OpenFeint
Encyclopedia
OpenFeint is a social platform and application for the iOS and recently also available for Android. It was developed by Aurora Feint, a company named after the video game of the same name
, by the same developers. It is used by multiple iPhone applications. Similar iPhone social platforms include Plus+
, Crystal, Gameloft Live
, Scorel∞p
, Geocade, and agon•
.
While OpenFeint (the SDK) is the social platform, the company has created separate applications that promote/advertise developers' games.
Version 2.1 of the OpenFeint iPhone application was released on August 14, 2009. It featured what it called "Social challenges", which allowed users to create tasks for themselves and their friends to attempt within games installed on their iPhone devices. The application notified users when new challenges were available through the iPhone's Push Notification feature. In addition, the update allowed users to add users as their "Friends", and it introduced a new user interface that included customization options and offline support for high scores and achievements. Commenting on the update, Jason and Danielle of Aurora Feint said, "Our mission is simple: we always want to be at the forefront of new capabilities that can benefit our developer and user community. With OpenFeint 2.1 we are proud to lead the way into social challenge based gameplay on the iPhone."
Version 2.4 of the OpenFeint iPhone application was released on January 8, 2010, which revamped the layout for showcasing applications that use the platform. With the advent of OpenFeint 2.4, a standalone OpenFeint app was released. As of January 2010, there are over 900 applications in the App Store that use OpenFeint, and there are over ten million users registered on the network. Since Apple Inc. announced the iPad
on January 27, 2010, OpenFeint has been working to migrate its network to the new device. On September 15, 2010, OpenFeint announced that it would be supporting devices with the Android operating system. In March 2011, one of the moderators of OpenFeint launched a PHP website of OpenFeint's forums. This website allows OpenFeint users to see the forums and their profile pages. In April of 2011, Japanese company GREE, Inc.
bought OpenFeint for $104 million USD.
Aurora feint
Aurora Feint is a video game series developed by Danielle Cassley and Jason Citron for iOS. Aurora Feint The Beginning was released in the first wave of App Store applications in July 2008 and is a free single-player game which combines the geometric shape manipulation of Tetris Attack with the...
, by the same developers. It is used by multiple iPhone applications. Similar iPhone social platforms include Plus+
Plus+
Plus+ is a network created by ngmoco in June 2009. The network is much like that of Xbox Live where users have friends, what games they are playing, and news. This network relates a lot to one already existing known as OpenFeint as seen in the later topic. Jordan, Jon. "Ngmoco unveils its social...
, Crystal, Gameloft Live
Gameloft Live
Gameloft Live is an online service made for iOS and Android games made by Gameloft. The service also lets players view online rankings in certain games...
, Scorel∞p
Scoreloop
Scoreloop is a cross-platform social gaming network for the operating systems Android, Bada, iOS and Windows Phone 7.-History:...
, Geocade, and agon•
AGON Online
AGON Online is a social gaming platform for the iPhone. It supports leaderboards, location-aware scoring, and friends lists. It is similar to OpenFeint, Plus+, and Scoreloop....
.
About
OpenFeint is a 'social platform' which allows developers to easily add social networking aspects into their game with minimal additional programming. For example, it lets you add friends, see what your friends are playing, view leaderboards, forums and live chat, and more. It also serves as a platform to advertise other 'OpenFeint enabled' games. For most iPhone games OpenFeint is optional and works as a 'layer' on top of the actual game. OpenFeint enabled games have the option of including a badge on the corner of their game's icon consisting of the OpenFeint logo.While OpenFeint (the SDK) is the social platform, the company has created separate applications that promote/advertise developers' games.
- Game Channel (iOS): Game Channel is an application which gives users access to OpenFeint's Free Game of the Day, Fire Sale, and Gold Game
- Free Game of the Day: Every day a new game is made free for download
- Fire Sale: Premium Games costing more than $2.99 are voted on by the community to have their price reduced
- Gold Game: An area to recognize the most successful games on the OpenFeint platform
- Feint Spotlight (Android): Feint Spotlight is an application which gives users access to OpenFeint's current game selection on the Android platform
History
The first iteration of OpenFeint was launched on February 17, 2009. After the release of OpenFeint 2.0 in June 2009, the platform had more than one million active iPhone users within one month, on July 15, 2009. This version also marked the first time that the platform was free for developers to integrate into their own applications.Version 2.1 of the OpenFeint iPhone application was released on August 14, 2009. It featured what it called "Social challenges", which allowed users to create tasks for themselves and their friends to attempt within games installed on their iPhone devices. The application notified users when new challenges were available through the iPhone's Push Notification feature. In addition, the update allowed users to add users as their "Friends", and it introduced a new user interface that included customization options and offline support for high scores and achievements. Commenting on the update, Jason and Danielle of Aurora Feint said, "Our mission is simple: we always want to be at the forefront of new capabilities that can benefit our developer and user community. With OpenFeint 2.1 we are proud to lead the way into social challenge based gameplay on the iPhone."
Version 2.4 of the OpenFeint iPhone application was released on January 8, 2010, which revamped the layout for showcasing applications that use the platform. With the advent of OpenFeint 2.4, a standalone OpenFeint app was released. As of January 2010, there are over 900 applications in the App Store that use OpenFeint, and there are over ten million users registered on the network. Since Apple Inc. announced the iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
on January 27, 2010, OpenFeint has been working to migrate its network to the new device. On September 15, 2010, OpenFeint announced that it would be supporting devices with the Android operating system. In March 2011, one of the moderators of OpenFeint launched a PHP website of OpenFeint's forums. This website allows OpenFeint users to see the forums and their profile pages. In April of 2011, Japanese company GREE, Inc.
GREE, Inc.
is a Japanese Internet media company with headquarters in Tokyo that has been operating social network service GREE since its establishment in December 2004....
bought OpenFeint for $104 million USD.
Notable applications
The following is a list of some of the many applications that use/are integrated with OpenFeint:- Word Ball
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