Social Games Maker Playfish Raises $17M

October 28, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Sent to you by FeedsBlogger via Google Reader:

Social Games Maker Playfish Raises $17M

via Mashable! by Adam Ostrow on 10/28/08

Playfish, makers of some of the most popular casual games on social networking sites, has raised $17 million in funding from Accel Partners and Index Ventures. The company has its biggest presence on Facebook, where it has four of the top ten applications. Some of Playfish’s apps – which include Who Has the Biggest Brain and Pet Society – are now available on MySpace as well.

Since we last spoke with the company in July, usage of its games has continued to increase, despite the Facebook redesign which many have classified as the death of applications. Overall, Playfish now claims 22 million registered users (10M active) who are driving 2 billion minutes of engagement per month – more than double the numbers we were hearing from the company over the summer.

Asked about how his company has been able to weather the redesign at Facebook, CEO Kristian Segerstrale told me that he thinks some of the changes have actually helped Playfish’s applications – for example, the Windows-like taskbar, which provides easier access to frequently played apps.

Playfish is monetizing their games both through in-game advertising – in-part through Google’s AdSense for Games – and also their own transactional platform, through which they sell premium features, virtual goods, and memberships for some of their apps.

—
Related Articles at Mashable | All That’s New on the Web:

Playfish Creates Addictive Facebook Games [The Startup Review]
As Facebook Developers Get the Beat Down, Playfish Says “Bring ‘Em On”
Undisclosed Buzzd Funding Amount Finally Comes To Light
Huffington Post Raises Another $5 Million
One More Place You’ll Find Google: Games
YuMe Raises $9 Million for Another Video Ad Network
VMIX Adds $16.5 Million in Funding to Expand Video Network