I like companies with “Play” in the name.  I also like companies that have started to crack the micro-payment model in the US.  Playdom just announced a funding round that raised $43M while Playfish made off with $275M from EA.  This amounts to some interesting validation of the Social-Causal Game / Micro-Payment Space.  Details are sketchy but it looks like these guys are pulling in $40M to $60M a year in micro-payments fueled by their Facebook and MySpace games such as Mob Wars and Social Life.

We’ve seen excitement with this kind of thing before — remember the Beenz and Flooz craze?  But this is different.  This is a new low risk / high engagement way for consumers to pay for casual games — and soon other things too.  Why ask the consumer to pay $20 once up front for a game or service while you could ask them for $1.00 at a time 5 times a day for everyday they use the game/service.  Expect this new payment method to be proven and profected in the game space then move into consul and handheld games, online video, social networking, news, and maybe to TV.

There are a couple factors at play that make the micro-payment model compelling to producers and consumers.  But two overlooked factors are environmental trends and the decline in consumerism.  The next generation may feel completely comfortable with sending a $1 virtual rose bouquet on V-day rather than spending $40 of on handful of flowers that were cut from the ground to whither and die just for that special someone.