In its effort help developers keep their players engaged, Facebook has announced a new Games SDK for PC games.
Only days after Facebook opened up its Instant Games platform to all developers who want to build HTML games for Facebook and Messenger, the company has announced a new Games SDK for PC game development. The new software development kit supports both C++ and Unity, and includes new features that Facebook says aim to help developers keep their players engaged, as well as help them understand and optimise the “impact of a game’s community activity with app events and analytics.”
The first feature is a new livestreaming API that allows developers to integrate livestreaming functionality into their games. Once it’s introduced within “the coming weeks,” the API will allow players to stream their gaming, as well as record clips and share on Facebook Pages, Groups, or their profiles with a new “clipping” feature.
Then, there’s Rewards – a free in-game rewards system that works by rewarding users for their livestream views. In the announcement for the new SDK, Facebook Software Engineer Alex Hopmann, explains that it “enables PC developers to create a meaningful watch experience for their community and re-engagement opportunities for their game by curating and granting free, in-game rewards for viewers who tune in during livestreams on Facebook.” Furthermore, the feature is designed to help “increase community interaction as players watch together and offer an incentive to jump back into the games they love.”
Rewards was previously only available to a few developers – it will now be available to all.
Another feature coming as part of the Games SDK is a new Key Player Stats feature, that allows game player stats to be integrated into Facebook Groups. This gives players the ability to post their stats and find other players to connect and compete with.
Finally, as part of Facebook‘s aim to help developers better understand the impact of their game’s community, the SDK brings PC game developers the ability to integrate custom App Events to use in their Facebook Analytics. The feature was only available on mobile and the web up until now.
Developers can find out more about the new SDK here.
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook Pay Starts Expanding To Other Platforms As A Payment Option
Businesses in the US will soon be able to enable Facebook Pay as a payment option directly on their websites.
Facebook Launches Harry Potter AR Experience On Portal
Facebook has announced the launch of a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child AR Experience on Portal.
Facebook Gaming Expands Its Games Library And Availability
Facebook Gaming is scaling its cloud gaming infrastructure and announcing an expansion of its games library and availability.
Facebook Announces A New Publishing And Newsletter Subscriptions Platform
Facebook has announced Bulletin, a new publishing and newsletter subscriptions platform open to a small group of US creators.
Facebook Is Now a $1 Trillion Company
On Monday, June, 28, Facebook's valuation rose over a trillion dollars, reaching $1.008 trillion as of market close.
Facebook Is Bringing Shops To WhatsApp And Marketplace
Facebook has announced several new shopping updates across its apps, including the expansion of Shops to WhatsApp and Marketplace.
Facebook Officially Launches Its Live Audio Rooms Feature
Facebook has announced the official launch of Live Audio Rooms, one of the social audio features it announced recently.
Facebook Announces New Group Management And Moderation Features
Facebook has announced several new features that will help Group admins manage and moderate their groups more effectively.
Facebook Launches Its Podcasts Feature In The US
Facebook has officially started rolling out its Podcasts features to users in the United States.
