Palo Alto, Calif. — Facebook released new and updated features to its social games, just hours after Google+ launched its new gaming platform.
In its developer blog, Facebook outlined changes that are intended to improve retention, game discovery and the overall user experience. The post explained that the company plans to add real-time social app activity, make bookmarking more accessible, and add game stories that will allow user’s friends to see what their connections are doing. Facebook also introduced a new expanded-screen mode for games where current players prefer optimized viewing.
One particularly noticeable thing Facebook didn’t change, however, is the commission. Facebook takes 30 percent, while Google+ takes a much lower 5 percent to attract developers in these early days. Google hasn’t said how long this promotional rate will last or what it will rise to, but Facebook isn’t budging.
“Our goal with News Feed is to surface the most relevant stories to users from their friends, including high quality content from apps. We’ve begun rolling out a new ranking system that better surfaces app stories to the people who will most likely to engage with it, including those who don’t already use the app,” the blog read.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3tj9xhw (Insider Facebook)
http://tinyurl.com/3wbzlss (Facebook Blog)
http://tinyurl.com/3wumfgn (VentureBeat)
