Google: Chrome Web Store is "separate" to other gaming plans
"There are a lot of things going on inside of Google related to games" – DeLoura
Google's developer advocate for games Mark DeLoura has confirmed that the upcoming Chrome Web Store is not the search giant's only upcoming move into games.
When asked by GamesIndustry.biz at this year's GDC Europe as to whether the browser-based app purchase service was related to mounting speculation that Google was working on social network gaming, DeLoura hinted "I would suggest you think of them as separate things."
The web store, which is slated for a possible October release, is capable of running HTML 5-based games within the browser and theoretically without the need for plugins. "Google Chrome Web Store is our big push right now when it comes to gaming," he claimed.
However, it was not the only such momentum within the company. "There are a lot of things going on inside of Google right now, especially related to games, and when things get to the point where we can talk about them, I'll be the one jumping up and down."
Despite this, he advised that "don't believe everything you read" about the various rumours of social developer purchase and the launch of a Facebook rival. "The reports are not always accurate."
A demonstration of Chrome Web Store showed full-screen versions of Plants Vs Zombies and Lego Star Wars running within the Chrome browser.
Later updates to the browser will allow native client applications, which mean games can run without plugins on Windows, Mac and Linux, while the Unity engine will soon be coded into Chrome itself.
Web Store purchase will involve Google Checkout, the company's Paypal rival. DeLoura revealed that, for the time being, Google would be taking a mere 5 per cent of revenue from the Web Store.
In addition, there would be no fixed pricing structure. "You can have free apps, you can have paid apps, you can have subscription model. The one thing that we don't is we don't have support for in-app purchases of any kind for our systems. So the solution is to use the solution that you have."
However, Checkout would continue to evolve. "Further down the road we'll have one as well, we'll hope that you'll like ours better..."