On Wednesday, Facebook announced two updates to its payments product, both pertaining to subscriptions and local currency pricing.
“Many developers successfully monetize their apps with one-time purchases of virtual items,” Prashant Fuloria shared on the Facebook Developer’s Blog. “Beginning in July, we are launching subscriptions as another way for you to build your businesses on Facebook. With subscriptions, you can establish a recurring revenue stream and offer updated content or premium experiences for a monthly fee.”
This new feature will be available to to all Facebook.com and mobile web apps in July. In the meantime, you can get started by reviewing our documentation and signing up for more details. Subscriptions are already being tested by developers such as KIXEYE and Zynga.
“Since we introduced Credits in 2009,” he went on say, “most games on Facebook have implemented their own virtual currencies, reducing the need for a platform-wide virtual currency. As a result, we are updating our payments product to support pricing in local currency (ex: US dollar, British pound and Japanese yen) instead of Credits.”
By supporting pricing in local currency, Facebook says its hopes to “simplify the purchase experience, give you more flexibility, and make it easier to reach a global audience of Facebook users who want a way to pay for your apps and games in their local currency.”
Facebook promises that this transition will be seamless on Facebook.
To learn more about the forthcoming changes, click here.