Facebook will target core gamers in 2013

Social games on Facebook aren't performing as well as they used to, with numerous developers now favoring mobile over browser games. But now Facebook is looking to target a new demographic: core gamers. According to Reuters, over the course of the next 12 months Facebook is backing the launch of 10 hardcore-focused games on the social network as it looks to cater for an audience that has up to this point not been hugely interested in the social games that Facebook has had to offer. Currently, social game performance on Facebook is in decline, as more casual gamers make the switch to mobile devices and, in turn, developers follow suit. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted late last year that his company's game revenues declined by 20 percent in 2012. With hardcore titles like the upcoming sci-fi combat game ChronoBlade (pictured), Facebook hopes to counteract this decline with a fresh new audience. Sean Ryan, head of game partnerships at Facebook, explained, "You'll see a whole set of games hitting in the next two quarters in particular and throughout the year that really start to redefine what people think of Facebook games." Facebook wants to embrace first-person shooters, MMO, real-time strategy games, and other such genres that appeal to the core audience, added Ryan. Of course, Facebook is also trying to get in on the mobile games act, although that particular avenue isn't proving too successful for the company at present.