This massive number comes by way of an eMarketer report, citing mostly the growth that we have seen on platforms like Facebook and Zynga. No longer do you have to release a conventional disc-based game on an Xbox or even a casual game on iOS to rake in the dough. Social gaming can represent some huge money.

Why? Because there are more people playing these kinds of games and they represent a huge potential for revenue. In 2011, it’s expected that 62 million Americans will log into a social network and play at least one game monthly. That’s 27% of the online audience.

But where is this money coming from? Part of it has to do with advertising and lead generation, but an even bigger chunk is coming via virtual goods. It’s expected that Americans will spend $653 million on virtual goods in social games in 2011. That’s a sizable increase from the $510 million spent in 2010, which is still nothing to sneeze at.

You might only get a virtual cow on your virtual farm, but the developers are raking in some real money on that transaction.

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This comes straight from Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka during a streamed press conference. He says that Rovio has created Bad Piggy Bank and it’s an in-app payment solution for Android-based devices. You don’t need to go through Google Checkout. Instead, the solution is designed to allow users to purchase application upgrades, unlock ad-free versions of apps, and so on.

The idea behind Bad Piggy Bank, then, is similar to the all the downloadable content that you’d find through Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. In the context of Angry Birds, Rovio might offer several additional stages at a nominal fee, for example. While you are in Angry Birds, you can opt to buy these extra stages and you don’t need to go through Google to do it. Further still, you don’t need a credit card either.

Apparently, Bad Piggy Bank will integrate with local wireless providers, allowing the in-app purchases to appear on your monthly cell phone bill instead. This adds a level of convenience, to be sure, and could make the impulse buy all that more impulsive. It is too bad that Google didn’t do this themselves, but it does show that Rovio has more up its sleeve that hurling feathered friends into makeshift pig-designed structures.

[BGR]

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