Video games are a fast-growing market in Latin America. Last year the region grew by 18.8%, and according to forecasts, it can increase by 50% in the coming years. And Facebook does not want to stay out of the competition in this market.
This week, Facebook announced through a press release its expansion in this sector in Latin America. Its Facebook Gaming service is expanding the availability of its gaming application to seven more countries in the region. These are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru.
Facebook Gaming is a standalone app designed to offer a more immersive gaming experience. The app releases feature designed specifically for gamers.
Currently, more than 700 million people play on Facebook, watch game videos or interact with groups of players every month on the platform; and Latin America is one of the regions with communities of Facebook’s most committed players.
Facebook Product Management Director Vivek Sharma expressed his excitement for this new step in the company.
“We are excited to expand our independent Facebook Gaming application to more countries in Latin America.”
The executive mentioned that in this way, Facebook gives people a new place to have fun and hang out with their favorite games.
“Latin America is home to some of the most committed members of the global Facebook Gaming community, and we want them to be part of our development process,” said the Facebook executive, who also added that community comments would directly influence the functions that are under development. These comments will also provide useful information for implementation plans in new countries, Vivek Sharma said.
Facebook Gaming started with a beta test in the Philippines in 2018. This year, Brazil, Mexico, and Thailand began testing the social network games app. This new Facebook product is now available for download in the Google Play store in the seven new countries.
Some of the features of the application
In addition to the announcement of the expansion of the availability of Facebook Gaming, the company also reported on some of the features of the application.
Discover personalized game content according to your interests
The Facebook app uses your account information about the games you follow on the social network so you can find them more easily. Also, this data will allow the app to offer you new content of Facebook games that are more in line with your tastes.
Connect with local game creators to see your favorite games and find your community
Over the past year, Facebook Gaming has been investing in building a reliable ecosystem of game creators on the Latin American platform with the launch of two-game initiatives: an associated game creators program to help established creators build and grow their communities, and the Level Up Program for creators of aspiring games. Both are available in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Peru.
Live games directly from the app
Game creators can stream mobile games on their phones directly through the Go Live feature of the app.
Play games instantly, including Everwing, Words with Friends, Basketball FRVR
The games in the app run through Facebook’s instant gaming platform. This platform allows people to discover and start playing instantly on Facebook, Groups, and more surfaces without the need for downloads.
Chat with friends about your favorite games
People can chat with friends, other fans, and game creators directly through the application.