With all the talk of “cloning” recently, it’s easy to think that original ideas in the social gaming sector are getting increasingly hard to come by. And while there may be a finite number of ways you can represent particular styles of gameplay, that doesn’t stop some developers thinking of an interesting, original twist on an established formula. Such is the case with Team Slots from Product Madness, a new video slot machine game for Facebook. Unlike most other Facebook-based slots titles that focus either on personal gain or competition against friends, Team Slots adds a cooperative element to the format.

When starting the game, players are randomly assigned to the Red, Green, Blue or Yellow team. The assigned team is persistent for the player’s entire Team Slotting career, with no facility to change at this time. Wording on the official FAQ suggests this may be under consideration for the future and indeed it may provide an additional monetization opportunity for Product Madness — however, it also opens up the possibility of unbalancing the game if a large proportion of the player base suddenly decides that it wants to be on, say, the Blue team.

When playing any of the game’s virtual slot machines, the player’s individual accumulated winnings are tallied up and added to that of the rest of their team. Whichever team has the highest cumulative winnings between them at the end of a 30 minute round wins a gold trophy, with second and third place achieving silver and bronze ones respectively. At the end of a day, the team with the most trophies wins the daily competition, providing them with a shower of coins to spend on the next competition. The teams also compete for dominance over the course of a month, with bigger prizes on offer.

As players compete on the machines, they earn experience points and level up. Each level up provides a small coin bonus and, after certain milestones, unlocks additional machines for play. The higher-level machines have fewer players playing them, so individual winnings tend to have a greater impact on the team’s results as a whole. Potential winnings are also higher, so it’s often in a player’s best interests to play the highest level machine they can. Most machines work in the same way through the use of various-shaped “win lines” which players can turn off and on by increasing or decreasing their bet, so once players have the hang of one they can move to the others easily. However, those new to playing slots may find it initially confusing, since the in-game explanations of how the machines work are not presented very clearly.

A few technical flaws prevent the experience from being as polished as it could be, not least of which is the fact that the game runs very slowly even on a powerful computer. This doesn’t appear to be the fault of the game itself, which is presented in Flash like most other social games. Rather, it appears to be the fault of the real-time social feed under the game — each team has its own fan page on which both players and team administrators can post comments, and the feed from this page is continually updated beneath the main game window during play, allowing players to interact with one another. The way this feature is currently implemented leads to that part of the game page almost constantly refreshing itself, which creates constant loading, a flickering mouser cursor and poor frame rates. The issue could perhaps be avoided by refreshing only once every few minutes, when a player actually posts a comment or through a manual “Refresh” button.

Aside from this issue, Team Slots provides an original take on a simplistic game genre. The addictive nature of slot machines provides plenty of monetization opportunities from among those players who enjoy protracted play sessions and/or runs of bad luck. The slow income of coins from competitions, leveling up, individual winnings and a regularly-provided bonus will likely be enough for casual players, but those serious about their virtual gambling or contributions to the daily and monthly competitions have the potential to make the game very profitable. It’s a shame to see the game spoiled by the issues mentioned above, however.

Team Slots currently has 460,000 monthly active users and 60,000 daily active users and is still on an upwards trend after its launch in mid-December last year. To track it’s progress, check out AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

Wait

An original, social and cooperative take on the slot machine genre with a user experience marred by technical issues and unclear explanations for new players.

Seattle-based casual game developer GameHouse is still working to make the transition from a downloadable gaming company to a freemium social game leader. In September, the company’s CEO Matt Hulett told Inside Social Games his goal was to break into the top 10 social game developers by daily active users on Facebook.

According to AppData, GameHouse is currently the No. 27 most popular game developer on the platform according to DAU, an increase over the No. 33 spot the company held when Hulett announced his plans. GameHouse now has 821,150 DAU on Facebook and the number has been slowly but steadily increasing. To support the transition, GameHouse recently announced it was doubling the headcount at its Facebook-focused Canadian studio.

Located in Victoria, British Columbia, GameHouse Canada started life as Backstage Technologies, a financial services company that pivoted into Facebook games in 2007. Its game Scratch and Win was one of the first games to integrate with the Facebook API and monetize through the free-to-play model. GameHouse’s parent company RealNetworks bought Backstage in September 2010 to bolster its social game talent, but it’s only now that the company has moved into a much larger downtown office is it ready to push forward with an aggressive expansion plan that will see it grow from 25 to 45 people in the next couple of months, according to Alex Mendelev, GameHouse Canada’s general manager and head of studios.

Inside Social Games had a chance to visit the company’s new offices and speak with Mendelev about the company’s plans in the social gaming space.

Inside Social Games: What can you tell me about GameHouse’s larger Facebook strategy? Earlier this year GameHouse’s CEO Matt Hulett said the goal was to be in the top 10 by DAU within six months?

Alex Mendelev, general manager and head of studios, Gamehouse Canada (pictured right): I think our strategy on Facebook is not necessarily take all the users from our other platforms and bring them to Facebook. I think our strategy is to operate our businesses that run really well. Our casual, downloadable business continues to function really well and we will continue to grow that business in its own way. Social is a giant opportunity to capitalize on. Backstage has been doing it for a long time and at this point we have two studios hitting directly into that market with good numbers and growth to show. Backstage primarily contributes to the social game area of the effort.

ISG: So will you be focusing on new IP or porting existing hits? Are you worried about cannibalizing a casual game’s existing audience by bring it onto Facebook? 

Mendelev: I think regardless of what we do, there are new platforms and new, exciting experiences that people want to partake of. Whether you’re on one platform or another, as new platforms come in, users will want to try them. Some of them will stick and want to play games there and some of them won’t. I think our approach is more to give people a place to play, regardless of what platform they’re on. In that regard, we’re very well positioned with casual downloadable, mobile and iOS and social.

ISG: There’s certainly a precedent for games from casual game portals to find success on Facebook. 

Mendelev:  We’ve seen some great results from some of the titles we’ve had as GameHouse for a long time, such as Collapse, and bringing them to Facebook. Collapse is kind of a classic GameHouse game and it’s shown great results so far and is continuing to grow. Some of the recent titles we’re really excited about are Bayou Blast.

ISG: What is GameHouse Canada working on right now?

Mendelev:  We’re working on a slots game and we’re going to release it early this year.

ISG: With your history working on slots and games of chance, how do you feel you would be positioned if Facebook does make real-money gambling available on the platform?

Mendelev:  It’s really hard to say because Facebook is very good at pivoting very quickly around things. Just because there was an announcement that certain kinds of business would be open doesn’t mean it will happen soon if at all. We’ve learned to kind of temper our expectations in terms of what’s actually going to happen in the platform, so we not actively considering it.

ISG: But if something were to come up?

Mendelev:  We’re always open to looking at new opportunities and consider that as part of our strategy but we haven’t made a decision to move in that direction. It’s really hard to make that decision before Facebook.

ISG: Gambling companies have shown an interest in the platform with some large social game investments like Double Down Interactive and Playtika. What do you think of that?

Mendelev:  I would say that with gambling companies moving into Facebook, they’re recognizing that Facebook is a large revenue opportunity and they’re actively investing in that space. We’re already in that space, so it makes sense for us to continue to invest in the space. If you look at GameHouse as a whole and our entire social gaming effort we have lots of games coming out and they’ll be across multiple genres.

RockYou is throwing its hat into the bingo sub-genre of social games, announcing today that its third party publishing unit Studio Partners will now be publishing Ryzing’s Bingo by Ryzing.

Available on Facebook since July of 2010, so far Bingo by Ryzing has shown the slow growth that most other bingo games have on the platform, with the game’s monthly active users peaking this month at 250,000 according to our AppData traffic tracking service. What sets Bingo by Ryzing apart from the other bingo games on the platform are the game’s real world prizes, which are awarded via a sweepstakes method to skirt Facebook’s restrictions around cash payouts.

“Facebook doesn’t allow gambling and Bingo by Ryzing does not incorporate gambling as there is no purchase required and purchasing does not improve a player’s chances of winning,” explains Ryzing’s CEO Manu Gambir when asked about the game’s prizes.  “Bingo by Ryzing is a sweepstakes exactly like other sweepstakes you may be familiar with, such as the popular McDonald’s Monopoly sweepstakes.”

According to Gambir, the game uses multiple types of bingo cards, only some of which allow players to win prizes, which can be either cash, merchandise or gift cards.

“The first, and primary type of bingo game, is played using blue-colored bingo cards. Players purchase these bingo cards using virtual currency which can be obtained for free (by playing often, completing achievements, inviting friends, or watching videos) or by purchasing,” he says.

While blue bingo cards don’t allow players to win prizes with any real monetary value, one of the prizes a player can win with them are gold and silver bingo cards. Those cards function like entries in a sweepstakes. Like other sweepstakes, no purchase is necessary — players can either win gold and silver cards, ask for them, or be awarded them for free when purchasing in-app currency for the game. Players must be at least 21 years old to win or earn the gold and silver cards.

Other than its cash prizes, Bingo by Ryzing drives engagement with social features like live chat, gifting and voting on charity initiatives. According to Josh Grant, RockYou’s GM of Studio Partners, the company is targeting fans of bingo games and fans of what he calls “traditionally social parlor games” as a core demographic.

Under the terms of the agreement, Studio Partners will provide analytics, product management support, user acquisition, advertising and monetization help for the game and Ryzing will continue to manage the game’s  product development, customer service, prize fulfillment, game operations and sweepstakes compliance.

Overall, competition in the bingo sub-genre on Facebook is beginning to heat up as bingo games continue to gain traction on the platform. The current leader of the crowd is Buffalo Studios’ Bingo Blitz, which currently has 3 million monthly active users and 980,000 daily active users, according to AppData. Other competitors in the genre include BitRhymes Bingo Bash, Mytopia’s Bingo Island and SpiceRack Media’s Bingo!. Zynga’s take on the genre, Zynga Bingo has just gone into closed beta.

Bingo by Ryzing is RockYou’s first foray back into publishing since confirming it would be laying off more than half of its staff, selling Playdemic back to its founders and parting ways with Loot Drop in November.

While not the largest genre on Facebook, casino games are in the spotlight at the start of 2012 as more companies enter the genre with standalone slots or card games or complete casino simulations. Here are the top five games in the category by traffic as recorded by our AppData service.

Though Facebook doesn’t currently allow real money gambling on its games platform, many social game developers seem eager to cash in either when Facebook changes its policy, or via other social game platforms that don’t ban the practice. Earlier this month, market leader Zynga confirmed it is actively searching for means to add real money gambling into its offerings, while casino gaming company International Game Technology acquired Double Down Interactive, Facebook game developer of DoubleDown Casino for $500 million. Last month, U.S. casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corporation fully acquired Slotomania game developer Playtika, and earlier this month launched a new Facebook game, Caesars Casino. January also saw the closed beta launch of Zynga Bingo, which will likely become a major competitor to Bingo Blitz.

Taken together, our top five casino-themed games account for a total of over 45 million MAU and 10 million DAU.

Texas HoldEm Poker (Zynga): 6.6 million DAU, 31.3 million MAU

Zynga’s Facebook adaption of the popular poker game is also among the longest running games on the platform, having launched in 2008. Along with Zynga’s Words With Friends, it is also among the top Facebook games to enable cross-platform play between the social network, iOS and Android smartphones. After reaching a peak of MAU usage of about 39 million in the summer of 2010, the game lost several million MAU. However, since December 2011 (when it had 28.5 million MAU), the game has seen strong upward growth to its current level.

Over the last three months, its daily active users as a percent of MAU (or DAU/MAU) has fluctuated between 22.5 and 20.5 percent, which reflects relatively strong engagement compared to other social game genres. Helping drive this continued growth and activity is the Poker by Zynga app for iOS, which uses Facebook Connect to help enable play between iOS and Facebook. Launched in 2009, the app still holds a top rank on AppData’s iOS charts, currently number three in the Top Grossing Apps list.

Gameplay: After loading the game, the player is taken into a lobby area densely packed with options and player information. The game’s initial display lists the total number of online players, and an option to choose among the many servers where the game is hosted, listed according to geographic region, which is likely a move by Zynga to reduce latency in live multiplayer games.

Players can find an open poker seat from among the listed tables, or get auto-joined to an open table with a single click. The actual poker game is a faithful recreation of Texas hold ‘em for up to seven players. When it’s a given player’s turn to execute their move, a time meter ticks down over the person’s profile. If not made in time, the player’s turn is forfeited. One unique feature of Texas HoldEm Poker is a “hand strength meter,” which gauges the relative strength of a player’s current hand. (If this feature is enabled, the house takes a cut of any winnings.)

Other gameplay modes include one-on-one matches with a Facebook friend and team-based challenges with several friends. There is also a mini-game slot machine which players can play to win chips — given the relatively slim odds of payout, it seems to function mainly as a sink to deplete player chip holdings and nudge them toward monetization.

Viral growth and engagement: To encourage viral user growth, Texas HoldEm players earn more playing chips by successfully inviting friends to play. They can also broadcast their game activity by auto-posting wins and achievements to their Facebook wall. The game has a leveling system incorporated into a competitive leaderboard with the players’ friends.

Socialization seems to be an important feature for increasing engagement and retention in Texas HoldEm. Multiplayer matches not only come with a live, player-to-player chat feature; players can also buy each other virtual drink items and miscellaneous virtual gifts with chips or gold. Further, players can add each other as game buddies (as opposed to Facebook friends), enabling players to develop a mini-social network of people they enjoy playing with. In the game lobby, the game’s socialization aspect is emphasized by an in-game feed depicting friends’ recent game milestones, with an option to send them gifts or congratulation messages.

Monetization: Zynga monetizes Texas HoldEm by selling Chips and Casino Gold for Facebook Credits, with an option to buy via mobile phone. Chips are used for basic gameplay, and Casino Gold to purchase premium items and buy into weekly tournaments. A monetization option window pops up when the player attempts to make a bet or join a table that is more costly than a player’s current holdings.

Slotomania – Slot Machines (Playtika): 1.700,000 million DAU, 5.6 million MAU

Launched in December 2010, Playtika’s Facebook slot machine game enjoyed steady growth through 2011. The game saw a strong spike in July shortly after the company was partially acquired by Harrah’s, a casino brand in the Caesars Entertainment Corporation. In the last three months, the game has seen relatively stable usage of between 5.25 and 5.6 million MAU, and a very strong engagement rate of between 26 and 33 percent DAU/MAU. As previously mentioned, Caesars Entertainment bought out the rest of the company in December 2011.

Gameplay: New users are given a 200 coin welcome bonus, and are then presented a menu of eight different themed slot games to choose from (farm items, pirates, etc) though only the first game is available to play at launch. Basic gameplay is modeled on traditional slot machines, with players paying a number of coins for each spin and payouts awarded based on symbol matches generated randomly from spins. Players can choose how many items they want to match, with larger sets of matches earning a better payout (while costing more coins, with riskier odds). Successfully completing some matches will launch a separate mini-game with the chance of winning play bonuses. For example, spinning to match three or more tractors in a farm-themed slot machine launches a “Beat the Mole” mini-game in which players must choose vegetables from rows of crops while avoiding a mole underneath the garden. Spins that generate other matching items unlock a series of free spins, which in turn sometimes generate even more free spins, creating a long succession of free spins in which the player is largely a passive viewer.

Viral growth and engagement: To foster retention, returning Slotmania players are offered a special bonus every four hours. The game includes a leveling system, with coin bonuses given at level up, which also unlocks new slot game boards. To encourage viral growth, player can post slot game wins to their wall, and are intermittently given the option to send ten free spins to friends. Facebook friends playing Slotomania also compete on a leaderboard.

Monetization: The primary source of revenue for Slotomania is virtual currency which is purchased in batches with Facebook Credits.

Bingo Blitz (Buffalo Studios): 970,000 DAU, 2.9 million MAU

A fast-paced Facebook adaptation of the classic casual casino game, Bingo Blitz launched late in 2010 and had slow but steady growth through most of 2011. It gained faster traction in August of that year before reaching its current, stable player base of between 2.5 and 3 million MAU. In the last three months, DAU/MAU rates have been very strong, fluctuating between 30 and 35 percent.

Gameplay: New players are first invited to play a 30 second tutorial, then given the option of choosing among several open games based on payout rate and player level. These are displayed in the game menu as “cities,” and also list the number of online players currently in session. Once entering a city, players can buy one to four cards with Credits (one of the game’s two currencies), then must wait for the current game to finish before joining the next match. Bingo card numbers are rapidly called out in audio and displayed in an animated row at the top of the screen. When a player earns a bingo on any of their cards, it’s their responsibility to click the “Bingo” button beneath the appropriate card. All winnings are collected at the end of each match.

Bingo Blitz includes a number of features to increase engagement and encourage retention: Clicking a timed power-up button places free squares or bonus items on squares; if they monitor the charge-up timer carefully, players can use this option many times during a match. Bonus squares pay out power-ups and game credits (displayed as treasure chests with game bonuses), and are won regardless of whether a player earns a bingo. Adding a level of suspense and skill to gameplay, it is possible for a player to select incorrect squares on their cards and call out a bad, invalid bingo — if so, the designated card is rendered ineligible for the remainder of the match. In addition, only a select number of winning Bingo cards can be claimed during each match; this is depicted as a countdown display at the top left of the screen, creating further excitement.

Bingo Blitz has a number of features which add a social element to gameplay. Each player has a user profile listing their national origin, game level and other game stats. These profile icons are displayed at the bottom of the match screen. Further, players can live chat with each other during matches.

Viral growth and engagement: New players are offered a game bonus for repeated play in the first two days after installation and there is also a daily credits reward for returning players. Bingo Blitz has a player leveling system, and some cities are locked until a certain level and other game goals are reached. The game also includes achievement badges for gameplay, such as collecting selected game items, and for reaching gameplay milestones. To encourage viral growth, winning bingo matches and other successes can be shared on a player’s Facebook wall. Players can also win extra Credits by inviting friends to install the app.

Monetization: Bingo Blitz has two currencies, Coins and Credits, which can be converted between each other. Coins can be spent to complete game collections (which in turn earn Credits), customizations for player cards, game power-ups, and “keys” which unlock bonus prizes. Extra Credits can be bought with Facebook Credits. Bingo Blitz also monetizes through a slot machine mini-game, in which players can spin to win Credits; these spins are bought with directly with Facebook Credits.

DoubleDown Casino – Free Slots, Blackjack & Poker (DoubleDown Interactive, LLC.): 1.3 million DAU, 4.7 million MAU

Launched in early 2010, DoubleDown Casino began steady growth in the fall of that year, then gained momentum through most of 2011. In the last three months, growth stabilized at around 4.5 million MAU, with an engagement rate in a range of 30 percent DAU/MAU, a level consistent with high monetization rates.

Gameplay: At game launch, the player is presented with several variety of casino-style games: video poker, blackjack, slots, tournaments and roulette. Most are single-player, but blackjack is live, with up to six competing against the AI dealer. To leverage the live multiplayer gameplay, blackjack includes a player-to-player chat feature, and a timer which requires each player to make bets, request hits, etc. within a few seconds, or risk forfeiting their turn. Blackjack play includes high roller options with large buy-in levels which restrict play to high level or highly monetized players. Roulette games, also in real time, come with similar multiplayer functions.

Viral growth: Viral user growth and engagement in DoubleDown Casino is encouraged with a number of features. A player can earn more play chips for sending game invites to friends or by adding friends and can win chip bonuses by returning everyday to do a “daily spin.” Players can also compete with each other on the game’s leaderboards and direct their gameplay to earn achievement badges for various game successes. Earning these badges also win the player chip bonuses. Players also have the option to share individual game victories with friends on wall posts.

Monetization: New players are given a free number of set playing chips to start with, and can buy more through Facebook Credit purchases. Along with appearing when a player attempts to make a bet which exceeds their current chip holdings, the purchase option payment window is displayed immediately at launch of game. This monetization method is more in line with real world casinos, which typically demand an up-front chip buy-in before play.

JackpotJoy Slot Machines (iwi): 380,000 DAU, 1.8 million MAU

Launched in mid-2011, the slot machine game saw strong growth for most of that year, then stabilized to around its current traffic level in October. In the last three months, its DAU/MAU rate has fluctuated between 20 and 27 percent — a good level of engagement, though somewhat less than category leader Slotomania (see above).

Gameplay: Similar to Slotomania, new users of Jackpot Joy are given 200 coins as a welcome bonus and sent to a lobby of eight slot games with different themes, only one of which is available to play at first. Gameplay is modeled on real life slot machines, with players able to bet a range of coins for each spin and payouts awarded based on matching selected patterns of symbols. Successfully spinning some matches launches a mini-game with the chance of winning game bonuses. Players can win awards for special symbol matches, and win achievements for game milestones. Jackpot Joy comes with a multiplayer tournament mode with high buy-in and large prize rewards.

Viral growth and engagement: Players can share 250 free coins with ten friends, share coins with friends already playing and ask friends for coins by posting the request on their Facebook wall. JackpotJoy has leaderboard, leveling and achievement systems. To encourage retention, coin bonuses are given out every four hours. Further, early on in gameplay, players are encouraged to play the game in full screen mode — selecting this option reveals a robust and active player-to-player chat system, and the option to play mini-games.

Monetization: Game coins are bought through Facebook Credits for cash payments between $5 and $200.

Note: Since it is localized only in Turkish, gambling game Mynet Çanak Okey was not included in this report. It currently sees 520,000 DAU and 2.4 million MAU.

Zynga kicks off a closed beta today for the next title in its Casino franchise, Zynga Bingo.

The game is a recreation of the classic gambling game where players receive cards with numbers placed along a grid and each column is identified by letter. A “caller” draws numbers at random from a pile, calling out the letter and number while players search for the corresponding spot on their cards. Should a player find the number called, they place a “dauber” token on the number; if they fill an entire line of numbers with daubers, they have a “bingo” and can claim a prize. Other winning conditions include filling up an entire card with daubers, placing daubers on each of the four corners of the card or completing specific number sequences that have been marked for prizes by the organizers.

Zynga’s main update to the game comes from power-up and bonus items, which are either bought, earned or gifted from friends. The power-ups are unlocked and used during the actual game of bingo; a boost bar fills up with each play, and once full, the player can click it to activate whatever power-up item they have queued. The power-ups available at launch are limited to placing down a dauber on certain numbers as if they had been called in normal play or increasing the number of bonus items received at the end of a game. Bonus items include soft currency, tickets (which are used to purchase bingo cards), mystery crates and keys to unlock said crates. The crates can contain power-ups, soft currency or tickets.

Other features in Zynga Bingo include real time chat, themed rooms that sometimes draw from Zynga’s own games and a Zynga Casino navigation bar above the canvas that presumably allows players to jump easily from Zynga Bingo to Texas HoldEm Poker or other Zynga Casino games as they are released. During a press demo, a Zynga spokesperson declined to discuss any upcoming features related to the Zynga Casino interface beyond what had already been revealed at Zynga’s 2011 Unleashed preview event.

Among social games, bingo has been slower to catch on than other casino titles like poker or video slots. It wasn’t until the beginning of 2011 that Buffalo Studios’ Bingo Blitz began to gain traction, hitting 2.8 million monthly active users and 930,000 daily active users before the end of the year. Other bingo games have since launched on Facebook to more modest success and some virtual casinos have added it to their lineup of games.

Zynga Bingo is the developer’s second Facebook title of 2012. Its first 2012 game, Hidden Chronicles, launched in the first week of January and currently enjoys 12.5 million MAU and 6.1 million DAU as recorded by our AppData traffic tracking service.

Analysts say Zynga must add nine million new DAU per quarter - Industry analysts Cowen and Company have calculated than in order to maintain its current DAU count across its business, Zynga must add at least nine to 10 million DAU every quarter — approximately 100,000 new users every day — to outpace the number of DAU lost quarterly. According an interview on Gamasutra, Zynga’s games lose about 18.4 percent percent of DAU each quarter.

Japan gets mobile social games platform for adults only - Japanese video distribution company DMM has launched its own mobile social network featuring pornographic social games according to Japanese industry watcher Serkan Toto. DMM is a leading Japanese producer of adult video content.

Namco Bandai: free-to-play damaging game industry – Gamespot is reporting that Olivier Comte, Namco Bandai’s SVP for Europe has come out swinging against the free-to-play model, saying games that follow the model aren’t high quality, and that low-cost games lower the perceived value of games, ultimately harming publishers.

Sterne Agee: Zynga loses $150 to acquire every new paid customer – According to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, Zynga has spent $120 million on new player acquisition so far this fiscal year, or $150 for every new paying customer according to his interview with Develop.

513 million internet users in China - Penn Olson is reporting that China now has 513 million citizens online. According to the latest data from the China Internet Network Information Center, 38.3 percent of the country’s population now uses the internet.

MegaZebra appoints Godager and Goeldner to board - Munich-based social game company MegaZebra has appointed European video game industry veterans Gaute Godager and Jürgen Goeldner to its board of directors. Gaute Godager was a co-founder of Funcom.

Japanese social games market to be worth $4.4 billion in 2012 – Japanese market research firm Yano is predicting the Japanese social game industry — driven mainly by mobile social game companies like DeNA and GREE — will be worth $4.4 billion in 2012.

Zynga moves towards online gambling – Zynga has confirmed what many already suspected, telling All Things D that it looking into real money gambling. The company is currently is undertaking “active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.” While Facebook does not currently allow real-money gambling on its platform yet, the company will soon in regions were it is legal.

Final Fantasy Brigade has half a million users – Square Enix’s first mobile social game based on the Final Fantasy franchise is now live on  DeNA’s Mobage network for both feature phones and smartphones. According to Andriasang, the game already has more than 500,000 users.

GREE buys stake in Mobicle for mobile social game development - GREE has bought a 6.8 percent share in Korean game company Mobicle. The two companies will co-develop a variety of mobile social games that will be available globally in the second quarter of 2012.

Nexon licenses Unity - Tokyo-headquartered gaming company Nexon has signed a deal to license Unity’s game development platform, reports Develop. According to a statement from Nexon, the company will be using Unity to develop multi-platform content.

[Launch] University of Washington releases Facebook game – The University of Washington Bothell has released its first Facebook game. Called UWB Wetlands Restoration, the game was created by undergraduate students and 100 percent of the proceeds go to restoration of the real UW Bothell wetlands.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. — which bought Slotomania developer Playtika last year — officially launched its own Facebook game this week with Caesars Casino, a gambling sim that offers video slots, blackjack and roulette.

Compared to DoubleDown Casino, its nearest competitor in the casino game genre, Caesars Casino takes a less dynamic approach to presenting the individual casino games. Players view the board or table from a forward-facing perspective and there’s limited animation or sound effects accompanying the actions of dealing cards or spinning roulette wheels. In lobby areas, the presentation style is reversed with Caesars depicting cartoon avatar dealers and DoubleDown using semi-realistic depictions of casino interiors. Caesars Casino also doesn’t appear to have any socialization options between players — although this feature is probably in development along with additional casino games and likely a forthcoming tournament system.

While it’s still early days for Caesars, the casino genre is heating up on Facebook with both social game developers and casino companies looking to cash in on the high engagement rates games like DoubleDown Casino, Bingo Blitz and Slotomania already enjoy. Though casino games span several different game types — card, chance, slots, etc. — most casino games offer three main features: the ability to win soft currency, tournament play against real or computer-controlled opponents, and at least some element of chance in daily bonus spins for additional soft currency. Of the games mentioned above, all three enjoy engagement rates well over 20 percent, which is higher than what most popular role-playing, pet sim or city-building normally games see on Facebook.

Another factor that makes casino games more appealing is the probability that Facebook will allow real money gambling sometime in the near future in regions where the practice is legal. Social games with a preexisting audience will be quicker to take advantage of the decision when and if Facebook makes it, which may have been a key motivation for gambling machine giant IGT’s purchase of DoubleDown Interactive earlier this month.

You can track Caesars Casino’s progress on Facebook with AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.

International Game Technology has acquired DoubleDown Casino developer Double Down Interactive for $500 million, made up of $250 million in cash, $85 million in retention payments for the next two years and a $165 million earnout payable over the next three years.

DoubleDown Casino started off in 2010 looking like another pretender to Texas HoldEm Poker’s crown as top casino/gambling-themed game, but rapidly scaled in 2011 to become one of the top games in the genre on Facebook. According to our AppData traffic tracking service, the game currently enjoys 4.7 million monthly active users and 1.3 million daily active users. The developer plans to release a mobile version in a matter of weeks. Read our review of the Facebook version here.

With Facebook potentially allowing real money gambling in certain parts of the world (like in the United Kingdom, where it’s legal), gambling-themed social games like DoubleDown are well-positioned to access a new audience segment that wants to play with real money. Games that already have established audiences may also be able to convert existing players that use only in-game currency to real money players, given that people are more likely to trust a developer they know rather than new social game developers that build games only for real money gambling.

We’ve contacted DoubleDown Interactive for additional information on the acquisition. A conference call is also being held for the media tomorrow morning. We’ll update this story as necessary.

Israeli social game developer Playtika is now completely owned by U.S. casino giant Caesars Entertainment Corporation, according to a report from Globes filed late last week.

The Slotomania developer raised some eyebrows back in May when it was quietly announced that Caesars (via its Harrah’s casino brand) had purchased 51% of the company for up to $90 million. We couldn’t get the developer to comment for the record at the time, but this week’s report reveals that the partial acquisition contained a an option to acquire the balance of shares within two years — which Caesars has apparently taken advantage of just seven months later. Globes cites an unnamed source that puts the current value of Playtika shares slightly higher than what Caesars paid the first time.

Since that time, Playtika has kept Slotomania growing at a steady pace and recently released an iOS version. A Chinese language version of the game launched in April, but hasn’t seen as much traction. Playtika’s other game franchise, Farkle Pro, has been in steady decline since about October. According to our AppData traffic tracking service, the developer enjoys 5.8 million monthly active users and 1.68 million daily active users across all its Facebook apps.

2011 saw a growing diversity in social games with new genre and gameplay types emerging on Facebook, such as hidden object games, racing games, and strategy combat titles with real time multiplayer modes. Based on data collected from AppData, our data tracking service, here are the most popular genres for successful Facebook games this year.

Note: For the purposes of this report, “successful” is defined by games with over 100,000 monthly active users and current retention rates (daily active users as a percent of monthly active users) of 20% or higher. Because many Facebook games (especially those from top publishers) enjoy artificially high usage rates in their first three months, this list only includes games that were launched and reviewed by Inside Social Games between January and September 2011.

1) Arcade — 14.2 million MAU
Three games with the fast casual action of the arcade genre gained strong traffic in 2011: Wooga’s Diamond Dash (11,600,000 MAU), PlayQ’s HotShot (1.4 Million MAU), and GameHouse’s Collapse! Blast (1.2 million MAU). Notably, all three have similar gameplay of matching (or destroying) three like objects for points.

2) Word — 13.8 million MAU
Since launching in July, Words With Friends, Zynga’s Scrabble-like board game, has enjoyed consistently strong growth and engagement rates. It’s the only 2011 game in this genre to reach extremely large user numbers.

Words With Friends’ success is probably due both to its heavy resemblance to Scrabble and its cross-platform feature, which allows Facebook users to play with others both on desktop and mobile. Because Scrabble-type games typically focus on asynchronous play with simple graphics, they’re well-suited to the Facebook platform. Indeed, Electronic Arts’ official Scrabble game for Facebook attracts heavy engagement (if less users, with just 1 million MAU), as does Lexulous, an independently-produced Facebook game once called “Scrabulous” before Scrabble rights owners demanded a name change.

3) Casino — 13.24 million MAU
Led by Playtika’s Slotomania (5.5 million MAU), DoubleDown Interactive’s DoubleDown Casino (4.5 million MAU), and Buffalo Studios’ Bingo Blitz (2.8 million MAU), the gambling-themed casino genre games of 2011 attracted high traffic and heavy engagement. Notably, each of these games currently has very high DAU/MAU rates of over 30%. While the top spot in this genre remains Zynga’s Texas HoldEm Poker, Slotomania and DoubleDown now hold the second and third positions, supplanting other slot machine and card games with a gambling aspect.

4) Hidden Object — 10 million MAU
Disney Playdom’s time travel-themed Gardens of Time (8.3 million MAU) leads this genre, in which players must find valuable game objects cleverly hidden within a graphically dense image. Also gaining heavy traffic is Mystery Manor (1.7 million MAU), developed by Game Insight and published by 6waves Lolapps. Both were launched during March/April, reached a peak of users in September (17 million MAU and 3.75 million MAU, respectively), and have shed users since then, while still maintaining strong DAU/MAU rates. Gardens of Time and Mystery Manor both arrived on iPad this month, but it appears as thoughonly Gardens of Time features Facebook Connect — which could lead to an increase in traffic for the parent game as mobile logins are counted toward its MAU and DAU. Despite the early success of these two games, it’s notable that these were the only 2011 entries in the genre tracked by Inside Social Games throughout this year.

5) City-Building — 4.3 million MAU
A genre in which players get to customize, develop, and manage the economy, infrastructure, and social aspects of their own unique city, 2011 saw the successful launch of Wooga’s Magic Land (2.7 million MAU) followed by Disney Playdom’s Gnome Town 1.6 million MAU). It’s interesting that both games merge city building with a fantasy theme, as do two games launched after September — Zynga’s CastleVille and 6waves Lolapps’ Ravenskye City. This represents a new trend in city-building games, as compared to market leader Zynga’s CityVille (launched in 2010), which has a realistic, modern day city theme.

6) Role-Playing Games — 2.5 million MAU
In a role-playing game (RPG), players customize and enhance their own unique game character, and use it to progress through a series of game challenges and objectives, in a variety of environments and themes. Led by Digital Chocolate’s undead-themed Zombie Lane, the RPG genre added a number of new entries in 2011. The Vampire Diaries: Get Sucked In — based on the TV show of the same name — has 300,000 MAU, while the dungeon crawler-type Hello Adventure has about 100,000 MAU. This year saw the launch of over three dozen RPG games, most of which have lower traffic or engagement rates than these three. For instance, Zygna’s Mafia Wars 2 still has 6.1 million MAU, but less than 10% DAU/MAU, and EA Playfish’s The Sims Social, has 27.2 million MAU but less than 20% DAU/MAU (and trending downward), as does Coco Girl, a fashion-themed RPG (3 million MAU) launched in October. Zynga’s CastleVille, which launched late in 2011, has both strong city building elements (see above) and RPG features.

7) Strategy & Combat — 1.86 million MAU
Three entries in the military and battle-themed genre of strategy & combat maintain high engagement rates: Kixeye’s Battle Pirates (720,000 MAU) and War Commander (530,000 MAU), with Kabam’s Edgeworld between both with 610,000 MAU. Zynga’s Empires & Allies still maintains a large base of players (15.6 million MAU), as does Social Point’s Social Empires (4.9 million MAU), but have seen engagement rates fall below 20% DAU/MAU in December. Their overall size should also be considered as an indicator of the genre’s popularity, however, and we anticipate seeing more entries in strategy & combat throughout the end of the year and into 2012.

8) Game Show — 1.06 million MAU
Led by Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (650,000 MAU) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (410,000 MAU), game show-themed trivia games have over a million players on Facebook. Both are licensed from popular TV game show franchises. New entries in 2011 like Jeopardy! have gained smaller, but very engaged audiences. Three other 2011 game show games — Deal or No Deal, $100,000 Pyramid, and 1 vs 100 — have not done as well, however, which leads us to question just how easily a game show’s TV audience is translated to Facebook.

Going into 2012, we expect to see more entries in the casino, arcade, and strategy-combat categories as new developers experiment with the genres. Hidden object games may also see some growth in the new year as Zynga attempts to replicate the success of Garndes of Time with its own entry, Hidden Chronicles. In contrast, the city-building and RPG genres seem to be saturated, though it’s possible that a hybrid of the two genres — say, Zynga’s CastleVille — may still have room to grow.