There is so much Microsoft looks forward to when it comes to Facebook that the giant would do anything to have more stakes in the social network. It already has signed up Zynga to bring its game on MSN live and today rumors of it buying CrowdStar surfaced too. CrowdStar is one of the leading game developers for Facebook games and its most popular game is Happy Aquarium with more than 26 million active users per month.
According to reports, the game alone is valued at over $200 million and no matter how impossible it sounds to digest, it’s quite possible, given that Playfish was acquired by EA for a whopping $400 Million. To me that $200 Million isn’t that surprising a figure given how the game engages users. CrowdStar is currently the fourth most popular game developer on the Facebook platform and is quite big. What I am unsure of is whether Microsoft will keep the developer Facebook centric or shift it over to the Game Portal on MSN.
I personally think that Microsoft would keep it both ways and try to monetize the games on MSN, where it can introduce pricing or ads, etc to crunch in a few bucks. The other important winning factor here is the Xbox Live, which is quite a popular destination for social games. I guess there is a lot that Microsoft can do with its platforms, spread far and wide, the only thing it needs to keep in mind is the fact that it must break away from its very corporate mind frame and learn something from Facebook. I am of the opinion, if it does get along with these games and developers, it might actually make its MSN Portal and the Xbox Live a popular destination for games.
I’D LIKE TO REPORT MY HAPPY AQUARIUM ACCOUNT. MY LEVEL BAR DOES NOT MOVE. SO IT’S NOT LEVELING UP. I’VE BEEN CLEANING MY TANK FROM MORNING TILL MIDNIGHT BUT IT DOESN’T MOVE. I TOO, AM CLEANING ALL MY SISTERS & BABY BOY OF THE HOUSE HERE. YET, THEIRS ARE LEVELING UP. TI’S NOT FAIR AT ALL! NOW, IF THIS CONTINUES, & YOUR END DOES NOT FIX THIS MATTER. THEN I GUESS, ALL OF US WOULD BE FORCE NOT TO PATRONIZE YOUR GAME ANYMORE. THAT GOES WITH OUR FRIENDS ASWELL, ‘CAUSE I’M THE ONE WHO ENCOURAGE THEM TO JOIN YOUR GAME.
HOPING THAT THIS MATTER WOULD BE SETTLED.
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need to fix your crappy game all it does it freeze up cannot move to tank to tank it’s so dragging. cleaning neighbors tank is a joke.
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