FACEBOOK has launched a cloud-gaming service that lets you “stream” video games over the internet.
It means you don’t have to download games to play them – and lets you enjoy stunning graphics better than a phone could normally handle.
Early Facebook Gaming cloud titles will be regular mobile games, with the advantage of saving you phone space.
But in the future, you could play console and PC-grade games on your phone.
The new service is available today on Android – but not on iPhone, which Facebook blames on a conflict with Apple.
There are five games available initially, all of which are mobile classics.
The launch titles include: Asphalt 9: Legends, Mobile Legends: Adventure, PGA TOUR Golf Shootout, Solitaire: Arthur’s Tale, and WWE SuperCar
Facebook says it’ll add Dirt Bike Unchained soon, as well as more games in the future.
“Cloud gaming is about expanding the types of games we already offer,” said Facebook’s Jason Rubin.
“So we’ll start with the format people enjoy playing on Facebook: free-to-play games.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re starting with games typically played on mobile devices.
“In the future, our systems and infrastructure will improve to deliver more types of games – possibly all types of games.”
Rubin added that it’s completely free to try Facebook’s cloud games.
Cloud-streaming is mooted by many as the future of gaming.
Normally games take up space on your phones, consoles and more – and require powerful processors to render the graphics.
But there’s an alternative: render the gameplay on powerful servers owned by tech companies, and then stream them to you over the internet…just like Netflix.
Today’s internet is fast enough for a game to register your movements, send it to a server, render the graphic, and send it back to you in fractions of a second.
It means you can play games without taking up space on your devices.
But more importantly, it means you can play graphically intense 4K games on a smartphone – whereas normally you’d need a very expensive gaming PC.
There are loads of rival game-streaming services on offer: Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon and Google all have their own versions.
Sadly for iPhone users, the new service isn’t available to play – with Facebook blaming Apple specifically.
“Apple treats games differently and continues to exert control over a very precious resource,” Rubin said.
Facebook’s new cloud-streaming system is available in the US for now, but will likely come to UK eventually too.
In other news, footage of the latest Call of Duty has leaked online months ahead of the game’s release.
Here’s everything we know so far about the new Call of Duty.
We recently spoke to Warzone’s creators about the future of the spin-off game.
