Snap Inc. plans to announce its long-rumored gaming platform for developers next month, Cheddar has learned.
The mobile game platform, internally codenamed “Project Cognac,” will feature a handful of games from outside developers designed to work specifically in the Snapchat app, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The new games initiative will be unveiled at Snap’s first-ever summit for content and developer partners in Los Angeles on April 4, the person said, adding that video initiatives like more original shows will also be announced. An invitation to the event that was seen by Cheddar includes the tagline, “Less talk. More play.” — a nod to the gaming platform.
To help bolster its forthcoming push into games, Snap last year acquired a small Australian gaming studio called Prettygreat for $8.6 million, according to financial documents filed publicly with the Australian government that were obtained by Cheddar. One of the employees of Prettygreat was behind the hit mobile games “Fruit Ninja” and “Jetpack Joyride.”
CNET earlier reported that Snap had invested an undisclosed amount in Prettygreat, and Business Insider reported a year ago that Snap had acquired a web-based game engine startup called PlayCanvas. The Information first reported that Snap was working on a gaming platform in mid-2018.
A Snap spokesperson declined to comment on the record for this story.
Snap has already shown its interest in gaming by launching a handful of its own lightweight, augmented reality games in the Snapchat app in early 2018. A year prior, the Chinese tech giant Tencent acquired roughly 10 percent of Snap’s publicly traded shares.
Tencent, which makes hugely popular games like “King of Glory” and “League of Legends,” said at the time that it hoped to collaborate with Snap on mobile games. It’s unclear if any of Tencent’s properties, including the game publisher Riot Games, will be involved in the launch of Snap’s gaming platform.
Games could provide a new source of revenue for Snap, either through in-app purchases or advertising. Snap’s stock has surged in recent days on positive sentiment around its most recent earnings. User growth was flat, but revenue grew 36 percent to a record $390 million. Snap has begun slowly rolling out the all-new redesign of its Android app, which the company has said should revive growth.
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A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
