FarmVille 2

Facebook’s desktop gaming revenue slips in the first quarter of 2014

Facebook may be doing better when it comes to mobile advertising, but mobile gaming is still hurting the social network.

Market researcher Eilers published a report on Facebook’s gaming business after the social giant posted its financial earnings for the first quarter of 2014. Facebook’s social gaming business earned $237 million for the quarter. That’s down 2 percent from last quarter and down 11 percent year-over-year.

Facebook Earnings Chart

“During the earnings call, management noted that payment volumes from games specifically was up just +1 percent [year over year] and noted that the shift to mobile is a significant headwind for this business as game usage on desktop is flat-to-down,” noted the report. “Management also said going forward it will be challenging to grow its desktop game platform.”

According to Eilers, the top-grossing Facebook apps were Candy Crush Saga (developer by King), FarmVille 2 (developed by Zynga), DoubleDown Casino (IGT), Texas Hold-Em Poker (also Zynga), and Slotomania (Caesar’s Interactive/Playtika). Zynga and King combined accounted for about 36 percent of all Facebook gaming revenue for the quarter.

Mike Minotti

Mike Minotti has been with GamesBeat since 2012, starting as an intern. Based near Youngstown, Ohio, he now manages GamesBeat's editorial team. He's also a prolific podcaster, appearing on multiple shows covering the gaming industry.