Facebook toys with mobile game publishing

Facebook on Tuesday got into the business of publishing mobile games, offering developers help at going global with smartphone or tablet titles in exchange for a share of revenue.

The leading social network announced a Facebook Mobile Games Publishing pilot program in which it will work with small or medium-sized developers and promote their works in the online community.

"There are many developers with awesome mobile games who don't yet have the upfront resources for a paid strategy, and we want to help them find a path to success," Facebook software engineer Victor Medeiros said in a blog post.

"We are using our unique reach and targeting capabilities to help games in our program find and engage a valuable audience of the right users."

More than 800 million members of the social network use Facebook mobile applications, and 260 million of those people play games on Facebook, according to Medeiros.

Facebook has made a priority of following its more than one billion members onto smartphones and tablets, and of finding ways to make money from visits by users on mobile devices.

Along with mobile ads in the form of "promoted" posts, Facebook makes commissions for getting members to install applications made by outside developers.

Facebook shares have climbed to new highs since the California-based company last week reported quarterly earnings showing surging mobile revenues that some saw as a turning point for the social networking giant.

The shares were up again on Tuesday, hitting $37.18 in late trades.

Facebook shares fell sharply after the highly anticipated IPO in May of last year and have yet to get back to the offering price of $38.

Analysts have been keen for Facebook to prove it can profit from members increasingly opting for smartphones or tablets instead of desktop computers to get online.

"This program is designed to reach people who already play games on Facebook with new games that may interest them," Medeiros said of mobile games publishing.

"We'll also be sharing analytics tools and the expertise we've gained from helping games grow on our platform for more than six years."