• eWeek, Tuesday, January 25, 2011 2:39 PM

By July, Facebook will require that all game partners use Facebook Credits as their virtual payment processing system. Bottom line, "The social network wants to run all payments in-house," eWeek reports. "Facebook is throwing its muscle into its vaunted application platform, requiring that its Facebook Credits system be used by all social game developers to process payments on the social network." Credits is a virtual currency system that lets consumers enter their payment information once to buy goods and earn money on games in the social network.

According to Facebook, Credits currently processes more than 70% of virtual goods transactions on the network, spanning more than 350 applications from Zynga, PlayFish and other game developers. Developers using Credits can keep 70% of the revenue from virtual goods transactions. 10 Facebook Credits currently cost $1 for consumers, who pay for their digital goods via a credit card, gift cards, eBay's PayPal payment service and via mobile phones. Whether game makers will revolt remains to be seen, but the prominence of Facebook's platform makes it unlikely.

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