Instant Games: Facebook’s New Cross-Platform Experience for Messenger, News Feed

Tom Dotan of The Information reported earlier this month that the social network was testing the platform, which would allow Messenger users to play “lightweight” and “asynchronous” games against their friends.

Product manager, games Alissa Ju announced in a blog post that users will begin seeing a game controller icon below their status update composers, and a dedicated Instant Games bookmark will also be added.

Ju added that Instant Games is now available in 30 countries for iOS version 8 or later and Android version 5 or later.

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Instant Games is launching with 17 titles:

• Pac-Man, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Galaga, Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Arkanoid, Taito
• Space Invaders, Taito
• Track & Field 100M, Konami Digital Entertainment
• Words With Friends: Frenzy, Zynga
• Shuffle Cats Mini, King
• EverWing, Blackstorm
• Hex, FRVR
• Endless Lake, Spil Games
• Templar 2048, Vonvon
• The Tribez: Puzzle Rush, Game Insight
• 2020 Connect, Softgames
• Puzzle Bobble, Taito/Blackstorm
• Zookeeper, Kiteretsu
• Brick Pop, Gamee
• Wordalot Express, MAG Interactive

Ju said developers interested in onboarding their game titles to Instant Games can register here, adding:

Instant Games, launching in closed beta, opens up a unique opportunity for game developers to lower the friction for people to discover and instantly enjoy playing games without having to install new applications. Using only one build that will run in web view, developers can easily deploy their Instant Games across multiple platforms to reach the 1.79 billion people on Facebook, as well as 1 billion people on Messenger. Facebook News Feed posts also include the “Instant Play” call-to-action to help drive distribution and discovery of new games.

And from the user standpoint, she wrote:

Instant Games on Messenger, which can be accessed through the new game controller icon just below where people type a message, offers a fun and social experience featuring score-based games, leaderboards and group thread conversations to challenge and compete against anyone on Messenger.

Instant Games can also be played on Facebook News Feed, enabling a seamless cross-platform experience where people can discover new games through recommendations, posts, challenges and the Facebook pages of individual games.

A dedicated Instant Games bookmark is also available on Facebook, where people can view and instantly replay all of their favorite titles they previously enjoyed across both platforms. Players have complete control of their gameplay experience–sharing scores only with the people they’re playing with in Messenger.

Readers: What are your initial thoughts on Facebook’s Instant Games platform?