Facebook launched Instant Games back in the late 2016, its own gaming feature where users can play casual games straight within its News Feed and Messenger app.
With an update, the company is giving developers the option to monetize their games on Instant Games through in-app purchases and video ads. The ads will initially roll out as a test to only selected developers and on certain games.
They include those like Blackstorm’s Everwing and FRVR’s Basketball FRVR.
Facebook said that by allowing developers to monetize their products, the social giant is also giving additional tools for measurement and ad optimizations, as well as ways to publish games to its directory more easily.
For Facebook, giving developers this ability is clearly to help developers earn more money from their games, to make even more games. This attempt is seen like a strategy for Facebook to regain its gaming glory back in the days like when games from Zynga were popular on its platform.
After launching HTML5 'Instant Games' with games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Words With Friends Frenzy in November 2016, Facebook is finally giving developers a reason to really build games for its platform.
The move should attract higher-quality games to Facebook because until the announcement, developers could only hope to build an audience and monetize their products.
Previously, the only real way to earn money from games was to indirectly branding them, like how Wonder Woman and Lego Batman Bat Climb did.
Rolling out to iOS and Andoird users. For Android users, Google Play takes its standard 30 percent cut, and the remaining 70 percent goes to the developer. But Facebook will take a cut of the ads shown on its platform that are routed from its Facebook Audience Network.
Facebook is taking this strategy seriously after its Gameroom withered when mobile gaming was dominated by Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.
Facebook sees this as an opportunity to not only give people something to do between conversations, but to also squeeze more dollars out of its billions of users without interrupting the flow.