Retailers including GAME and Tesco will this week begin stocking gift cards for Facebook Credits, a new virtual currency system that enables users buy goods across the social network.

Already on offer at US stores including Walmart, Best Buy and Target, the currency is used for microtransactions in social games and apps, with Facebook receiving a 30 per cent fee for every transaction.

50 per cent of Facebook games have already adopted Facebook Credits, according to the Telegraph.

Playfish co-founder Sebastien de Halleux, now VP of business development and strategic partnerships at EA Interactive, said that "credits offer people a trusted and convenient way to buy premium items, such as a gold pack of football players in Playfish's Fifa Superstars".

Facebook users reportedly play games on the social network for a massive 927 million collective hours per month.

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