The news coincides with Aurora Feint's decision to significantly restructure OpenFeint's API architecture, with a private beta of version 2.5 set to go live imminently.
Not feint hearted
OpenFeint 2.5 comes with completely revamped social APIs and turn-based multiplayer features with push notifications.
Indeed, some games on the App Store are already supporting this, including Optime's Tic Tac Toe, Mecho Wars, and the recently released Checker Kingdoms by Centurion Games.
"We've been using OpenFeint in our games for a long time and we are extremely excited about the upcoming 2.5 version," said Paul Jackman of UK studio Origin8 Technologies.
"The new API is a big improvement and will make it easier for devs to achieve seamless integration and easier for new Openfeint developers to learn. The multiplayer support is also a huge bonus as now even smaller developers will be able to add this extra feature with minimum hassle."
Aurora Feint also says the new version of its technology is, as previously reported, fully compatible with Apple's Game Center.
With OpenFeint 2.5, developers will be able to mix and match Game Center and OpenFeint features when building their games.
"OpenFeint 2.5 is all about creating a more exciting and even more easy-to-use social gaming experience," says Aurora Feint CEO Jason Citron.
"It was easy to add leaderboards and achievements before, and now we've made it just as easy to use our online data in more interesting ways. For example, now you can bring leaderboard scores directly in your game the same way as Doodle Jump does with just one simple function call."
Gagging for Game Center
"In one single keynote slide Apple validated my company's vision for mobile social gaming," Citron expanded in a blog entry on submitHighScore.
"When I founded OpenFeint, many considered it a crazy idea. Now, it is a major component of the hottest smartphone on the planet. I always thought that online gaming was going to be a big deal for mobile phones, but it was in that moment that this gut feeling became reality."
In Citron's view, it needed Apple itself to validate online gaming on iPhone. Only Apple has the power to make mainstream, casual gamers notice.
"The Game Center app is going to be preloaded on millions of iPhones, iPads, and iPods in the next few years," he concluded.
"It's going to be as pervasive as the Weather app and everyone will try it out. My mom will suddenly care about getting a higher score than me in Bird Strike."
