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Google Is Building a Secret Social-Gaming Startup Called Arcade (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the fun-for-the-whole-family dept.

Google is secretly building a social-gaming startup in an effort to create fledgling companies within the internet-search giant. Bloomberg reports: The founder and co-owner of the new firm, called Arcade, is Michael Sayman, according to people familiar with the matter. Sayman is the 21-year-old wunderkind who started as a Facebook intern at age 17 and left that company for Alphabet Inc.'s Google last year. Arcade's first app, slated to debut this summer, will have some elements of a trivia game. A Google spokesperson confirmed the existence of Arcade, saying it was "focused on mobile gaming with friends," without elaborating on specific products. "It's a very early experiment so there aren't many details to share right now." The effort is part of Area 120, a division where select employees can work on small startups that live inside Google. Arcade's games have no tie-in with existing social networks. Users create accounts with their phone numbers, one of the people said. Google is considering it a social-media investment because once a game gets to a certain size, it's something of a social network by itself, this person said.

12 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Sooo..... by Lab+Rat+Jason · · Score: 2

    not a secret?

    --
    Which has more power: the hammer, or the anvil?
  2. Just don't... by Type44Q · · Score: 2

    Just don't go and try to trademark the word "arcade." Capiche, ya Google fucks??

  3. My prediction by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    It will be shit but quite successful.

    Then either they'll drop it or revamp it and then drop it.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:My prediction by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      I think we should start some kind of betting pool on when this services gets officially axed. $20 gets you a one week block of your choice, with winner taking the pot minus escrow expenses.

    2. Re:My prediction by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      They already bought the TLD .dev...

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    3. Re:My prediction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's just where they host all their H1-B holders named "Dev"

  4. Phone number by sit1963nz · · Score: 1

    So all I have to do is give google my phone number....ahhh...NO. And no, I don't use any google services on my phone.

    1. Re: Phone number by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You know who doesn't suffer identity theft? And are incredibly rich?

      Amish.

  5. Arcade? by PPH · · Score: 1

    Why not Carousel?

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Arcade? by molarmass192 · · Score: 2

      Don't worry about it, when he turns 22 he'll be locked out of his own app. The problem with 17 year olds is they don't understand that time keeps ticking and doesn't stop when you're 21. I kinda get it though, I thought I knew everything when I was 17 too. It took until I turned 25ish for me to realize that I simply didn't know the full extent of my own ignorance.

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
  6. Arcade? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The head of "Project Arcade" is someone who's 21, who never grew up with actual videogame arcades. And the first thing will be a freakin' trivia game?

    Why the fuck did they pick the name "arcade" to begin with?

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  7. Re:This, stop this. by Torvac · · Score: 1

    deviceid or phone number pls dont use as identity this will bite you in the ass