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Snapchat is struggling to stay relevant against evolving competition from Instagram, Twitter and a range of other rivals, prompting the company to release a line-up of Original short-form scripted shows. In an equally daring move, the app has now unveiled Snap Games, a service which allows friends to play ad-supported games in real-time.
Parent company Snap revealed the news at its LA-based Partner Summit, stating that a selection of exclusive games will be making their way to the platform. First up is Bitmoji Party, a first-party game developed by Snapchat that seemingly takes inspiration from Mario Party by pitting Bitmoji avatars in a series of mini games. According to Engadget, up to 8 friends can play at any given time.
More games are on their way, as Snapchat is reportedly teaming up with third-party developers such as “Spry Fox, ZeptoLab, Game Closure and PikPok”. One such title is described as a top-down battle royale game developed by Zynga, dubbed Tiny Royale. Snap is keeping its games service as a closed platform in order to avoid the controversy seen regarding Facebook applications, and preserving the quality of titles.
Image: Engadget
Accessing the game has been made simple, as Snapchat users will now see a rocket symbol in the chat window. Tapping on this button will launch a game of their choosing, allowing all participants to seamlessly talk via voice or text.
All games on the Snap Games service are planned to be free-to-play; however the main caveat is that players will be required to endure 6-second advertisements at various intervals. Currently, there has been no mention of a Premium feature or in-app purchases to forgo ads, but this could be implemented when the service rolls out in full.
KitGuru Says: I don’t see any sign of Snap Games on the Snapchat Beta for Android so far, but it could prove to be a fun experience if the ads aren’t too frequent. Would you welcome games on Snapchat or have you already moved on from the platform?
