OnLive debuted its cloud gaming service at E3 2010 with just 19 games. Now, a year later, the company has expanded its offerings to 100 titles, and the 100th game, Red Faction: Armageddon, also is a milestone as OnLive’s first exclusive PC demo. Disney has also signed with OnLive, offering racers Split/Second and Pure, with more titles in the coming weeks and months, including LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.
Perhaps more noteworthy than its games lineup, however, is OnLive's brand-new Facebook integration. OnLive is going social in a big way, as the company is integrating its service fully with the social network behemoth. This isn't about "just providing static text and image notifications, but providing direct launch from Facebook pages into high-performance OnLive games, demos and spectating, as well as providing automatic Brag Clip video posting of your most awesome gameplay moments on your Facebook wall," OnLive states.
The company continues in its press release: "Just like the massively successful social games of today, the OnLive/Facebook experience is utterly seamless: users shift instantly between Facebook and the OnLive Game Service, and seamlessly shift from one OnLive-compatible device to another, be it almost any PC/Mac, tablet or TV today, and soon smartphones, Blu-ray/media players and IPTV/cable set-top boxes. Even if you travel, both your social network and your OnLive gaming experience will travel with you. OnLive just announced expansion to the UK and Europe later this year, and trials are underway in Asia. Before long, you’ll have instant access to OnLive everywhere."
“The OnLive Facebook integration is a watershed event for the videogame industry,” said OnLive Founder and CEO, Steve Perlman. “No one questions the massive appeal of social gaming, but before OnLive there was no frictionless way to integrate AAA core games into the global social network fabric. OnLive’s Facebook integration not only achieves this, but OnLive’s spectating, voice chat and Brag Clip videos add a media-rich social dimension unlike anything that has existed before.”
OnLive says that its Facebook integration is "just the beginning" and it has even more extensive plans in the works. Part of the initiative includes the distribution of OnLive’s Software Development Kit (SDK) for game developers to "enable new games to directly utilize OnLive and Facebook social features, such as posting in-game achievements, shouting out to friends when you need help during a game, or gifting/receiving in-game assets. With OnLive’s high-performance game servers, massive spectating/voice chat, and complete cross-device compatibility, game developers now have the ability to explore previously impossible social gaming concepts."
IndustryGamers thinks that leveraging Facebook in this way could be a huge boost for OnLive.
Other notable announcements the company made today include OnLive support for Intel-based consumer electronic devices (Internet TVs, Blu-ray players, IPTV set-top boxes, etc.), a universal OnLive wireless controller that works with almost any OnLive-compatible device (including the OnLive MicroConsole, Internet TV, PC, Mac, Tablet/Smartphone, Blu-ray/Media Player, IPTV/Cable Box), THQ's Homefront being added to OnLive's $9.99/month PlayPack, and OnLive's plan to launch in the U.K. by this fall.
