As much as Android is very slowly starting to overtake iOS as the mobile OS on most consumers minds, one category Android is lacking in is in gaming. With Game Center being released this Fall, even Apple has embraced how popular gaming has been on the iPhone & iPad. But it looks like a major iPhone games publisher is getting ready make its games available on Android.
Aurora Faint is bringing its OpenFeint social gaming ecosystem, along with 9,200 developers and over 2,200 games, to the Android OS later this summer. What does that mean for you, the Android user dying for a piece of the gaming pie iPhone users have been enjoying for years now? It means now iPhone developers who have been using OpenFeint to help develop on the iPhone will be able to offer their titles on the Android market. OpenFeint on Android will not only include its standard SDK, but also its game discovery store as well as mobile payment options, one of which is incorporating Google Checkout.
OpenFeint on Android is already receiving support from major developers such as Glu Mobile, Hudson Entertainment, Digital Chocolate, and even independent developers such as DistinctDev, Pik Pok, and Rocketcat Games. As OpenFeint on Android gets closer to launch, I’m sure the number of developers supporting it will rise which means some great, quality games are coming soon to the Android market.
“The explosion in mobile online gaming is a phenomenon that affects all members of the mobile ecosystem – from OS developers and OEMs to game developers and players,” said Peter Relan, Executive Chairman of Aurora Feint. “Online games are meant to be played with all of your friends – regardless of mobile operating system. We’ve decided to expand to Android with these mobile gaming giants because all smartphone owners deserve high quality, easy to find games.”
I’m a firm believer that one gaming platform shouldn’t be far superior to its competition, so I’m happy OpenFeint is making the gaming market gap between Android & iOS just a little bit smaller, but Android certainly has a long way to go.