Google+ opens up to game developers

Google has put the call out to developers following its announcement that social networking platform Google+ will now feature games, with several prominent companies already on board.

In a bid to compete with Facebook, Google has launched games on Google+, which launched just six weeks ago.

In addition to featuring well-known titles Angry Birds and Bejeweled Blitz, Google+ has already forged partnerships with major gaming companies Zynga and Funzio.

Some of Zynga’s most popular games include FarmVille, CityVille and Zynga Poker. While FarmVille and CityVille won’t feature on Google+, Zynga Poker will, with more titles expected to follow.

Meanwhile, Funzio has released popular title Crime City on Google+. Funzio chief executive Ken Chiu said the company will release more games on the platform in the future.

“We’re excited to partner with Google to bring Crime City to Google+ users so they too can experience the action in high quality and immersive graphics,” Chiu said in a statement.

Google has issued a statement highlighting its own plans for the platform.

“We want to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web… We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life,” Google said in a statement.

“When you’re ready to play, the games page is waiting… You can see the latest game updates from your circles, browse the invites you’ve received and check out games that people you know have played recently.”

“The games page is also where your game accomplishments will appear. So you can comfortably share your latest high score – your circles will only see the updates when they’re interested in playing games too.”

Google hasn’t wasted any time asking developers to make games for the platform, encouraging developers to check out the Google+ Developer Blog.

“Tens of thousands of you have expressed an overwhelming desire to build applications for Google+,” Google engineering director David Glazer wrote.

“This blog will be your official source of information and announcements on the Google+ platform. Although we’re not ready to get your coding engines running, we do have some small updates to share as we prepare to open the gates.”

Glazer said developers can now view the first integrations on Google+, and hopes it will be the first of many.

“We chose to start with a small number of partners so that we could experiment, get the kinks out of our APIs, and get real end-user feedback before opening up to the world,” he wrote.

“We’re focusing on quality before quantity. We will continue to add new partners and new features in small steps, starting with today’s release of the games APIs to a small number of developers.”

“We’re keeping a close eye on feedback, and are eager to open up more access as soon as it’s ready.”