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Google+ Games shutting down on June 30th in favor of Google Play game services

Google+ Games shutting down on June 30th in favor of Google Play game services

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Google New York Chelsea Office (STOCK)
Google New York Chelsea Office (STOCK)

One of yesterday's big Google I/O announcements was the launch of Google Play game services, a cross-platform tool that will sync progress, achievements. and other gaming data on Android, the web, and even iOS. So what's to become of Google+ Games, a feature ripped pretty closely from Facebook that that the company touted when the service was introduced two years ago? Well, Google has confirmed that it'll be shut down as of June 30th — when that happens, users will have to find another source to play their favorite Google+ games. Google helpfully included a list of major developers and contact info in its post announcing the shutdown to both let users find another place to play their games and also to find out what'll happen with any payments for in-game items players might have made.

All in all, Google+ Games never really took off, and we're not exactly sorry to see it go as Google tries to tighten up its vision of a social network rather than just mimic popular Facebook features — photos and direct communication via Hangouts are two big and obvious priorities. With the impending launch of Google Play game services and their availability on the web, we're expecting to see Google's browser-based gaming presence grow, so cutting back on Google+ Games shouldn't be a major loss.