INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Facebook is diving deeper into in-house game development with the launch of its own version of Snapchat multiplayer augmented reality video
Today, Facebook Messenger globally launches its first two AR video chat games that you can play with up to six people.
Don''t Smile& is like
a staring contest that detects if you grin, and then users AR to contort your it an exaggerated Joker smirk while awarding your opponent the
&Asteroids Attack& sees you move your face around the navigate a space ship, avoiding rocks and grabbing laser beam powerups
Soon, Facebook also plans to launch &Beach Bump& for passing an AR ball back and forth, and a &Kitten Craze& cat matching game
To play the games, you start a video chat, hit the Star button to open the filter menu, and then select one of the games
You can snap and share screenshots to your chat thread while you play.
The games feel less polished than the launch titles for Snapchat
Snappables gaming platform that launched in April
Facebook tells me it built these games itself using the AR Studio tool it launched last
year to let developers create their own AR face filters
When asked if game development would be available to everyone through AR studio, a spokesperson told me &Not today, but we&ve seen sucessful
short-session AR games developed by the creator community and are always looking out for ways to bring the best AR content to the FB family
of apps.
For now, there will be no ads, sponsored branding, or in-app purchases in Messenger video chat games
But those all offer opportunities for Facebook and potentially outside developers to earn money
Facebook could easily show an ad interstitial between game rounds, let brands build games to promote movie releases or product launches, or
let you buy powerups to beat friends or cosmetically upgrade your in-game face.
The AR video chat games live separately from the Messenger
Instant Games platform the company launched last year
These include arcade classics and new mobile titles that users can play by themselves and challenge friends over high-scores
Facebook now allows developers of Instant Games to monetize with in-app purchases and ads, foreshadowing what could come to AR video chat
games.
Facebook Messenger rolls out Instant Games worldwide
Facebook has rarely developed its own games
It did build a few mini-games like an arcade pop-a-shot style basketball game and a soccer game to show off what the Messenger Instant Games
But typically it stuck to letting outside developers lead
Here, it may be trying to set examples of what developers should build before actually spawning a platform around video chat games.
Now with
over 1.3 billion users, Facebook Messenger is seeking more ways to keep people engaged
Having already devoured many people one-on-one utility chats, it fun group chats, video calling, and gaming that could get people spending
