A few weeks ago I wrote a post entitled Facebook To Google: I'll See Your Google Plus And Raise You A Skype. It was in reference to Facebook's recent agreement with Skpe. Now comes word that Google is about to up the ante in a big way in their high-stakes poker game as each tries to "one-app" each other.
The world of social gaming has of course, exploded. In another post I wrote, this one back in May I told of The Big Opportunity Marketers Are Missing Right Now. And that opportunity was in social gaming. And according to Wikipedia, as of June 2011, social game developer Zynga's games on Facebook have over 270 million monthly active users with the most popular games being FarmVille and CityVille. It's fairly to safe to say that Facebook loves hearing those kinds of numbers and is also quite happy to have what some may call a "monopoly" on social gaming, seeing how there are 750,000,000 on Facebook worldwide, or whatever the latest number is.
Of course these same numbers don't sit too well in the halls at Google which is why, with its shiny new toy, Google+ or Google Plus (still not sure which one is correct), at the ready, Google is poised to announce the creation of its own games network, according to a recent article on AllThingsD.com which is part of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network.
Right from the outset the writer lays it out in plain English... "Google is close to launching a social game network that could make Facebook very, very nervous."
Indeed...
The writer also makes references to a different platform for Google game network and also of "significant technical differences" whereas Google would host the games on their servers which in turn should make for a faster user experience than one finds via Zynga and Facebook.
As for when this new games network will be launched the best the writer could offer was the non-commital "coming soon."
Rest assured the Mr. Zuckerberg et al will be watching as will rest of us as this high-stakes poker game plays itself out and the two giants continue to look for ways to "one-app" each other.
You can read the full article on AllThingsD.com by clicking here.
Sources: Wikipedia, AllThingsD.com, Will Google Up The Ante With A New Games Network In Their Battle With Facebook?