OpenFeint connects iPhone and Android games
New invite system goes live on iOS today, with Android rollout later this year
Mobile developer Aurora Feint have announced a new viral game distribution system for its social game network OpenFeint, which will eventually allow players to send SMS and email game invites across both iPhone and Android formats.
Aurora Feint announced support for Android last month, although OpenFeint 2.6 launched today only on iOS. A specific launch date for Android and cross-platform support has not been announced, although it is expected later this year.
OpenFeint claims to be the largest mobile social gaming community on iOS devices, with over 35 million registered users and a presence in over 2600 games.
"With Game Center just around the corner and thousands more games coming on the market every year, effective and unique promotion is more important than ever," said Jason Citron, CEO of Aurora Feint.
"By creating this out-of-network invite system, we'll help players give more organic game endorsements shedding light on the best games out there and resulting in more game downloads," he added.
Other new features in OpenFeint 2.6 include a new time-based leaderboard with geo-location services. Safeguards are also promised to prevent spamming. The update comes as a result of a second round of funding from Chinese investor, online publisher The9.
"One glaring problem with today's mobile gaming community is how fractured it is across platforms, OpenFeint is bridging the gap between gamers," said Peter Relan, executive chairman of Aurora Feint.
"As we expand cross platform this summer, we're going to roll out services that will help friends that use different device platforms play against each other," he added.