It seems like only yesterday that people were commenting on how apps were changing the world of gaming. You didn’t need a console to play an excellent video game anymore, you could just go to the app store to buy a game and play it right there on your smartphone. However, over the years it became clear that a duopoly had developed. You could get apps from Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Store but there were no other options. It seems like Facebook is attempting to put an end to that, and it is doing so through its Messenger app.
A relatively recent feature that was introduced to Messenger was the Instant Games platform. These games are great for casually passing the time and having a nice time with friends, and the great thing about them is that they are built into the app so you don’t have to go to an external app store or make any downloads. This could pose a serious threat to both Apple and Google, both of whom earn a great deal of money from casual games such as the ones that are being offered by Facebook Messenger.
The reason why Apple and Google might be starting to sweat is because of the fact that Facebook is making things even easier for people that want to play casual games. They don’t have to download anything, thus reducing a step and making the games slightly more accessible. These games are also more accessible to an entire market of people that have cheaper phones and therefore less space that would allow them to download games and the like.
A relatively recent feature that was introduced to Messenger was the Instant Games platform. These games are great for casually passing the time and having a nice time with friends, and the great thing about them is that they are built into the app so you don’t have to go to an external app store or make any downloads. This could pose a serious threat to both Apple and Google, both of whom earn a great deal of money from casual games such as the ones that are being offered by Facebook Messenger.
The reason why Apple and Google might be starting to sweat is because of the fact that Facebook is making things even easier for people that want to play casual games. They don’t have to download anything, thus reducing a step and making the games slightly more accessible. These games are also more accessible to an entire market of people that have cheaper phones and therefore less space that would allow them to download games and the like.
"In just about 2 years, Instant Games have served up over 20 Billion game sessions played across Facebook, Messenger, and other surfaces. Now with over 6,000 games on the platform, we've got games for every type of player.", said Vivek Sharma, Director Product Management at Facebook in a blog post. Adding further, "The number of gameplay sessions during the last 90 days has rocketed up to over 6.3BN, which is almost 3x from last year, while our daily and monthly active players continues to increase as well, having also grown over 3x since the beginning of 2018."The combination of convenience and practicality could take away a lot of revenue from app store giants. We will have to wait and see how Apple and Google respond.
