Chess and Scrabulous are perhaps the most popular games being fought through Facebook profiles, but more sophisticated contests and environments are now beginning to appear on social networking sites.
At Bebo???s launch of its Open Application Platform last week, an executive from Gaia Online showed how users could step with their avatars into its virtual world from within Bebo to dance in a night club or chat with friends in many other virtual urban environments.
Now PlayFirst has partnered with widget supplier RockYou to distribute its Wedding Dash game on social networks.
???We???re looking to grab a new audience and extend our brand footprint into social networks,??? says Heidi Perry, head of marketing, on the move.
Wedding Dash, a wedding planning contest, has evolved from the San Francisco casual game company???s Diner Dash franchise, which has recorded more than 200m downloads.
Diner Dash has also been benefiting from add-ons to its game, with more than 35 per cent of PlayFirst???s transactions coming from the sale of virtual goods. Players have been paying to dress their waiters, acquire new themed restaurants and accessorise them.
PlayFirst also announced $16.5m in third-round VC funding this week, led by DCM and including original investors Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners. PlayFirst raised $10m in its first two rounds.
DCM seems to have been attracted by PlayFirst???s expansion into virtual goods: ???The company???s initial success with microtransactions this year has demonstrated that PlayFirst is among the smartest, savviest and most visionary companies in casual games,??? said DCM partner Peter Moran.
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