While there’s been a plethora of interesting tidbits coming out of this week’s GDC Europe in Cologne, there really hasn’t been anything that’s truly been “out of the ordinary.” Well, that all changed yesterday with some juicy details about Google’s upcoming Chrome webstore.
Google’s Game Developer chief Mark DeLoura and Chrome dev Michael Mahemoff presented Google’s first major stab at the browser gaming space, highlighting the upcoming Chrome app Store. Google’s goal with gaming in the Chrome app store is simple; simplify the confusion of browser games on the internet today, including discovery, and more importantly: monetization.
If you’re thinking that the Google Chrome App Store looks remarkably like the iTunes App Store, well, you’re not alone. However, the familiar format is surely part of Google’s MO, and I’d expect a gradual shift towards a more “Google Created” design and layout. The store is expected to be powered by Google Checkout, a service the company has been trying for ages to figure out how best to utilize.
And while the Chrome App Store might look a whole lot like iTunes, there are a number of significant differences when it comes to feel. The double edged sword in the games creation process comes via the approval process. In so much as, there is none. Google’s philosophy is to make creating a web app as simple as possible. They say that a developer only need create said web app, put a wrapper on it (icons and metadata), and upload to the store. Once uploaded the app is automatically approved and published. Let’s read that again. I can create anything I want, wrap it up, and publish it to the official Google Chrome Web Store. Google definitely scores points for taking the hassle out of the approval process, but on the other hand, isn’t that approval process a quality control check? Ok, yes, Google will charge a 5 percent processing fee (in start contrast to Apple’s 30 percent cut of every sale), but even at that rate….I’m imagining a vast wasteland of buggy, poor quality, and overall crap applications flooding the Web Store. Yes, quality will float to the top, but if Google wants to simplify the process of discovery, is flooding the delta really the way to do it?
But I digress. While this is a major move for Google, let’s not forget that the Chrome Web Store is playing into a much larger Google initiative, the forthcoming Chrome OS that Google is developing, targeted at netbooks and tablets. And we all know what the best selling aps on these devices are.
And then there’s that thing about net neutrality…
source: 1up.com
Tags: browser based game, chrome, google
