MySpace plans to double games audience to 50m

At GDC the firm detailed a range of modifications to its site that will make games easier to play and discover on the site.

"People use MySpace for discovery and to get discovered," said Mike Jones, co-CEO of MySpace.

But he conceded that while this was key to how MySpace became so popular in the music industry and for supporting its talent, "we lost sight of the fact this was something we were really good at".

So MySpace's overhaul will see the firm build a recommendation engine to support this plan, making games and other content easier to find, while the site limits its target audience to a core of 14 to 34 year olds.

Games are, of course, great ways to make sure users stay on a social network for long periods of time - hence why Jones says they are "a big part" of MySpace's new strategy.

33m activities take place a day on MySpace, according to Jones, and games generate 100m monthly users, playing a billion minutes

He said a third of users play games daily on MySpace - but the firm wants that to be closer to 50 per cent, effectively doubling the number of users that play social games on MySpace.

But to encourage that - and a wider uptake of MySpace - the site needs more ways to make games viral and engaging. So new notification patterns and other tweaks will 'gently' change the interface for consumers and developers.

Jones hinted that this was a previous weakness for the site, adding that "we will do everything we can to fix the viral issue."

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