Tag: social games

Google+ Games to shut down in favor of mobile games

| May 22, 2013

Google+ shuts down in favor of mobile gamesGoogle has high hopes for mobile games

Google has been making some major announcements recently concerning its various online ventures. Last week, the company announced its intentions in the social gaming space. Google has been seeing a great deal of promise in the game industry and has adopted a focus on mobile games, which have become one of the most lucrative sectors in gaming today. Google has plans to make mobile games more social, but not to tether these games to any particular website or online space.

Google+ Games will close at the end of June

In order to keep mobile games mobile, Google has announced that it will be shutting down its Google+ Games service at the end of June this year. Google+ Games served as a platform for social games in the same way that Facebook has done for years. The platform supports games like Angry Birds, CityVille, and Triple Town, as well as various others. The platform does not align with the company’s vision of mobile games, however, and Google will be focusing its efforts on other ventures.

Developers may return unused funds in games to consumers

Those interested in continuing to play the games that were available through Google+ Games will have to contact that game’s developer. According to Google, the funds that consumers spend on these games will also be an issue that must be handled with developers. Some games will be migrating to other platforms, where unused funds will be honored by the development team. Those that will not be migrating may be inclined to returned unused funds, but there is no guarantee that this will be the case with all developers.

Google Play may draw more people to Google+

With Google+ Games coming to a close, Google is likely to put most of its attention on its Google Play service. This service is being designed specifically for mobile games and is meant to introduce social elements into this space. Google expects that this new service will help boost the adoption of its own social network, which continues to struggle to find a foothold against social networking titans like Facebook and Twitter.

Google aims to make mobile games more social

| May 18, 2013

Google - Social Mobile GamesMobile games may benefit from strong social elements

Mobile games continue to pick up momentum around the world and Google is eager to ensure that it can keep consumers as engaged as possible. The famed technology company is not a game developer or publisher itself, but it is responsible for one of the most popular mobile operating systems in the world: Android. Google also operates the digital distribution system for Android applications and mobile games. While mobile games have become very popular with consumers, Google believes that there could be more variety in the current market. As such, the company has begun focusing on social games.

Social games continue to be popular with consumers

Social games were first made popular on Facebook. Users of the social network often spend much of their time playing these games while connecting with their friends. Companies like Zynga have made their names with Facebook social games, but there has been a marked decline in variety in these titles in recent years. Google believes that social games could be well received among the mobile crowd and has announced plans to introduce a new service that focuses specifically on social mobile games.

Google announces new service

Google Play Games, as it is called, is being built to bring a variety of social elements into Android gaming. The service will include multiplayer functionality, achievements, cloud-based save features, as well as other social options that are meant to help people connect and communicate with one another. The service is expected to make the mobile games available through the Google Play marketplace more attractive to a wider range of consumers. These games could benefit from the exposure they could see through the various social elements of Google’s new service.

Consumers continue to be open to mobile games

Consumers have, thus far, been very accommodating of mobile games. The market is awash with thousands upon thousands of mobile games, many of which have not received the favor of consumers. Despite the fact that many of these games go not live up to the standards of consumers, the market continues to be very open to new titles.