Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is expanding and strengthening its content library with the unveiling of cloud-gaming on its desktop website and Android app. The new feature will allow users on the flagship app to try free-to-play games in seconds without leaving the social network.
Facebook Cloud Gaming
In this case, Facebook users will be able to play games streamed from the tech giant’s data center without downloading them first into their devices. The gaming playing service is similar to the one offered by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL). However, it will not involve console-quality games.
Likewise, the free-to-play model would be a big boost to Facebook’s ambitions to keeping people logged into its flagship app for long. The idea is to boost engagement levels in the flagship app, which is essential to attracting more advertisers to the platform. The fact that more than 380 million people play games each month on Facebook means the cloud gaming service is on course to be a big success.
The cloud gaming service will be available on Android devices and not iOS, Facebook citing Apple’s arbitrary policies that have made it impossible for it to make the service available in the iOS ecosystem. The exclusion of iOS devices does not come as a surprise as the two tech giants are embroiled in a bitter feud.
Facebook vs. Apple
The feud started in 2018 on Apple CEO, Tim Cook, criticizing the social networking giant of its handling of user’s privacy following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook has always been accused of complacency that resulted in the data of more than 87 million users being improperly accessed.
In retaliation, Facebook has, in the recent past, rebuked Apple’s App Store policies that have also caught the attention of regulators in Washington. Apple has always rejected apps that act as third-party app stores into the app store. It has also turned down the listing of apps that distribute software as the core business. As it stands, Facebook can only bring the cloud gaming feature to iOS on enabling it on the mobile web version of the service
