There are nearly 80M Facebook strategy gamers; now that's hardcore

Surprisingly enough, a lot of Facebook gamers wouldn't consider toiling away in digital soil for hours "fun." As traditional Facebook games like CityVille and FarmVille dominate the charts monthly, another sect of social games has garnered a considerable share of gamers' time: strategy games. According to SocialTimesPro, there are 80 million Facebook gamers that enjoy the cerebral, explosion-packed and "hardcore" action of games like Empires & Allies, Army Attack and Backyard Monsters.

The report cites the top 13 strategy games on Facebook by monthly players, which totals out to about 79 million. A number of stragglers that bring in hundreds of thousands more round out that number to 80 million. Of course, Empires & Allies by Zynga tops the list with 52 million monthly players (that's a bit dated, compared to current numbers on AppData). Though, that game's "hardcore" cred is somewhat arguable.

Zynga's clearly successful answer to this growing genre on Facebook is followed by many games that purists would call the real deal. Games like Army Attack by Digital Chocolate with 5.3 million monthly players and Kixeye's Backyard Monsters with 3.9 million players. And while Kabam sits at fourth place with Dragons of Atlantis at 3.8 million, it runs the rest of the list with three more games.

The fact that strategy games are growing is no surprise. But the fact that these games--generally reserved for fans of traditional strategy series like Starcraft and Command and Conquer--make up almost a third of all Facebook gamers is shocking. The thing is that most of these games don't have the reach Zynga throws around, yet still reel in millions of Facebook gamers. Are 18 to 35-year-old men getting their Facebook fix with these games? Or, is the new breed of social gamers (ahem, moms) getting keen on game types previously reserved for wrist brace-wielding PC gamers?

While the data presented by SocialTimesPro can't provide those answers, I'd personally go with the latter. Facebook is probably the last place fans of games like Starcraft would go to in search of a new strategy fix. So, maybe Richard Garriott is right: The line between "casual" Facebook gamers and "hardcore" PC and console gamers blurs further every day.

Quote of the Moment: 'PC gaming press is discovering what to cover'

And they're mumbling and grumbling the whole way too. During an interview with [a]list daily, A Bit Lucky CEO Frederic Descamps said that "hardcore" games and social games are merging as more complexity and depth is introduced to Facebook games. However, the company's (which just launched hardcore Facebook game Lucky Space) CCO Jordan Maynard alluded to social gaming's effect on games media too.

"I think the PC gaming press is discovering what to cover," Maynard said to [a]list daily. "While initially there was a lot of rejection of the F2P space, games like League of Legends are making them rethink that. Facebook is on your PC so it is sort of PC gaming, but they didn't want to believe it."

And perhaps Maynard has a point: It's only recently that most traditional video game news outlets began to cover the social game scene. And even then it's been generally limited to Zynga and Playfish's efforts. Does this mean that Facebook games have "arrived"? Well, social games can only go up from here, one would guess.

As the two disparate game genres continue to close the gap, surely they'll garner even more attention from mainstream PC gaming press. But it makes you wonder: Do Facebook games even need to be legitimized by big time press outlets?