Social network gaming, which refers to playing games that are connected to social networking services (SNS) directly, or through mobile applications (apps), is a popular online activity. Social network games (SNG) are generally free-to-play and do not award monetary prizes, but users can make in-game purchases to advance within the game, customise the game, give gifts to friends, and access other exclusive benefits and features, leading to these games being referred to as ‘freemium’. Although SNG are connected to a SNS and encourage users to interact with their connections, most SNG can be played without any social interaction. SNG have grown rapidly in popularity and the global SNG market is predicted to grow annually at 16% from 2013 to 2019 to reach a total market value of US$17.4 billion (Transparency Market Research, 2015). A survey of Facebook users in Australia in November 2012 reported that there are over 3.5 million social gamers across Australia and almost 70% play SNG daily (Spiral Media, 2013), and it is highly likely that the use of SNG has increased since this time.
