Developers question Facebook execs on game platform changes (video)

There’s a lot at stake in the changes that Facebook made to its platform tonight, which will affect how users experience games on the world’s biggest social network.

Developers have lost millions of users since Facebook cut back on viral communications on the network in the name of reducing spam. Today, Facebook sought to appease developers by enhancing its platform to be more game friendly. The top Facebook brass talked to a group of game developers tonight at Facebook’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

After their speeches, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, product manager for games Jared Morgenstern, and platform marketing chief Dan Rose answered questions. Notice there was one somewhat testy question about Facebook Credits and Facebook’s 30 percent share of all virtual currency transactions.

Getting noticed is a challenge for everyone building apps. Join us at DiscoveryBeat 2010, and hear secrets from top industry executives about how to profit in the new cross-platform app ecosystem. The conference takes place on October 18th at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Go here for conference details, or to apply to the “Needle in the Haystack” business contest. Early-bird tickets are available until September 22.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.