What’s the difference between a credit card and a “credits” card? Simple: the former lets its holder make purchases in the real world; the latter gives consumers the power to buy virtual goods, such as food for that Farmville piggie; play Texas Hold Em; or participate in other Facebook-based game apps.
Starting this week, FarmVille sheep herders and MafiaWars moguls alike can purchase new premium Facebook Credits cards in $15, $25, and $50 increments in Target stores and at Target.com. The $25 and $50 Facebook Credits gift cards are also available at Best Buy and GameStop.
The Facebook Credits card is the result of a five-year alliance with social game company, Zynga, maker of popular games like Farmville, Frontierville, Mafia Wars, and Texas Hold Em Poker. With this new step, Facebook Credits will be the only payment method for most Zynga games on Facebook. This isn’t the first move Facebook has made in the direction of turning cash into Credits: a few months ago the social network signed a deal with MOL Global, a company that offers virtual Credits through terminals at stores in Asia and Australasia.
For Facebook, the Zynga alliance is an obvious move; the social networking platform already receives an estimated third of its income via game Credits purchases. A large percentage of Facebook’s most dedicated gamers belong to a demographic too young to carry their own plastic, so the availability of the new Facebook Credits gift cards will provide a welcome new form of purchasing power that doesn’t involve raiding Dad’s wallet.
For parents weary of being blackmailed to spend money by the Farmville cute factor, the new Credits cards may seem like less of a great deal. In an economic climate where many families have seen foreclosures on their houses, the thought of spending money to purchase a virtual Farmville house may seem absurd. On the other hand, some parents may find that there are advantages to being able to set aside a finite cash amount for their little FarmVille farmer to tend her sheeps. At least it prevents parents’ nightmare scenarios, like that of the 12-year-old boy who a few months back managed to get a hold of mom’s credit card and charge a whopping $1,400 in Farmville purchases before mom found out.
While Facebook Credits may be expensive fake money, they appear to give access to some very real experiences for the 200 million Facebook users who regularly play the platform’s games—whether it be through Farmville’s elite “Unwither Ring” or via purchasing that high-price friend via Friends for Sale. And irrespective of how parents may feel about the new Credits card, one thing is for sure: come Holiday time, it certainly makes picking out a gift for little Jimmy a lot easier.
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