Civ World Open Beta Launches Next Week on Facebook

By Brandy Shaul on Games.com

2K Games and Firaxis have announced that the highly anticipated open beta for Civ World on Facebook will launch next week! Now, don't freak out gamers, but this is pretty big news. We've been covering the game extensively leading up to this open beta launch, and share in many players' excitement about its launch.

Civ World looks to be the most accessbile Civilization game ever released, with persistent gameplay with team work between players, as experienced players share tips and world domination strategies with their less experienced friends. You'll be able to work with friends to research technologies, build grand ancient wonders, and work together with military units as you choose which enemy civilization to invade next.

Facebook Predicted to Make $1 Billion from Social Games in 2011, That's a lot of Farm Cash

We all know that social gaming on Facebook is a multi-million dollar industry, but it could actually turn into a billion dollar industry this year, if predictions made by former DoubleClick CEO Kevin Ryan pan out, namely that Facebook will earn $1 billion in revenue from social gaming in 2011. According to ZDNet, Ryan made the prediction this week, saying that while most of that $1 billion figure will come from ad sales (those ads displayed on the sidebar of Facebook pages when users load social games like FarmVille or CityVille), a large portion could also come from the purchase of Facebook Credits.

As of right now, Facebook is a private company, and as such isn't required to report its financial information. However, with the company reportedly going public as early as Q1 of 2012, it will be interesting to learn which of these figures were overinflated, or were spot on. Either way, the very thought of $1 billion in revenue is an astronomical figure - more than enough to last FarmVille 30 million players quite a while with Farm Cash purchase, as an example. We'll be sure to stick with this story and update you when and if Facebook decides to publicly comment on the figure.