payment process easy through the mobile market.

Games on social networks gained popularity in the U.S. last year including “Pet Society,” “Restaurant City,” and of course the Facebook games, in addition to long time games like “Second Life” and “Everquest.”

The Asian market for virtual goods is much more established and mature, with some game companies there worth several Billion dollars, so it is easy to understand the drive to further establish and grow the virtual goods market in the U.S., and why Facebook, the world’s largest social-networking site is developing and testing its own payments model.

Facebook Games May Lead Payment Startups to $3.6 Billion Market!