Facebook released new figures about the gaming attitude of its users and says that the number of playing are now more than 235 million, up from 205 millionlast year showing an increase of more than 15% and 8.5% since January 2012.

The higher numbers can be attributed in most to the newly launched App Center which went live in May 2012. The figures of members using the App Center if also very positive; 150 million users, 2.4 more installs than the old directory, 35% returning after one day and 17% within a week. This certainly has to be good news for the social network after some turbulent few weeks.  Matt Wyndowe, product manager for apps and games at Facebook, spoke at the GDC Europe gaming conference in Germany, “We’re encouraged by the App Center’s positive reception from users and developers, but there’s still more work to be done,” Wyndowe said. “Over the coming months, we plan to continue to improve our recommendations, make it even easier for people to find apps, and create additional sources of growth for mobile apps.” Facebook are also saying that they sent people to Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store over 170 million times.

Facebook still have lots to do to improve the number of users playing and installing games. The current figures are about a quarter of the total 965 million users who are registered with the site, who made 7.5 billion visits in July. Facebook launched a real money gambling app, called Bingo Friendzy, for UK members on its site last week to increase spending in a new way. Zynga, the number one gaming partner of Facebook has recently seen activity on its games leveling out.