Joystiq

Google+ Games no more after June 30

David Hinkle — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:00:00 EST

After June 30, Google+ Games will be no more. Google has announced it's pulling the plug on all games through its service, so if you have credits in any games or wish to continue playing, you'll need to pursue that through each individual developer.

Google announced it's pulling the plug shortly after revealing its new games services suite for Google Play, which is live right now. Google started rolling out games to its social networking service in the summer of 2011, starting with Angry Birds, Dragon Age Legends and sudoku.

Google+ Games no more after June 30 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA, Wooga pulling games from Google Plus

Mike Suszek — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:30:00 EST

PopCap and Wooga-developed games will disappear from Google's social media platform, Google+. Wooga shut down Monster World prior to May 1, issuing their own "goodbye" to Google+. Electronic Arts will remove Bejeweled Blitz from the service on Monday in order to "redeploy our resources to other adaptations of Bejeweled," a PopCap spokesman told All Things D.

A Wooga customer care representative said the company "decided to remove certain games from Google+ because we have a much larger following on Facebook and they are active users." Wooga will remove Bubble Island and Diamond Dash from Google+ on July 1.

PopCap's spokesman added that "Google is a valuable gaming partner for PopCap and EA, and we'll continue to develop for Google platforms."

EA, Wooga pulling games from Google Plus originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 17 Jun 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jamil Moledina leaves EA Partners for Funzio

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:15:00 EST

Jamil Moledina, one-time executive director of GDC and the man behind EA Partners' digital business (Shank, DeathSpank, etc), has left EA to join Funzio. Those of you who follow executive departures have probably guessed already, but Funzio is a developer of social games. Specifically, according to the press release, it does "action-packed AAA quality social games for mobile, Facebook, and Google+." The only title listed on Funzio's website is Crime City, a Facebook and iPhone title about building a city (of crime, presumably). Moledina will take up the role of vice president of business development.

Personally, we'll keep pretending that Moledina left EA to hang out with Funzio Auditore da Firenze, Ezio's cousin. He's not that great at killing people, but he will assassinate your funny bone ... with gags.

Continue reading Jamil Moledina leaves EA Partners for Funzio

Jamil Moledina leaves EA Partners for Funzio originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CityVille launches on Google Plus

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:00:00 EST

Google Plus' casual gaming cabinet may not be as fully stocked as the Facebook alternative, but one crucial missing piece of the puzzle has just been filled in: Megalithic social monolith Zynga has ported CityVille, their most popular Facebook game, to Google's fledgling platform.

The release comes shortly after the end of Google Plus' closed beta, and now that its e-doors are open to the public, we doubt this will be the end of Zynga's extra-Facebook expansion. Seeing as the company just posted a 95 percent drop in profit year over year, developing its products beyond its existing user base is a shrewd move.

CityVille launches on Google Plus originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Facebook changing games service, probably (not) unrelated to Google Plus games

Jessica Conditt — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST

Sean Ryan, Facebook's director of games partnerships, is bringing some big changes to the social network's games service, including individual game recommendations a la Netflix, improving relationships with developers and focusing on quality of games instead of quantity. Game growth has slowed since Facebook got rid of game-notification spamming last year, Ryan said, stagnating at 200 million users, but it remains a focus for the company.

Facebook's announcement of coming innovation coincides suspiciously with Google Plus' rollout of its own games service, which is only taking 5 percent commission on its games (compared to Facebook's 30 percent) and has a separate tab for games updates, meaning no wall spam. It should be interesting to see which aspects of each other's services Facebook and Google Plus steal. What won't be interesting is how similar their games sections will be in the end.

Facebook changing games service, probably (not) unrelated to Google Plus games originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google begins gradual rollout of games in Google Plus [update]

JC Fletcher — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST

After early indications were discovered in Google Plus source code -- and after anyone ever looked at Google Plus and applied common sense -- we knew games would be available on the social network soon.

Today, Google began rolling out a small assortment of games, including the ubiquitous Angry Birds, EA2D's Dragon Age Legends, and sudoku. You know, Facebook stuff. A "Games" button at the top of your stream will take you to the available games, if the rollout has made it to your account. If it hasn't, Google says it will "soon."

Google's game implementation differs from Facebook in that game-related status updates are cordoned off into the "Games" page, so you can only see them when you are looking at game stuff. Unlike Facebook, you won't have to banish all your friends when they develop Zynga problems.

[Thanks, Dylan!]

Update: Venturebeat reports that Google is only taking 5 percent commission on its games, another advantage over Facebook (who takes 30). And on the new Google Plus platform blog, engineering director David Glazer claims Plus is taking a "quality over quantity" approach with its games. Developers and new game features will be added in "small steps."

Google begins gradual rollout of games in Google Plus [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games mentioned in Google Plus source code

JC Fletcher — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:00:00 EST

As if you needed more evidence that Google was planning a games service than the recent job listing -- and the fact that, as something you do on your computer, it falls into the category of things Google would want to own -- Engadget found a hint in some Google+ source code.

Unused code somewhere within Google's social networking service reads "... have sent you Game invites and more from Google+ Games," suggesting a Facebook-like functionality allowing users to play games socially through the service at some point in the future. It stands to reason that the Big G will probably wait until more people have Google+ and, perhaps more importantly, know how to use Google+. We know plenty of developers are relieved they didn't put too much effort into Google Buzz-based games.

Games mentioned in Google Plus source code originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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