Live in a tropical paradise year-round with Beachtown on Facebook

Want to ring in the new year on Facebook by trying out a new game? Hueys Planet hopes that you will give their offering Beachtown a try. The game gives "everyone... their own beach," and you'll be able to customize that beach with a wide assortment of outdoor and water activities (those that you would normally find on a trip to the beach) in a gameplay setup that isn't entirely unlike the Sims.

Your friends will play an integral part in your advancement through Beachtown, as you'll be able to control their actions, and earn experience points and Beach Coins (the game's currency) for not only your actions, but the actions of your friends as well. Luckily, your friends don't actually have to play the game to take part, although it couldn't hurt the experience, if you can actually play with real friends.

Meet us behind the break for a complete look at Beachtown on Facebook.

Bringing in elements of the Sims franchise, each person on your beach is technically computer controlled, but you'll be able to control their actions at any time by simply clicking on them and then dragging them to the area of the beach or water of your choice. Each person has a set of desires, based on activities that they would like to take part in, and while you'll receive points for all actions, if you can match up a character with the activity they would personally like to complete, then you'll earn bonus points.

All sorts of "attractions" or activities can be added to your beach, ranging from spots that allow for Longboarding, Surfing or Snorkling in the water, to areas on the sand like Yoga and Exercise stations, or even Hula spots. Each activity will be completed after a different amount of time, so there will likely always be a spot open for your friends if you stick around long enough into a gameplay session. You can even upgrade these activities as you go along to make them more rewarding.

You'll have a series of light quests to complete on the left side of the screen, and bonus items will appear as you, or your assigned friends complete each task. You'll need to manually collect the prizes for completing tasks, which adds the ability to leave the game and then come back at a later time when the activity has been completed, but the rewards are still available.

Adding to the customization in the game is the ability to decorate your beach with a variety of themed items, including palm trees, beach umbrellas, and beach towels, along with some more unique items, like rock stacks, sundials, tikis, and so on. There are items available to purchase for both Beach Coins and Clams, the game's premium currency.

Another game element comes in the form of your Beach's popularity. As you add activities for your friends to take part in, the popularity goes up, allowing you to have even more friends appear on your Beach at the same time. Obviously, then, the more activities you have to take part in and the more friends you have to do them - the more coins you'll earn as a result and the faster you'll level up. Leveling up unlocks new activities, and thus the cycle continues.

Other gameplay elements include collections that can be completed (shells, starfish, stones, and the like) by clicking on Treasure Chests that appear at random quite frequently as you play. These chests can contain either coins or these collectibles. Trading in collections earns you coins, and you can add items to a Needs List to ask your friends for help in sending them to you.

Speaking of friends, the game's social elements include the ability to send free gifts to your friends, and the ability to visit your friends' beaches. Interestingly, there is no in-game NPC friend, so you'll have to invite some of your own friends to play the game in order to get anything out of these features.

As it stands, Beachtown has attracted almost 25,000 users who have decided to build a beach of their own. Want to join them?

RockYou to lay off 100 staff, will not publish John Romero's CloudForest Expedition on Facebook

Hard times have come to Facebook game developer RockYou, as the company has announced that it will lose 100 of its staff, leaving it with about 90 employees in all. As told to TechCrunch, CEO Lisa Marina says that this move will allow for the company to become profitable. "Last year was about finding a business model. This year, it's about making the company healthy and profitable," Marino says. With that profitability comes sacrifices, one of which will be the Playdemic studio that RockYou acquired back in January.

Playdemic will be sold back to its original owners for an undisclosed amount of money, and the Facebook game Gourmet Ranch, along with around 40 employees will go with it. As for what remains (after RockYou itself loses 56 employees), Marino has stated that RockYou will not be publishing CloudForest Expedition, the John Romero game we brought you a preview of earlier this year.

While Marino didn't give an exact reason for why Cloudforest Expedition is being shuttered (we could assume the worst - that RockYou no longer contains the manpower to develop it), she did state that perhaps RockYou had been a bit too creative in its past endeavors. "We went too far down the creative path and lost our way in terms of being a profitable organization."

Needless to say, it's disappointing that profits have been chosen over creativity in this case; however, it's not impossible that CloudForest Expedition will still see the light of day. A long shot? Sure, but if someone else were to suddenly jump in and take the reigns, we may be able to explore the jungle landscapes of CloudForest after all.

Moonga deals in on Facebook with fantasy trading card battles [Video]

Ever since Warstorm was axed earlier this year by Zynga, Facebook has been devoid of the nerdiest of dreams: fantasy card battles. (Well, aside from that Big Bang Theory game, we guess.) French game maker Everdreamsoft has formally announced Moonga for Facebook. The game allows players to compete in high fantasy battles through--what else--tradable cards with cool artwork on them.

Ah, our not-so-closet days of Magic: The Gathering are coming back to us. The game, which was released to the web in January 2010, is in an open beta test on Facebook. (In other words, it's live.) Moonga has existed on iOS for a bit longer, and was reportedly number one in role-playing games on the App Store in the summer of 2010. The gameplay appears to be your standard card battle game, but between friends on Facebook and in much shorter spurts.

Players build hands of five unique cards featuring monsters and weapons that duel in one-on-one combat. The idea behind the game isn't far different from most: Create a winning strategy by combining cards that work well together to reduce your enemy's defenses to zero. The game's iOS version doesn't appear to have any social features.

Regardless, Everdreamsoft CEO Shaban Shaame showed off the game's NFC technology that allows players to buy physical cards and import them into the iOS game. It's clear that Everdreamsoft looks to create the next Magic: The Gathering on Facebook and mobile. If the company can somehow incorporate a similar technology into Moonga's Facebook version, then the game maker might be onto something.

Oregon Trail makers just can't scratch that mobile, social game itch

Blue Fang Games made two critical hits (but commercial flops) on Facebook, The Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego, before it shut down this summer. The Boston, Mass.-based developers known for PC game Zoo Tycoon still can't get enough of social, as former Blue Fang CEO Hank Howie (animatedly pictured) told Gamasutra about his new mobile and social game studio, Beach Cooler Games.

Still based in Boston, Howie is joined by ex-art director and lead designer Lou Catanzaro in heading the new company. While Beach Cooler Games intends to make social games, Howie told Gamasutra that mobile will be its primary focus. And new game projects are already underway. "We think we can make this work, and it should work pretty well, so we'll see if we can get it to work," Howie said to Gamasutra. "And again -- I'm knocking on wood here, as I often do -- so far it's working great. It's pretty eye-opening, I have to admit."

The studio isn't giving any details on its existing products, but said that it isn't set on working with original intellectual property. This means that Beach Cooler Games could be working with another brand, like the team did with The Learning Company as Blue Fang. Howie and Catanzaro are hot off the heels since Blue Fang's shutdown in September, and took a portion of the former studio's team with them. Based on the love Blue Fang Games gave those two childhood classics, it's safe to be excited for what Beach Cooler Games thinks up.

Halfbrick to bring Fruit Ninja to Facebook - fruit slicing has never been so social!

Back in April of 2010, Halfbrick launched Fruit Ninja on the App Store. In the time since, the game has experienced phenomenal success, as millions of players haven't been able to get enough of slicing and dicing their way through a smorgasbord of yummy fruit. However, Fruit Ninja costs 99 cents or $2.99 on iPhone and iPad, respectfully, so Halfbrick has decided to release a new version of the game that's absolutely free to play - and on Facebook to boot.

Fruit Ninja Frenzy doesn't have a release day as of yet, but our friends at Joystiq say that Halfbrick has promised "60 second gameplay with many powerups, unlockables and achievements" to be included in this new version of the game. While the game will be free-to-play, you will be able to collect something called "Juice," the game's premium currency, which can also be purchased with real money. Perhaps this Juice will be used to purchase power-ups that are unavailable anywhere else? That's one possibility, but of course we'll bring you all of the specifics when we know more.

Look for beta tests to be "announced soon."

Watch Out, Zynga: EA, Playfish want bigger piece of the Facebook pie

EA Sports president Peter Moore (pictured) drew the lines clearly in his MI6 (no, not British secret service--a games marketing conference) keynote speech: Zynga better watch themselves, because EA wants to be number one on Facebook, Gamesindustry.biz reports. "There's a big dog in front of us," Moore said, making a jab at FarmVille maker Zynga. "But we aren't far behind, and we're confident that we can catch up. What we can bring to the market in terms of blue chip IP is phenomenal."

Now that the carrot on the stick for EA and Playfish is clear as day, it seems as if the parent company is wary of how much longer consumers will pay $60 for a video game. And with good reason: Fewer gamers, casual, social and hardcore alike, are spending money upfront on their games. How does EA plan to be on top in the end? It's going to follow you everywhere, that's how.

Moore revealed a plan for EA Sports that included persistent profiles across all EA Sports games regardless of platform (ahem, that means you too, Facebook). This isn't far from what EA is doing right now with its EA Accounts working between mobile, Facebook and console games for exclusive items and other unlockables. It's unknown when exactly we'll see EA take the first step in this direction, but it also doesn't have much time before Zynga topples even Activision Blizzard. In short, expect it soon.

[Image Credit: Joystiq]

Do you EA is focused in the right direction in tackling Zynga? How successful do you think the company will be in trying to defeat the social gaming giant?

RockYou's Julie Shumaker: 'We've got to blow sh*t up'

According to RockYou SVP and GM Julie Shumaker, social games need more explosions to reel in the hardcore crowd. While she was probably kidding, Shumaker spoke on this very topic at MI6, more specifically the future of social games, Inside Social Games reports. "The irony is that the future of social gaming will actually be social," Shumaker said. "The evolution of social games is about game content and the mechanics that make interesting social game experiences. Content will move from clicks to storylines. We may require people to think."

While we've heard it before--that social games are social enough--Shumaker addressed the how of it all in a short, six-minute long presentation at the games marketing conference in San Francisco. To her, multiplayer in social games needs to become seamless rather than harvesting your friends crops and then waiting for their response. From the looks of what Shumaker is dishing out, Facebook games need to become more like MMOs and less like Flash games. While the outset of Facebook gaming already appears to be headed in that direction, the first Facebook MMOs haven't been wildly successful. That said, some serious marketing dollars and audience rewiring will be needed to make the genre a success on Facebook.

However, mobile is also an exciting concept for social game creators. According to Inside Social Games, Shumaker presented a scenario in which someone walks into Starbucks with his smartphone, wins a level and earns a free latte from that shop. When you think of it, the whole game layer movement could turn the lot of casual mobile gamers into hardcore social gamers, which would make folks like Shumaker very happy.

RockYou recently appointed a new CEO from within and signed with Loot Drop, an extremely promising developer. It should be apparent by now that the company means business. More importantly, Facebook game creators like RockYou are out to turn us into hardcore, dedicated social gamers on every platform. But are we ready to offer that dedication?

Do you think social games need more hardcore engagement or deeper, more social gameplay? Do you see a future where you're more dedicated to social games than, say, "hardcore" games?

Dunkin' Donuts says, 'America runs on Facebook,' with new advergame

Now while sipping that delicious new Mountain Dew Coolata from Dunkin' Donuts, you can play a Facebook game all about it. How meta! The national donuts, coffee and everything else chain has released Unfreeze It, a social game to promote its brand new frozen beverage, the Mountain Dew Coolata. OK, this drink has nothing to do with breakfast, but we'll let it slide in respect of cool prizes up for grabs.

To start the advergame, you must submit contact information for in the event that you win a prize. Once that's through, you're presented with a tall block of ice within a grid. Toward the bottom of the grid, there is a red laser. Your mission is to loosen up the frozen Mountain Dew Coolata inside so that it reaches the laser. If you succeed, you will be entered with a chance to win that day's prize, like a Sony Bravia 3D TV. "It's that simple," the instructions read.

Dunkin Donuts Unfreeze It
Once you click your three shots and submit, you'll be asked to add more friends to the game. Then, a video will play that will notify you that players can attempt to melt the ice daily. The video also reveals a very important fact: The water shots that you submit will have a chance at being the shots that a real water cannon fires at a real Coolata encased in real ice. (For real?)

This is all pretty interesting--and way deeper than most viral advergame campaigns go. Regardless, it appears that this is a finite sweepstakes. Well, I guess we'll see if I won that sweet TV by May 28, when the contest ends.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: Social gamers like the DS too

According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, there is nothing to fear of social gamers. In fact, FarmVille players and their ilk actually are more likely to use a Nintendo DS than those who don't, the head of Nintendo said in a Tokyo press briefing last week. Wired reports that Iwata responded to several hard-hitting questions like the emergence of tablet computers, the Wii's weakness and, most importantly for us, Facebook games.

    I can not say that no one said, 'I recently stopped playing Nintendo DS because I am now playing games on my smartphone,' but statistically, there was no significant difference. On the other hand, we found out that people who play paid social games have a higher Nintendo DS use rate. This was a significant difference. Isn't this the opposite of your impression? Therefore, I think that the people who play paid social games are people who like games. And as a result, they have a higher overall use rate.

This was Iwata's response to a question concerning his opinion of how social games have affected Nintendo. According to him, the effect is not what most would expect, in fact social gamers are more likely to play a DS than those who don't play social games. While he doesn't provide any hard data, this lines up with his previous statement to worried investors, citing an infographic and all. Regardless of whether this is truly the case, Nintendo would be smart to meet the growing social/casual gamer audience at least halfway in the future.

[Image Credit: Nintendo Fuse]

Do you think Nintendo is right in its approach to social and casual gaming? Would Nintendo do better to embrace the two genres or compete with them directly?

The Sims Social PSA: Playfish Cash Cards on sale on Target

Heads up! If you're a player of one Playfish's Facebook games - The Sims Social, Pet Society, Restaurant City, FIFA Superstars or Madden NFL Superstars, as examples - you'll want to pay attention to Target this week, as the department store is offering $10 Playfish Cash Cards for 20% off. To be specific, that makes a $10 Cash Card just $8. You can redeem these cards on Playfish's website by simply connecting your Facebook account, choosing your game and redeeming your code.

If you're one that only checks your weekly newspaper ads for deals, you will have missed this one, as it's not technically a "sale," but rather a case where the price has been temporarily cut (a Temporary Price Cut, or TPC, in Target jargon). Typically, these TPC events last a few weeks or longer, but we don't have that luxury here. This deal ends on December 17.

Using the Sims Social as an example, if you choose to redeem your card for SimCash, you'll receive 72 SimCash for the $8 price. That's the $10 bundle of SimCash, but of course you will have paid $2 less to receive it. It's not a huge savings, but if you were already planning on purchasing a Cash Card as a present this holiday season, why not save money where you can?

This Playfish sale follows a similar discount on Zynga Game Cards at Target, so could Playdom or another major Facebook game developer be next? You can be sure we'll keep an eye on things and will let you know when and if another opportunity to save some money comes around.

Will you buy a Playfish Cash Card for someone special this holiday since they're now on sale, or will you use your Playfish Cash Card as an early present for yourself?

Lunchtime Poll: Would you toss $1000 at a Facebook game item?

There's no need for a clever lede on this story: 2,000 people spent over $1,000 on a single item within a video game. (It pretty much speaks for itself, no?) VentureBeat reports that 2,000 players of Bigpoint Games's browser-based sci-fi MMO (massively multiplayer online game) Dark Orbit spent €1000, or $1365, on a rare space drone to use in combat against other players.

The special drone, known as the Zeus Drone, was available for the immensely premium price for just four days, which netted Bigpoint about $2.67 million in extra sales revenue. Tell us of another free-to-play game that's made that much cash in less than a work week, because this writer certainly hasn't heard of it. But here's the clincher: The Zeus Drone, while unbearably difficult to attain, is available for absolutely free to all Dark Orbit players.

That means 2,000 people were both A.) with an extra G to throw around on a digital item within a game and B.) impatient enough to spend said thousand clams on a digital item within a game. That's a down payment on a car, a month's rent (with utilities, mind you) or even a brand new laptop to play video games on. This news reminds us--though, on a far larger scale--of expensive Facebook game items like, say, the infamous Unwither Ring. Because it's only a matter of time before a Facebook game developer takes a crack at this, we ask you:

Would you spend $1K on a Facebook game item?
You have to be kidding. Who in their right mind would do that?Well, maybe if the item was cool/useful enough...I don't pay for Facebook games. Period.Not on a single item, but I may have spent $1K total so far.
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Have something unique to add to the discussion?

Facebook to host social games hack-a-thon, hopefully to inspire variety

Let's face it, people: Things are getting a tad stale around here. (At least when it comes to popular Facebook games.) Facebook has said it, the developers have said it and we know you readers have, too. Finally, Facebook has decided to take the problem by the reins, and has announced a social game hack event in its headquarters in Palo Alot, Calif. Facebook wanted a social smörgåsbord, so it decided to try and make one itself.

The all-day event, held on Dec. 8 at Facebook HQ, will let developers get hands-on experience with developing Facebook games with the Facebook team, who will share best practices with the developers. Facebook specifically mentions the Open Graph, which developers like Zynga have already taken part in with games like CastleVille. But hopefully some of the company's desire for variety in Facebook games will rub off on the bigger folks. (So, more games like this?)

At the end of the event, developers with the most impressive games will be rewarded with prizes, and the announcement specifically mentions that the games do not have to be made from scratch at the event. Those interested can register for the event right here, but Facebook asks for developers only. What we're more interested in is the potential long term results, anyway.

[Image Credit: Eva Meszaros]

Do you agree that the Facebook game space needs more visible variety? What other types of games would you like to see on Facebook?

Xbox 360 cures gamers' loneliness, goes social in Dashboard update

Alright, so maybe they weren't lonely, but we'll bet that, after this Xbox 360 Dashboard update, players friends list will magically grow. Microsoft's Major Nelson, or Larry Hryb, made the announcement earlier this week that the next major Xbox update will hit Dec. 6 on his blog. Come the week after next, players will be able to share to Facebook straight from the Dashboard.

But the updates go a bit deeper with the addition of Beacons, which allow players to broadcast status updates to their friends that share what games they would like to play with anyone interested. These open call-outs for in-game teammates can be pushed to players' Facebook Walls too. Other changes include cloud storage for games, meaning more space on players' hard drives and access to games from any Xbox 360.

In a way, you could say that makes games more "social" as well, lowering the barrier to playing games with friends in person (IRL, if you will) ever so slightly. But we can't help but notice Microsoft's growing focus on social, and wonder if it's a response at all to the arrival potential game changers like these to Facebook. It may only a matter of time before that competition heats up.

[Via Inside Social Games]

Are you excited at all by these changes to Xbox gaming? Do you think Xbox-like games could ever be popular/successful on Facebook?

Triple Town, 'Civilization of match-3 games', goes Kindle to Facebook

Like most match-3 games--Bejeweled Blitz and Diamond Dash, for instance--you'll receive random pieces one at a time, but you get to control where they go on your grid. But unlike those traditional games, matching stuff doesn't make it disappear. Instead, matching stuff creates other stuff that's worth a lot more, thereby, netting you more points. The goal of the game is to get as high a score as possible by continuing to merge objects and not running out of space to put things.

'Zynga is making games for accidental gamers,' studio VP says

The studio head was implying that Zynga doesn't create video games for hardcore or traditional gamers. Sure, that's stating the obvious, but it's vitally important to remember when looking at Zynga's games. They're not exactly technological marvels, accessible to those who just don't get the complexity of controllers and traversing 3D space. But as players progress, they become well-versed in increasingly complex interfaces, thus becoming, well, gamers.

Zynga studio VP Lou Castle leaves for Las Vegas casino games maker

Castle is best known for his contributions in creating the famed strategy game series, Command & Conquer, as co-founder of Westwood Studios. The former Zynga executive most recently joins Treasure Isle GM Jeremy Verba in leaving the company. Verba also entered a completely different industry, becoming the CEO of famous (or infamous?) online dating website eHarmony.

Facebook has more gamers than Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo combined?

Social games have no doubt garnered more players in such a short amount of time than any gaming platform to date. But, if you look at the amount of consoles shipped and sold by all three major manufacturers, Beard's claim appears to fall a bit short. That is, unless Beard is talking online gamers. Then Facebook just might have the big three beat, to which Beard said, "These aren't games with friends sprinkled on top; it's more about social interactions with gaming on top."

To pick up Fast Five on Blu-ray, DVD at Walmart, better try Car Town

Car Town Fast Five
Branded Facebook game promotions are a dime a dozen these days, but turning a Facebook game into a store front? Now, that's something to twirl the mustache at. Cie Games announced that Car Town was the only place Fast Five fans could pre-order the Fast Five Blu-ray/DVD combo pack at Walmart. But since the movie released today in stores, fans can also take a trip to Walmart to score some in-game rewards.

Within Car Town, players could click on a giant Walmart-themed big rig to pre-order the pack through Walmart's online store, which would have scored them an exclusive in-game locker with a Fast Five-themed bullet-proof vest to display in their garages. Though, anyone who buys the game through Car Town or in stores will net themselves a virtual Armet Gurkha armored vehicle to race their friends with.

This is the culmination of a six month-long event made possible by Universal Partnerships & Licensing that displayed the movie's trailer within Car Town. And now players can complete missions inspired by the movie's storyline by racing cars directly taken from the film. And Car Town, which enjoys over 5.2 million monthly players, has had its branding throughout the Fast Five release.

"This program is one of the most extensive and successful efforts to date by a major film studio to leverage the nexus between real-world marketing and promotion via social gaming," said Cie Games CEO Justin Choi. "Since the program began in April 2011, Car Town players have completed more than 200 million races in the virtual Rio de Janeiro race environment modeled after the movie's key location."

In other words, this was one giant Facebook game branding event, and Cie Games is far from the only developer that's in on the action. Zynga has already begun to integrate Indiana Jones into its Adventure World completely, while other studios like Ecko|Code build their business entirely around branded Facebook games. We've said it before and we'll say it again: Branding is huge in Facebook games. Our concern, however, is whether the games can grow in terms of gameplay amidst the allure of branding.

Have you followed the Fast Five event in Car Town since it started? What do you think of branding in Facebook games--has it gone too far or are you digging it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Diamond Dash maker: Social games 'will evolve again in the next years'

Frankly, they kind of have no choice. That's general idea Wooga studio head Henric Suuronen (pictured) seems to have put forward in an in-depth interview with Gamasutra. And it would be wise to listen--the Berlin, Germany-based Facebook game creator is third behind Zynga and EA (now that PopCap's numbers have been integrated), according to AppData.

During the interview, Suuronen gave Gamasutra a detailed explanation of where Facebook games have been, what it takes to create them from a design perspective and, most importantly, where they're going. Specifically speaking to social mechanics in Facebook games, Suuronen said to Gamasutra:

"Now moving four years forward, you have games like CityVille, Pioneer Trail from Zynga, Kabam games, Digital Chocolate games, and Zombie Lane -- great game -- and now Magic Land," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "So it has really evolved. So why would the progression stop here? So I think it will evolve, as it has done from four years ago with Jetman and Scrabulous and Tower Bloxx. So it will evolve again in the next years."

The hit maker behind Diamond Dash recently released its seventh game on Facebook, Magic Land, which enjoys a healthy 3.4 million monthly players and over 330,000 daily players. According to Suuronen, Wooga's latest game had the most man hours thrown into it, a trend he seems to believe will continue. "The whole myth of the minimum viable product -- it's gone," Suuronen told Gamasutra. "It's something that you say to investors to sound cool."

Sure, Suuronen believes that players will eventually get tired of the standard social gaming mechanics of sharing gifts and helping asynchronously. However, the Wooga studio head also points out that the harsh reality of designing Facebook games to get players to pay up isn't going anywhere, and some traditional designers have trouble coming to grips with that.

Considering social games are expected to make $1 billion this year alone (and cash in even more from there), traditional designers and companies better wise up quick if they want to fit in the next big money machine. Read Suuronen's full interview with Gamasutra here, in which he predicts how you might be enticed to pay up in the future.

Do you agree that Facebook games can only grow into more robust entertainment options from here? Where would you like to see the industry go from today's CityVille's and other life simulators? Sound off in the comments. 2 Comments

Kixeye's War Commander blasts onto Facebook for all to conquer

Hardcore gamers have established a beachhead on Facebook, and now can make their next offensive in War Commander. The next social strategy game by San Francisco-based Kixeye has entered public beta is now live and available for all would-be commanders on Facebook to dominate with. The game isn't a far cry from the studio's previous efforts, except for one thing.

Players can finally control individual units on the battle field in real time as they slaughter enemy units and demolish buildings. Clearly inspired by traditional strategy staples like Command and Conquer on the PC, War Commander continues the developer's tradition of real time gameplay with asynchronous interaction between friends ... or enemies.

Based on our time trying out the game's closed beta test, our very own Brandy Shaul found attacking and defending bases to be a largely passive experience, regardless of whether you can now directly control units. Personally, I find the choice to decide which unit gets fired at first by enemy defense turrets a strategic boost, though a small one.

Regardless, this marks Kixeye's next step in its ultimate goal to bring a true RTS (real time strategy) experience to Facebook, Kixeye CEO Will Harbin told VentureBeat. "It's the most advanced strategy game ever created for Facebook," Harbin said. "We're getting closer and closer to real-time strategy titles that you've seen on the PC."

Gallery: War Commander on Facebook
Based on my brief experience with the game, War Commander suffers from brief lag issues at the moment, with intermittent pauses during gameplay. However, Kixeye appears to be hard at work on optimizing the game already. (It is in "open beta," after all.) "We're learning from the past and optimizing the code base more and more," Harbin told VentureBeat.

While Kixeye mentioned that it's "waiting for an onslaught of competition" that it has yet to see, the company does have one worthy opponent that it has already exchanged stern words with over its most recent release, Kabam and Edgeworld. We're sure this rivalry is far from over, so why not check the latest traded blow right now?

Click here to play War Commander on Facebook Now >

Are you a fan of hardcore strategy games on Facebook? Regardless, what do you think of the growing hardcore scene on the platform traditionally dominated by mothers and other casual players? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment