Google Plus Games Launched
Google: Today we’re adding games to Google+. The stream will remain focused on conversations; http://eicker.at/PlusGames
The Google Plus series: Circles, Sparks, Hangouts, Huddle – Reviews, Differences, Business
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Gerrit Eicker
Gerrit Eicker 08:06 on 12. August 2011 Permalink |
Learnings: Games have a higher priority than business (profiles) and have definitely been on the agenda before G+’s launch. They even have a higher priority than usability fixes to the +Stream, +Notifications, +Circles. Well…
Google: “Today we’re adding games to Google+. With the Google+ project, we want to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web. But sharing is about more than just conversations. The experiences we have together are just as important to our relationships. We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life. – [G]iving you control over when you see games, how you play them and with whom you share your experiences. Games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t. … If you’re not interested in games, it’s easy to ignore them. Your stream will remain focused on conversations with the people you care about.”
GigaOM: “The first titles include Angry Birds from Rovio, Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap and most notably Zynga Poker from longtime Facebook game developer Zynga, which is preparing to go public. … The move ratchets up the competition with Facebook and gives Facebook game developers a new opportunity. Some have felt that Facebook has played favorites with Zynga, which is by far the largest developer on Facebook. Now this will give them more leverage in dealing with Facebook and another place to make some money. Google+ won’t have top Zynga titles like Cityville and Farmville because they’re exclusive to Facebook but it does show that Zynga is further branching out apart from Facebook. … I don’t know how big a deal that is, since Facebook has clamped down on some of the game notifications you see. But it’s one way that Google is trying to stand out.”
RWW: “Games are an important feature for a social network that wants to compete with Facebook for users’ attention, not to mention its gaming business. … The battle for game developer attention is likely to be heated. Tricia Duryee reported late last month at All Things D that multiple sources told her Google would try to undercut Facebook by charging developers a lower fee for things like in-app sales. – Mike Swift, a writer at the San Jose Mercury News (Silicon Valley’s paper of record), says that Facebook has already issued a call for a press conference on the topic of gaming tomorrow.”
VB: “Zynga has built its business on social games on Facebook, and it currently has more than 250 million monthly active users, according to AppData. The company has been so successful that it recently filed to go public and raise up to $1 billion, and it made $90 million in income last year. Part of Zynga’s success comes from its ability to promote games virally through notifications – something Google appears to be shying away from.“