Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Photo : Reuters/Jose Miguel Gomez)
Facebook is reportedly trying to compete with Steam with their own version of a gaming platform for the social media network but with mostly just casual games.
Valve's Steam gaming marketplace and platform has been widely successful over the past few years for PC gamers. The HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR headsets even made its way to the platform with the SteamVR store for compatible games.
Now, it would seem like Zuckerberg is set on trying to conquer the casual gaming realm as well. It is no secret that there are a lot of casual gamers on Facebook and the social media network can even be credited for the explosion of the popular Candy Crush app now available on Android and iOS devices.
Facebook said that they are building a new gaming service but no further details have been given as of now, CNET has learned. The early screenshots of the platform, dubbed as Facebook Games Arcade show mostly casual games such as Dragon City, Megapolis, Criminal Case and more.
There may still be some success considering that the billions of users on the social media network mostly play games that they already know. Facebook Games Arcade may provide the much needed categories and lobbies for users looking to play whatever may pique their interest.
Unity game developers can apply for the limited alpha version of Unity 5.4 for Facebook Games Arcade until August 31, TechCrunch reported. The free game engine has proven itself over the years to be quite the developing tool for many Android, iOS and even PC games because of its versatility and ease of use.
Steam could then be just a far off competitor for Facebook Games Arcade although there are still quite a lot of casual games available on Valve's platform. It is unclear whether the social network giant will indeed look into competing with the PC gaming marketplace giant in the following years given that they managed to push Oculus Rift's consumer VR headset to the market.
Facebook is expected to announce more details soon about its upcoming gaming platform for PCs. Unity and Facebook's partnership means that the Facebook Games Arcade will work with games ported from Android and iOS to PCs.
