Skype video chat coming to Facebook? The code seems to be there

Could we be about to see Skype video chat built into the Facebook website? One app developer claims he’s found code that points to that very feature.

Back in September there were whispers that “Deep integration” between Facebook and Skype was on its way. That seemed to be borne out by Skype introducing support for Facebook contacts in its latest beta release. What making Skype calls from Facebook though?

In a blog post today, Facebook app developer Tal Ater claims to have stumbled upon a Javascript object on the Facebook website called VideoChat with a number of properties that specifically mention Skype.

Facebook was previously reported to be testing a video chat feature back in May 2009, when similar code (not featuring mentions of Skype) was found. At the time Facebook said it had no plans to release the feature to users.

The new code (which can found on Facebook’s servers here and mirrored by Ater here), features mentions of SkypeIDs, a pretty clear signal that Skype integration is at least being considered. The code is apparently only loaded sporadically, leading Ater to speculate that Facebook is “bucket testing” the code across a small section of its userbase.

We’ve contacted Facebook for comment on this and will let you know when we hear more.