Yesterday, we reported on Google+, Google’s new social networking endeavor. After enthusiasts dug into the new social network’s source code found references to "games", which suggests Google is working on an online social gaming service we don’t know about yet.
With any major browser, it’s uncovering any page’s source code is just a few clicks away. After digging around the code, references to "Google+ Games" can be found:
The following reference leaves pretty much no doubt:
have sent you invites and more from Google+ Games
The reference to "invites" suggests that Google+ Games could be a future feature currently under development that will later be tested with a limited number of users, similar to how Google+ itself is being handled today.
It’s now being speculated that "Google+ Games" could be Google’s take on Apple’s Game Center, a social gaming portal where users and their friends can keep track of high scores and achievements. While that might be Google’s long-term goal, the company surely has another prey in mind: Facebook. The platform has been very well-known over the past few years for hosting addictive and money-making games such as Farmville and similar franchises that came after it. Facebook, however, doesn’t have a centralized way to manage high scores or share information about the game. If Google managed to create a good gaming marketplace and get enough developers on board, it could actually succeed, since they have the money after all.
Google+, which we reported on extensively yesterday, is Google’s new attempt to successfully enter the social networking space, after the failure of Google Buzz and Wave before it. With features such as effortless multi-person video chat and excellent contact management, this service takes features that already exist on other social networks and makes them better. Google is marketing it as a friendly social network built around natural human interactions.
This new development shouldn’t come as a surprise to most who have been watching Google closely. After two failed attempts, the company is being very aggressive at making Google+ competitive and compelling by exploiting the weaknesses of its competitors. There’s no word on when Google+ Games will become available, or if it will ever be, but it does sound like a good bet for Google. A recent job posting for a product manager for a gaming product earlier this year has also raised eyebrows, which suggests that this feature might be coming out rather soon.
Just over 24 hours after Google’s announcement, the service was overloaded with invites and was forced to temporarily stop new registrations. So far, so good!
(via Engadget)
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