Facebook to build its own gaming platform read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/711-facebook-to-build-its-own-gaming-platform

The company’s goal is to create a new gaming platform explicitly tied to Facebook that would run across android, iOS, Mac, and Windows PCs.

This is an interesting concept in and of itself, since gaming is almost always sandboxed by operating system. Facebook claims to develop new game developer tools, services, and integrate support for the Facebook. Facebook has announced a significant partnership with Unity Technologies

The company behind the Unity engine Unity Technologies, the largest global development platform for creating 2D, 3D, VR and AR games and experiences, and Facebook are working together to expand Facebook’s set of game developer tools and services and give Unity developers new ways to reach and engage the millions of gamers on Facebook.

 As an extension of the existing relationship, Unity will integrate support for the Facebook platform, including an all-new PC gaming platform currently in development.

 While competitor services like GOG and publisher-specific services like uPlay and Origin exist, Steam is still the 800-lb gorilla in the room. Now, Facebook has announced that it intends to challenge Valve’s dominance of the PC gaming industry as well as taking on iOS and Android at the same time.

Having embedded itself at the center of PC gaming, Steam isn’t going anywhere without a fight and Facebook’s policies and practices don’t exactly endear it to those in the gaming community who don’t like the idea of always-online games where your every action can be tracked, aggregated, and sold to advertisers.

 

Cross-platform support built around Facebook as opposed to the iOS, Android, and Windows ecosystems could theoretically appeal, but whether that’s enough to draw gamers in remains to be seen. Facebook’s ownership of Oculus has yielded few positive dividends for gamers and it’s not clear what kind of value the company would even theoretically provide.