UPDATED 09:46 EDT / AUGUST 12 2011

How Can Google+ Games Beat Facebook?

Google +, the social networking of Google is doing a fair job in the social networking world.   With 25 Million users in a short period of time and growing an approximate rate of 1 million users a day, Google Plus has definitely set the bar high.

Since Google +’s launch, its comparison between Facebook has never stopped.  One of the reasons people love Facebook is their social gaming integration, making Facebook more popular and extending more ways for users to socialize around virtual activities.   After Google Plus’ earlier hints of Social Gaming Features,  they are now bringing the challenge to a higher level by formally launching Google+ Games.

Users of Google’s social network will now be able to play games such as Angry Birds, Zynga Poker, Zombie Lane, Monster World, Crime City, and a few more.   Google + is still rounding up developers to optimize games for this unique platform offering.

“We are going to be very aggressive about making users happy.” according to Punit Soni, Google + Games Product Manager.

So how will this be a start of a competition between the leading leader Facebooks and the newbie Google +?  The new Social gaming feature sounds like “Facebook” inside Google +, with the Google+ spin on private social gaming updates.  From Google’s official announcement:

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.

That means giving 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.

When you’re ready to play, the Games page is waiting—click the games button at the top of your stream. You can see the latest game updates from your circles, browse the invites you’ve received and check out games that people you know have played recently. The Games page is also where your game accomplishments will appear. So you can comfortably share your latest high score—your circles will only see the updates when they’re interested in playing games too.

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.

Having said this, receiving auto notifications (by posting them on your wall) from your friend’s games’ achievements will no longer be experienced in Google + since all game-related status updates are limited into the Games page only.   Whew!  Such a big relief, especially to your friends who are not a fan of social gaming.

In the long run, it seems Google+ Games is just a small part of what Google actually wants to do in the gaming space.  It was reported that Google has invested $100 Million in Zynga to anchor the launch of Google Games.  A report also confirmed that Google is just charging a 5 percent commission to game developers, compared to 30 percent of Facebook.

The battle then doesn’t just lie on the games that are available.  Now, Facebook will be facing a new challenge – keeping their commission lower yet staying competitive, and finding an  ideal way to segue into the mobile realm.  Developers are already looking to monetize social gaming trends beyond the walls of Facebook.  Maintaining its ecosystem will involve a lot of strategic updates from Facebook to incorporate to gaming trends, purchasing behavior and emerging technology.


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