PopCap and Wooga, two of the biggest social game developers on Google+, are pulling their respective titles from Google's social network less than a year after the service launched its games platform.
Google+, which was meant to be Google's answer to Facebook, has received much criticism for failing to retain or engage users. And now it appears that social game developers are also leaving the site behind.
PopCap and Wooga were two of the largest developers to make their games available on Google+ when the service launched its games platform last August. On Facebook, PopCap's Blitz series of titles have over 13 million monthly active users, while Wooga's total catalog has more than 40.1 million.
Now Wooga is removing all of its titles from Google+. The German developer expects to pull all three of its launch games -- Monster World, Diamond Dash, and Bubble Island (the company's most popular games on Facebook) -- from the platform by July 1, according to Social Games Observer.
And Electronic Arts-owned PopCap will remove its only Google+ title, Bejeweled Blitz (EA's second most popular title on Facebook with 9.3 million monthly users, behind The Sims Social), from the site next week, reports Inside Social Games.
"PopCap has decided to suspend Bejeweled Blitz on Google+ to redeploy our resources to other adaptations of Bejeweled," an EA representative tells Gamasutra. "Certainly, Google is a valuable gaming partner for PopCap and EA, and we'll continue to develop for Google platforms."
Those other Google platforms likely refer to Android and Chrome, which also host PopCap games. EA adds, "These decisions are never easy, but ultimately we believe that dedicating our resources to new projects is in the best interest of PopCap and our Bejeweled fans."
So... that will mean that any Google+ user that has spent any money on Bejeweled Blitz or Wooga's titles is about to see that money flushed down the toilet? Is that how the games on Google+ work, or do customers get to keep their games even if the publishers decide to pull them?
Paying users should be compensated in some way. A downloadable version or if the game has a standalone version on it's website then premium items there, at least something! :D
Whoever is in charge of gaming at Google+ should be replaced immediately, they are doing a lackluster job at best. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of strategies they could be operating to bring more, and better, games to Google+, but instead they go for the least effective and lame options. Having watched Google+ start out with such promise only to sink into obscure blandness the only conclusion I can reach is that the people in charge just don't get it and never will.
Google+ is like a 2nd rate Facebook.. Come on Google there is already a Facebook the world doesn't need 2.. Google really needs to leverage it's strengths which is not making plain websites where users can post their poop list. It's like Google doesn't realize it's lost the social market, it needs to focus on post-social. It's coming..
Replaced or, since it's "Don't be evil" Google, given a window seat. :D