Today Apple unveiled details for the iPhone OS 4, which along with multitasking and a variety of other features (paidContent has a roundup of features), also includes the Game Center. This new option includes matchmaking, game invites, leaderboards and achievements.
"A lot of developers have come to us and said there are a bunch of different social networks out there," said senior vice president of iPhone software Scott Forstall [thanks Gamasutra]. "When you want a social network, the most important thing is that our friends are on it [and it's] built-in... that everyone can unify and be on the same social network."
"There's no money to be gained or no competitive advantage to be gained from having your own social gaming network," he added. "One of our goals with [Game Center] is to help the viral spread... You can see your friends, your friends can challenge you to a game you don't have and you can immediately download that [game]... And we added gifting in this OS so you can give it to someone you love."
While developers will get their hands on OS 4 today, users will have to wait until later in the year for the full roll-out.
