Google has been at work on something called a ‘social-gaming’ startup, although it would appear that plans to spin it off onto its own entity. The startup, known as Arcade, has been confirmed as something focused on “gaming and friends”; but the company has not elaborated on what it means.
Arcade is the work of Google employee Michael Sayman, who has been working with Area 120 – an in-house incubator for startups. The internal division provides employees with funds and time to work on their own ideas, allowing more new products to be developed without having to divert too many resources.
For the most part Arcade seems to be a sort of social network built around gaming. A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg that the idea is that games turn into their own social network once they get enough players. Which is something that the internet giant is interested in exploring.
From what we can tell, it may end up looking like the Steam community.
Google itself has retreated from a failed attempt to get into the social media game, leaving Google+ practically abandoned. Although, in all fairness, it never really got off the ground.
[Source: Bloomberg]
