Google Games says, 'When you can't beat 'em, undercut 'em' [Rumor]

Man, I don't know if that's even considered undercutting anymore. That's just plain crazy talk. According to All Things D, the recently revealed Google+ Games platform will only charge developers 5 percent of revenue from in-app purchases like, say, FarmVille (oh, wait).

If the website's anonymous sources are correct, and Google decides to charge a similar amount for in-game purchases, this undercuts Facebook's current service charge of 30 percent by an incredible amount.

And, if true, this appears to the strategy Google is going with. No need to sign on major talent in dangerously symbiotic contracts--ahem, Zynga--just undercut the hell out of the competition and make developers like you better.

Who knows exactly what Google+ Games will look like, but you can bet it'll have a metric ton of games at launch. That offer would simply be too goo to pass up. We've contacted Google for comment, stay tuned.

[Via Mashable]

Do you think Google can win this battle undercutting the competition alone? How else do you think Google could up the ante on Facebook?

Angry Birds is the top game on Google+ Games, Rovio exec says

Where else will the Angry Birds crash land into and dominate? Nintendo 3DS? Xbox 360? Your scientific calculator? Who knows, but according to All Things Digital, Rovio SVP of brand advertising and analytics Wibe Wagemans said yesterday at the Mobile Future Forward conference in Seattle, Wash. that Angry Birds is the number on game on Google+ Games.

Granted, that's out of all 16 games on the platform right now, but some of those games were put there by the likes of major social game creators like Zynga, Wooga, EA and Playdom. Wagemans, formerly an executive on Microsoft's Bing team, went on to say that Rovio has grown faster in the past two years than companies like MySpace, YouTube, Amazon and Skype. He also said, "We are now the fastest-growing consumer brand in history," ATD reports.

When you think about it, though: Not only is the Angry Birds game on nearly every gaming platform under the sun, but the little wingless cartoons and their amorphous green piglet enemies have been transformed into plush toys, t-shirts, board games, cook books, a feature film--need I go on?

During his talk in Seattle, Wageman revealed that Rovio welcomes over 120 million monthly Angry Birds players across the myriad of platforms the game is available on. Simply put, the western world is hooked on Angry Birds (it's science, remember?) and soon so will the East, if Rovio has any say in it. Sure, that's less than half of the 273 million or so monthly players Zynga caters to on Facebook alone, to which Wageman said, "We haven't even launched on Facebook yet." Oh ... oh, no.

[Image Credit: FuckYeahAlbuquerque]

Are you one of the 120 million or more devoted Angry Birds fans? Do you think Rovio could compete directly with Zynga when Angry Birds launches on Facebook? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment