EA Looks to Facebook to Increase Social Gaming Share

EA has suggested that it will be focusing more of its energy on Facebook games over the coming year.

Speaking at an earnings report this week, EA executive John Schappert said that “in 2011, you’ll see more of EA’s big franchises come to Facebook as well new, original offerings.”

“Last year we saw a drop off in games related to changes on the Facebook platform, but we are encouraged by the recent turnaround,” said Schappert.

“We’re seeing an increase in game traffic on Facebook and believe the site has stabilised with a current estimate of 290 million gamers playing an average of 3.5 hours per month,” he continued.

EA bought casual game developer Playfish for $400 million last November, a move seen as EA’s way in to the lucrative world of Facebook gaming. The company was also part of Facebook’s Credits currency, signing a deal with the social network to give them 30% of revenue made using the currency.

Of the move to Facebook, Schappert said that “we know that consumers are attracted to new experiences, but quickly aggregate behind high quality and the brands and franchises they recognize from other media.”

In the conference call, EA noted a $322 million net loss for Q3 ending December 31st 2010. That was a year-on-year increase of almost 300%, however.