The recent announcement from Facebook that it is looking to improve the usability and experience of social gaming is long over due according to PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.

Social gaming has grown massively in the social media sphere in the past couple of years, in line with social network growth. Particularly successful games have been those executed within the walls of Facebook, the platform’s natural use of sharing mechanics heightening the ability and potential for social games to spread across it.

Whilst social games have become highly immersive and addictive for many users, some parties have been left annoyed by a constant barrage of social game updates entering their news feeds. The changes to be introduced by Facebook will be a great way for those users who love to game on social media to both play and discover more games without risking the annoyance of their extended networks.

Philip Keightley, Account Director at online PR agency Punch Communications, said: “Online gaming has been hugely popular for a very long time, and the natural progression towards integration with social media – as with most of the internet – will only see this popularity continue to grow.

“Facebook needs to ensure that in its efforts to pioneer social gaming, as gaming hours are likely to represent a significant portion of users time on the platform, it doesn’t risk losing users who become sick of the social gaming updates being published by users in their extended networks.”

From a brand perspective, social games through platforms such as Facebook represent a huge opportunity in terms of the brand’s virality and overall reach across social media. As such, Punch has indicated that the platform changes to be implemented by Facebook will be a big factor in attracting more brands into developing socially orientated games for their pages.

For more information, or to enquire about Jobs in PR at Punch, please call 01858 411 600, or visit www.punchcomms.com.