Facebook Games Come To iPad, Mobile Devices

Social network leader Facebook launched a number of new mobile initiatives on Monday, finally releasing a native iPad app and starting a mobile gaming initiative with major players. The native iPad app is scheduled to be live on Apple's App Store sometime Monday, and features an all-new, tablet-friendly interface that encourages gestures such as pinching and swiping to interact with Facebook's content. According to the company, HTML5-based games from Zynga (FarmVille Express, Texas HoldEm Poker, Words with Friends), Wooga (Magic Land: Island), Moblyng (Social Poker Live, Word Racer Live) and Storm 8 (World War, iMobsters, Vampires Live) will be available both through its native mobile and iPad apps -- as well as for mobile browsers -- in the coming days. The company also said that Electronic Arts would debut a mobile-ready game, though a specific title was not available, and Facebook was unable to respond to our request for clarification at press time. To further cement its dedication to mobile gaming, Facebook also announced that it has extended its Facebook Credits secure payment system to mobile apps and games. The updated Credits API is available here. The new release is still pending (Gamasutra was told that the updates are available now, though this does not appear to be the case at press time), though updated documentation for interested mobile developers is available here.