Google Plus games service goes live

Google Plus is making a play for social gamers with the introduction of a brand new games section featuring a starting lineup of high profile titles. Announced this week, the service includes browser-based productivity killerssuch asZynga'sAngry Birds, EA'sDragon Age Legends, andBejeweled Blitz – all of which can be playedon Google's newsocial networking siteminusthe pesky updates, invites and farm-related emails that have become the bane of other *coughFacebookcough*web gaming platforms.

“We want to make playing games online just as fun, and just as meaningful, as playing in real life,” wrote Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President ofEngineering, on theGoogle Blog, adding, “That means giving you control over when you see games, how you play them and with whom you share your experiences. Games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t.”

Gundotra explained the games service will allow players to share their high scores and accomplishments with their Google Plus circles, however there will be an option to ignore any and all game related posts.

“If you’re not interested in games, it’s easy to ignore them. Your stream will remain focused on conversations with the people you care about,” he added.

In addition to luring the video game crowd, Google is reportedly reaching to game developersthemselves by offering them a 95% cut of any in-game payments made by users for the rest of the year – 25% more than what Facebook currently pays out to developers on its network.

Google Plus's games serviceis still in the process of being rolled out to members. When it does arrive (assuming it hasn't already appeared on your page),there will also be a feedback button to communicate directly with Google's games team. Of course, if you happen to be one of the lucky few to be first on Google's list, we hope you'll share your reviews with us first.

Aug 12, 2011