14 DAY TRIAL // There's no doubt that a games component for Google+ is coming. The only real question is when. Apparently, it's soon, the latest rumors indicate that a game platform is launching any time now, even by the end of the month, and that Google already has publishers working to have launch titles ready.
The latest rumors add a few more details on Google's upcoming platform. Not only that, Google has basically confirmed the platform itself through a Google+ help page that reads:
"If you're looking for updates shared from games, check out your Games stream."
The link to 'Games stream' leads to a missing page, but it's clear that Google is putting the finishing touches on this.
Like Facebook, developers will be able to build games that make use of the Google+ network and, presumably, of other Google products, via the always present notification bar if nothing else.
Unlike Facebook, the games will run on Google's servers rather than the developers', the reason behind this is to ensure that games perform well and can scale easily.
This is actually a big difference. Zynga, the largest social game developer and the largest app developer on Facebook, employs several data centers of its own and is also one of Amazon Web Services' biggest customer.
If Google were to run the games, developers would save quite a lot on computing power.
What's more, Google is not only not charging more for the convenience, the new platform is said to offer better terms than Facebook, which takes 30 percent off of every app transaction.
The exact terms haven't been revealed, but are expected to be significantly smaller. Google has just launched an in-app payments API that only takes a five percent cut from transactions.
While this does not necessarily mean that the games platform will use the same terms, it's a strong indicator of what Google is aiming for.
Google can offer better terms because it has always relied on advertising for the bulk of its revenue.
The company probably hopes it can do the same with games, though, as Android apps have shown, this may not always be the best approach.
Regardless, with 20 million users and a lot of hype, Google+ could be a great launchpad for Google Games. And the fact that Google is an investor in Zynga guarantees some strong titles at launch. Facebook has exclusivity on pretty much all Zynga titles on the social network, so don't expect FarmVille and co. in Google Games.