Bigpoint on the danger of Facebook reliance

For someone leading a cutting edge web games firm, Bigpoint CEO Heiko Hubertz has a surprising love-hate relationship with Facebook.

As the biggest social network in the world, much of what he calls the “big hype” around online games is focused on Facebook’s successes – Zynga and FarmVille or EA’s Playfish.

But that’s blinded many to the fact Facebook is effectively a console in itself, with a format-holder that controls the balance of power. And walled gardens are of no interest to Hubertz.

“It’s really difficult if you only rely on Facebook – they can change the rules whenever they want when it comes to viral user effects and promotion of your game.

The full story can be found on Develop’s sister site MCV