It’s unfathomable to me that anyone would want to play a game that isn’t Animal Crossing, but if you personally would like to spend some time not paying a greedy capitalist racoon an ever-increasing mortgage, I’ve got good news: Facebook is making some big changes to its game offerings and would be happy to serve your entertainment needs.
This month, Facebook announced the launch of several new cloud-streamed games that are available both in the Android app and on browsers in the U.S. With no download required, these games are playable instantly and don’t require any special hardware or controllers.
Notably, this feature is not available on iOS at this point in time — due to a conflict with Apple’s cloud gaming and App Store policies — but for those who are just dying to play WWE Supercard, mobile browsers are a neat workaround.
Importantly for brands, this new technology offers a new advertising opportunity: cloud playable ads will support interactive demos from a game’s native code. This feature is currently available on Android and iOS in the U.S. (Developers can learn more about cloud playable ads here.)
Source: Facebook
The new free-to-play cloud-streaming titles include Asphalt 9: Legends, Mobile Legends: Adventure, PGA Tour Golf Shootout, Solitaire: Arthur’s Tale, and the aforementioned WWE Supercard. More games will be added to the library in the coming weeks. You’ll find them under Facebook’s redesigned Gaming tab, which includes new discovery features for finding new games.
For games running on the HTML5, the platform has been completely refreshed with new automated performance standards, as well as an enhanced review process. Facebook has also implemented additional editorial feature units to help players discover new games.
Another new feature for Facebook gaming is the introduction of player names. Choose a special avatar to represent yourself in your gameplay, if that cute profile pic from your brother’s graduation isn’t exactly striking fear into your opponents on Asphalt 9. Additionally, developers integrating Facebook Login for Gaming may now enable cross-play between their downloaded games and the Facebook cloud edition. (Developers can sign up for the closed beta here.)
Check out the new games on Android or via your browser here.