Facebook Purchases Unit 2 Games as Social Media Giant Ventures into Gaming

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 06 June 2021, 01:06 pm

Facebook has officially acquired United 2 Games, and is now a part of Facebook Gaming. The developer is known for Crayta, the collaborative game creation platform built on Unreal Engine 4 launched as a Stadia exclusive in 2020.

Facebook Buys United 2 Games

Facebook will absorb the Unite 2 Games team and will now own its technology, so fans of the developer and its games have nothing to worry about regarding the transition.

Based on the FAQs that the company posted about the acquisition, the team won't stop working on Crayta, and the game will continue to be available.

Crayta is a platform that gives you an easy way to create your own games, or to create one with collaborators, even if you do not know how to code, according to Engadget.

Also Read: Facebook App Puts A Dedicated 'Gaming' Hub Front And Center

You can have other people play your games, and you can even earn money from your efforts. Of course, users will be able to conjure up more sophisticated levels and rules if they do know how to code and are already experienced in game development. Still, technical know-how is not a requirement to begin Crayta.

Facebook purchased the company to make game creation more accessible and easy to use. Facebook is planning to integrate Crayta's creation toolset into Facebook Gaming's cloud platform to deliver new experiences on its website instantly.

When the game-making platform arrived on Stadia in 2020, it became the launching pad of the service's state share feature.

State share gives you a way to jump into a title at the same point as your friend or a streamer that you are watching through a simple link.

Facebook said in its acquisition announcement that it is also working on a similar feature and that it believes it can take things much further. It did not explain how, but it wrote that the addition of Unit 2 Games and its creation tools will complement and accelerate those efforts.

Facebook Gaming

The acquisition of Unit 2 Games came after Facebook announced that it will add monetization tools for creators who focus on video-on-demand.

Facebook stated that gaming creators continue to create meaningful communities and earn meaningful revenue on Facebook Gaming.

Whether pursuing a full-fledged career, a side hustle or making content just for fun, Facebook Gaming is creating monetization tools so that creators can thrive on the platform.

This means that Facebook Gaming is going after YouTube's creators, according to Venture Beats.

The platform is taking steps to support prerecorded and edited gaming videos called video-on-demand or VoD.

They start with monetization and test how people support their favorite creators by sending Stars while watching VoD content. This is a new way for viewers to show they are fans outside of livestreaming.

With VoD, the creator can set a Stars goal for videos in a dashboard and track it in real-time against Stars received from viewers.

For Stars-eligible VoD content, a ticker will display messages that contain Stars, and animations will play when people send these.

To help deepen the connection between creators and their fans, Facebook has added tools for creators to respond individually, or in batches, to Star senders.