Playing games on Facebook is usually free. It is not a secret that Facebook game developers earn their profit from purchases of virtual goods and not through ads. But what if gamers do not wish to make any purchases? How can the developers get their income? Washington-based WildTangent answers that with BrandBoost.

This new advertising platform, called BrandBoost, had been developed from the concept of value exchange advertising. This means that for players to get something, they must do something in return. In this case, it allows players to access game features by watching advertisements.

If you think about it, this is a win-win situation for both gamers and brand owners. Why? BrandBoost offers players the opportunity to unlock game features and get virtual goods just by watching 30-second advertisements for a certain product or brand. For advertisers, new advertising platform paves a way for brand owners to gain entry, promote its products, and make its existence known to the fast-growing social gaming world.

Research has proven that advertising this way is effective. 95% of the gamers take advantage of this value exchange advertising. Additionally, more of these viewers are actually attentive to the ads when in exchange for game features.

Currently, WildTangent has a wide variety of advertisers. The company’s clients include 75 top advertisers like Kellogg’s, Kraft, Unilever, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Proctor and Gamble.

BrandBoost platforms are already being used by Massive Multiplayer Games such as Free Realms. This allows gamers to view ads in exchange for free one day trials, virtual goods, power boosts, locked weapons, and other premium items which are often bought with credit cards and Paypal. Soon, it will soon be making its entry to numerous games in the social networking giants, Facebook and My Space.