Google’s latest service and social network du jour, Google+, has today had a major update to add games to its already-impressive repertoir. While still in a testing phase (insert joke about Google’s products being perpetually in beta here), Google+ has already proved a hit with the technorati and the public alike, notching up over 25 million users in the few short weeks it has been live – a feat made more impressive by the fact the service was invite-only for roughly half that time.
With games proving to be such an important part of the Facebook experience – popular enough for huge companies such as Zynga to gestate within the Facebook ecosystem – it was only a matter of time before Google added a similar feature.
In announcing the addition, Google SVP of Engineering Vic Gundotra couldn’t help but take a small pop at Facebook’s games integration, which is infamous for flooding Facebook News Feeds with unwanted announcements. In a blog post entitled “Fun that fits your schedule“, Gundotra likened Google+ games to a ‘games closet’ that can be opened or closed when you wish, and which don’t intrude upon your other activity on the social network.
The games – and game activity from your Circles – is kept in a separate tab at the top of the page, and there will be 16 titles available at first. These include Angry Birds (what platform would be complete without it?), Sudoku, and Zynga Poker. This isn’t the first time Zynga has stepped out of the Facebook umbrella, but it is perhaps the most significant thus far in terms of establishing the gaming firm as a platform-agnostic developer, instead of just a Facebook subsidiary.
Google have also launched a ‘Google+ Platform Blog‘ to help developers get their foot in the door. Google say the Games tab will be rolling out to all users in the next couple of days, so don’t worry if you can’t see it yet.
