EVCin

Incorporating Facebook Credits may make you a Featured Game on the new Games Dashboard, but it doesn’t necessarily drive you new traffic. Plus the intriguing reach of STi’s prepaid-phone-cards-turned-virtual-goods-gift-card.

With a great deal still unclear about Facebook Credits, the payment dispute process being tested provides some insight and also makes one wonder if developers will be able to manage issues with other payment options using the same API.

When viral marketing tactics were curtailed by Facebook’s platform and policy updates, the question wasn’t whether developers would take a hit, but how much? And whether those that thrived on aggressive viral tactics would be hurt more than those that didn’t. I look at what appears to be behind those who did well and those that took a major hit.

Facebook started enforcing a slew of application policies over the last week, forcing game developers to revamp their viral marketing. Here are three of the top changes and how top developers are revamping their viral marketing tactics.

The top games on Facebok are down 11% from their highs this month. While it looks like it might be due to the holidays, the successive declines in the peaks of the latest Zynga releases might suggest the life cycle for social games is changing.