Internal app store of third-party gaming titles is apparently coming to Snapchat this fall

Snapchat has supported AR games for lenses since April

Snapchat is reportedly gearing up to launch an internal app store of gaming titles this fall.

This brand-new gaming platform, not to be confused with Snappables, will let outside developers create interactive gaming titles to be played through the Snapchat app, according to a new paywalled report out Wednesday from The Information.

A Snap spokesman declined to comment.

Snapchat’s new platform for gaming

Sources told the publication that Snap has already lined up at least one gaming publisher to make a game for the new platform, which has been in the works for at least a year now.

Snap has been dipping its toes into the waters of gaming since April, when it launched internally-built augmented reality games for lenses. Called Snappables, these let people play simple interactive games using the camera’s animated lenses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkvnmMc_hSg

This new effort builds on those early tests that gauged user interest in games. The upcoming games platform is much broader in scope because now third-party developers are involved, too. As mentioned, users will download third-party games via an internal app store.

It’s presently unclear how Snapchat’s app store might work given Apple’s App Store guidelines which bar all content sales in apps that bypass the firm’s In-App Purchase mechanism.

Messenger games, much?

Considering that gaming on Facebook’s Messenger platform hasn’t really caught on, it remains to be seen whether or not Snapchat’s young audience will take the plunge.

If they do, Snap will benefit from increased engagement as users spend potentially more time on its platform. Hit games could even attach new users to the Snapchat app.

And if the company can find a way to get those eyeballs to view more ads in other parts of the app, it could have a winner on its hands, especially as rival Instagram has been shamelessly copying every single Snapchat feature in the past two years.

Thoughts?