Much like Apple’s App Store and Google’s Google Play, Facebook has its own app store called App Center. Facebook’s App Center is a kind of conglomeration of apps – it supports apps available for iOS, Android and the web, and will recommend the correct version to a user based on the device used when they browse the App Center.
At a minimum, it represents another marketplace to get your game app uploaded and noticed, but there is more to Facebook’s App Center than just another app repository. Read on to learn how you can take advantage of it and make it work for you.
Adding your app
Facebook supports two different types of apps, called web games and instant games. Instant games are games that can be played directly on a user’s wall or with friends from within Messenger. They are built (or adapted) specifically for the Facebook platform. Web games are for other games without this level of Facebook integration.
Adding your game to the Facebook App Center is a straightforward process. You will need a Facebook Developer account in order to create an App Details page for your game.
Once in the App Center tab of the developer dashboard, click ‘Add a Product’ and select the App Center to add a web game. You will be taken through a series of forms collecting a variety of information about your app, from imagery and taglines to categorisation within Facebook’s App Center ecosystem.
What games does Facebook support?
Facebook App Center is platform-agnostic. This means that whereas Apple’s App Store is built for iOS devices and Google Play is built for Android devices, Facebook App Center is intended to work with all devices.
Thus, games on Facebook App Center are built using HTML5 and JS. Facebook maintains a list of compatible engines that work with its App Center. Facebook also offers assets, like their Sound Collection, to app developers, but if you use their assets then you may only distribute your app on Facebook App Center. Remember that deep integration can increase Facebook user engagement, but will limit your distribution channels.
