Facebook is at the Le Web technology conference in Paris this week. At the event, the social network announced the top 25 social games of the year. The number one game might not surprise you, but the placement of other games on the list are sure to.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that SongPop is the number one Facebook game in 2012. It has been incredibly popular since its inception, and it sits atop App Center as the highest rated game beating out the likes of Zynga Poker and FarmVille 2.
The surprise twist is that Zynga is not in the top five this year. The social games maker launched a number of high profile games this year, but it will have to settle for three spots within the top 10. FarmVille 2 was pretty close, however, as it came in at number six. Scramble with Friends landed at number 7, and Draw Something came in at number 10.
Zynga missing the top five is not the only anomaly this year. The majority of the top rated games were developed outside the US. Facebook also notes it was the most international year as game developers from France, Spain, United Kingdom, Brazil, South Korea, Australia and Turkey all made the list.
Interestingly enough, it also seems that the tastes of Facebook gamers are changing. The popular genres of the past were management sims and puzzle games, but most of the top 25 apps now fall within the relatively new for Facebook gaming genre of action/arcade games like Jet Pack Joyride and Marvel: Avenger’s Alliance.
It should be noted that many of the top 25 games this year are available on mobile as well as Facebook proper. It just shows that an increasing number of players are moving to mobile, and Facebook was smart to follow them with its single sign on feature. Now if only the social network could learn how to monetize mobile games.
You can check out the top 25 games over at Facebook’s developer blog. Developers will want to study the list and see what’s popular this year. It could give them some ideas on how to capitalize on emerging trends in social gaming for next year.