World saved: There will be Scrabble on Facebook

While hundreds of thousands of Facebook users have been playing an unlicensed online version of Scrabble called Scrabulous, Electronic Arts and Hasbro will finally roll out their version of the online game to Facebook later this month.

The new, licensed version of Scrabble will be available online for browser-based play, as well as through Facebook, and other social networks, and a licensed version is available now on Pogo.com.

Scrabulous came under legal fire earlier in the year from EA and Hasbro, when the two companies -- which own Scrabble rights in the United States and Canada -- decided they had enough of Scrabulous. Hasbro and Mattel -- which co-owns the international rights -- asked both Facebook and the game's developers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, to remove Scrabulous.

Even though they could have proceeded with legal maneuvers, the decision to refrain from doing so may have spared the manufacturers from a possible backlash by Facebook users. More than 50,000 users banded together to join a "Save Scrabulous" group. Although Scrabble is popular among an older demographic, Scrabulous has been cited as a determining factor in the growing popularity of Scrabble among college-aged users.

Launching an official version of the game will likely help EA and Hasbro in their legal battle to try and have Scrabulous removed over possible copyright infringement. The online game collects around $25,000 per month through Facebook online advertisements.

But the late arrival from EA and Hasbro means it will be competing with the "original" Scrabulous, which nets more than 450,000 users per day on Facebook.

The official version is designed to be played in real-time, or with pauses and pick-ups decided by players. Scores and other statistics also can be tracked online, with players able to compare scores with all Scrabble players, as well as against players on their friends list. EA promises an integrated chat feature, dynamic animations and avatars, access to a word list, and a difficulty level changer.

This also marks the first time a game license from EA will be placed on Facebook, though perhaps not the last. The official version of the Facebook edition is currently in private beta, and is slated for public launch before the end of the month.