Facebook working to bring Credits to mobile browsers [Rumor]

The rumored Project Spartan, Facebook's HTML5-centric effort to escape the App Store via your phone's web browser, could make bookoo bucks. Bloomberg reports that, according to three unnamed sources, Facebook is in talks with developers in an effort to bring Facebook Credits to mobile browsers. Couple a mobile version of Facebook--complete with support from app and game developers including the omnipotent Zynga--and a payment platform to support shopping within those games, and Facebook becomes its own mobile app company of sorts.

Purchases made within Facebook-connected apps downloaded from the App Store or Android Market don't provide Facebook with the 30 percent cut it enjoys on the web, thanks to Facebook Credits. So, it only makes sense that, if the company is focused on a mobile browser-based Facebook offering, that its cash cow would be included. Speaking of cows, it's rumored that Zynga is working on a number HTML5-based versions of its hit games, including FarmVille, for this new mobile browser Facebook.

Bloomberg event hints at an upcoming change to how new apps and games might be discovered on the web version of Facebook. Citing more unnamed sources, Bloomberg reports that Facebook might soon have a separate News Feed solely for posts related to Facebook games and apps that will appear on the right side of the browser window.

Investment bankers like Michael Grimes play CityVille, too

For an IPO as lucrative as Zynga's $1 to $2 billion, Morgan Stanley Managing Director Michael Grimes (pictured) was seemingly willing to do anything, even play CityVille for hours on end, to gain the company's trust, Bloomberg reports. It's a strategy Grimes has used to get the investment firm in on the IPO (initial public offering) of many a company, but Grimes took his dedication to new heights in connecting with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus over his company's hit games CityVille and Empires & Allies.

And Grimes didn't just hop in to see what the fuss was all about, he all but mastered CityVille. "It's not just that Michael is building out a level or two, he's pretty advanced in his game playing," said Michael Kim of Cendana Capital, who worked with Grimes from 1997 to 2000, and is connected with both Pincus and Grimes over CityVille.

But keep in mind, Grimes' efforts in CityVille were likely to grab Pincus' attention as his company tried to tempt Zynga into choosing it to lead an IPO. However, we bet Grimes liked the game ... at least a little bit. Then again, who knows whether Grimes didn't just get a secretary to play for him--we're gonna go with the "Michael Grimes is a CityVille fanatic" scenario, anyway.

[Via Business Insider]

[Image Credit: SF Gate]

Do you think Michael Grimes is really behind the keyboard when playing CityVille and Empires & Allies with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus? Do you think it's cool of high-level execs to play Facebook games?