The most notable statistics show that sales of a game are split 70-30 between the developer and Steam, whereas retail copies are 70-30 the other way, with developers getting the short end of the stick while retailers take a bigger chunk of the pie.

FORBES: The Numbers Behind Steam's Success

Finally, in midst of the transformation and buzz, in mid-January 2011 Facebook quietly announced that starting July 1 this year it will require all Facebook social game developers to process payments through Facebook Credits and do a 30 percent revenues split between Facebook and a social game developer.

FORBES: This Spring's Epochal Upheaval in the Global Gaming Industry

Hocking says developer enthusiasm's been particularly intense for split-screen, even more so than the holographic and head-mounted display technologies that Sony's working on, and we may see the feature integrated in Bravia televisions should the idea take off.

ENGADGET: Sony's 24-inch PlayStation 3D 'dual-view' monitor: here's how it works