This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 2, 2021 - August 8, 2021

Snapchat, the social media platform, introduced Snap Games to facilitate connections that go beyond mere chatting to active engagement during a time of enforced isolation.

John Imah, head of games and brand partnerships at Snap Inc, tells Digital Edge that the company’s mission over the last decade has been to facilitate authentic, expressive communication between close friends to help them stay connected. 

Towards this end, in 2019, it introduced Snap Games — a real-time, multiplayer gaming platform designed for high-fidelity, synchronous gameplay between friends, right on Snapchat. Imah explains the games have been seamlessly integrated so there is no need for users to install a separate app.

“Snap Games is built into the chat function, where millions of conversations take place every day. It features a curated selection of both first-party and third-party titles (with Zynga, Mojiworks, Gismart and more). And today, nearly 30 million Snapchatters are on Snap Games every month,” he shares.

“We believe friendship is not just about conversation, but also shared experiences — doing things that you love together. We’re thankful for the support and positive feedback we’ve received from our community and can’t wait to continue evolving the platform to better serve them, as well as our partners.”

The company has been working hard to develop new games in-house by collaborating with world-class partners. Imah adds that Snapchat recently launched 30 new games, all built just for it to accommodate its vast range of users.

“We also noticed that although it’s great when friends can play together, sometimes they simply can’t. With this in mind, we introduced ‘leaderboard games’, a type of gaming experience in Snapchat that allows you to compete with friends, whether they are online or offline.”

“Whether it’s cooking challenges (Ready Chef Go!), extreme sports (Aquapark IO), spins on classic board games (Ludo Club), zombie apocalypse-style games (Zombie Rescue Squad) or Snap’s very own features (Bitmoji Party and Trivia Party), there really is something for everyone,” he says.

Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging trend that most game developers have seen across the gaming and mobile industry, Snapchat included. Imah believes this trend has become increasingly popular because developers can use it to build engaging immersive experiences that bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds in a seamless way.

Snapchat, he says, has been dabbling in this space of innovating with AR technology for a long time now, from different types of lens experiences to something like Snappables: quick mini AR games that live alongside other lenses on Snapchat. Lens experiences in existence on Snapchat include Landmarkers, which is a location-based activated lens that brings iconic landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, to life via AR.

More recently, during Snapchat’s partner summit, it introduced “Connected Lenses”, which allows Snapchatters to connect, play with and enjoy the same AR experience together — whether they are across the room or on the other side of the world. Its first partnership is with Lego Group.

During the peak of the lockdowns last year, the company also saw increased engagement in terms of overall time spent on Snap Games, player count and usage of in-game social features like voice and chat. This was also a motivating factor to design the chat function into Snap Games, says Imah, because it realised friendship is more than just the things people chat about. It is an experience one has together and technology has enabled people to stay together while physically apart.

“As millions of lives around the world continue to be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, we know that many people are using Snapchat to stay connected with their friends and family,” says Imah, adding that during the first lockdown last year, 66% of Malaysian Snapchatters used the platform for this very purpose.

“Friendship is very much at the core of Snap Games and, of course, Snapchat! This distinct laser focus on friendship means that developers have to think about how they can add to the experience of communicating and sharing with friends above all else.”

Recognising the increased popularity of mobile games and the importance of social media in the Asian region, Imah says the company is also working on developing a truly local games experience. For example, in India, Snap Games introduced a “Dosa Dash” kitchen challenge through one of its partner hit games, Ready Chef Go!

Following the success of Aquapark IO, a waterslide racing game, which has already reached nearly 45 million players since launching last year, the developer, Voodoo, is also working on five more titles for Snap Games this year.

In Malaysia, specifically, before the pandemic, mobile gaming was already gaining considerable ground. According to a report published by Niko Partners, mobile gaming earnings growth overtook that of PC gaming from 2017 to 2019. Imah imagines this trend will continue to accelerate and says the company will continue collaborating with partners and innovating to create diverse Snap Games experiences for the community.

“Another key differentiator is that almost all our games also allow Snapchatters to use their Bitmojis as their in-game avatar, offering a more personal gaming experience with their friends. As mentioned, this is something partners also have access to, and we are always thinking about how to expand the Snap Games experience in new and innovative ways.”

Snap Games built into Snapchat has not only created a seamless user experience, but also greater personal connection to its games. Bitmoji, a digital cartoon image intended to look like and represent a user in electronic communications, is also an example of this, as 70% of daily active users of Snapchat have their Bitmoji, that is, their self-created personalised in-game avatar, linked to their Snapchat account.

Imah says last year, the company introduced Bitmoji for Games so that developers could leverage this connection people have to their Bitmoji.

“This year, we announced that Bitmoji for Games is coming to the Unity platform, making it possible for some of the most creative minds in the world to bring 3D Bitmoji into their player experience.

“We are excited to continue releasing the power of the 3D Bitmoji avatars to third-party games devices, including PCs and consoles, to help gamers on any device enjoy a more personalised gaming experience.”

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