Facebook Gameroom has been launched for Windows 7 and above.
At the recently held Unity developers conference in Los Angeles, Facebook Gameroom has finally been revealed as a Windows desktop gaming platform where you can find all social media games in one place. The app is currently in the beta version and can be downloaded on Windows 7 and above.
The Facebook Gameroom is a stand-alone platform that combines the social media connectivity in games with the dedicated gaming service like Steam. It allows users to play games from a variety of sources be it web, ported mobile or just native Gameroom games.
The new gaming platform is Facebook’s attempt to recapture the glory days of its business built on games wildly popular browser games like Farmville and to developers like Zynga. However, this all changed when users moved on to mobile games. Facebook is determined to bring back the casual gamer from mobile back to PC and its gaming app.
However, it has an uphill battle ahead of it. There are already major competitors on the market such as Valve’s steam with over 125 million active users, which features both a high number of high-budget and casual games. There are also other, slightly, less popular platforms like GOG and EA’s Origin that offer a great but limited casual experience, which Facebook Gameroom hopes to capitalize on.
When it comes down to gaming platforms, all that matters is the content it offers. In this regard, Gameroom has a variety of games from different genres but it will need to add more on a constant basis. For this purpose, it will have to convince developers that the gaming platform is worth it, as it may benefit from Facebook’s already massive user base.
Unfortunately, the Gameroom will be limited to small, casual games only, at least for now. Currently, games on the platform can’t be any larger than 200 MB, but it will consider larger games of up 500 MB on a case-by-case basis. This means that mode advanced games are automatically ruled out.
Facebook will earn 30 percent as revenue from in-game payments. The company will very likely use its social media platform to promote certain games, and customers can use Facebook’s features like Live video to stream their gameplay.
What do you think about the Facebook Gameroom? Will you try it out?
Image source: Facebook
