Messaging Apps as a Game Platform
Messaging apps are forming a new backbone of mobile communication infrastructure, connecting users with a suite of new useful features, such as shopping, payments, and ride-sharing, that make it less reasonable to rely on multiple standalone apps to get things done.
In Asia, entertainment features have found a home in messaging apps LINE and WeChat, where users can launch directly into anything from a quick multiplayer puzzle game to a full-fledged MMO. These games have an immediate advantage over standalone apps: they launch directly from a chat window, have access to contacts for multiplayer, payments for monetization, and (by nature) have tightly-integrated communication features. Messenger games have hit a renaissance in these markets, with a wealth of options instantly being shared from user to user and being accessed and played as often as they check their messages.
We are seeing messenger games expanding to more global apps (Facebook Messenger and Apple’s iMessage) and finally give gamers seamless social integration and instant gratification, without leaving the comfort of a group chat.
Smaller, Lighter, and Faster Messenger Games
While current messenger games are a reality showing significant gains in popularity, they do carry some tradeoffs. They tend to still be large in size (like any game) and lack the performance of a dedicated app. Unity Engine’s new Entity Component System (ECS) and revolutionary compression technology, which is still in alpha, is already on a path to change that. The compact and efficient runtimes this tech enables, means that we can now make tiny (as in Kilobytes) and uncompromising games that launch from a chat message in an instant and carry the performance and cross-compatibility Unity Engine is known for.
Messenger Games by Workinman Interactive
Working directly with Unity Technologies, Workinman Interactive, a New York-based video game and IoT development studio has already been putting the new cutting-edge technology to use, creating compact action-packed games as playable advertisements and demos. Workinman’s decade of experience as an award winning 2D and 3D game developer, as well as leaders in brand nurturing and technical R&D, have given them precisely the qualifications to bring exciting games based on this exciting new tech to market. As the future of messenger-based gaming approaches, Workinman is ready to meet you there.
Learn more information on Workinman Interactive’s game design and development services.
