Instant Games

We are launching Instant Games, a new HTML5 cross-platform gaming experience, on Messenger and Facebook News Feed for both mobile and web. This new games experience allows people to easily discover, share, and play games without having to install new apps.

Instant Games on Messenger, which can be accessed through the new game controller icon just below where people type a message, offers a fun and social experience featuring score-based games, leaderboards, and group thread conversations to challenge and compete against anyone on Messenger. Instant Games can also be played on Facebook News Feed, enabling a seamless cross-platform experience where people can discover new games through recommendations, posts, challenges, and the Facebook Pages of individual games. A dedicated Instant Games bookmark is also available on Facebook where people can view and instantly replay all their favorite titles they previously enjoyed across both platforms. Players have complete control of their gameplay experience — sharing scores only with the people they're playing with in Messenger. Instant Games is currently available in 30 countries for iOS v8 or later and Android v5 or later.

Developing for Instant Games

Instant Games, launching in closed beta, opens up a unique opportunity for game developers to lower the friction for people to discover and instantly enjoy playing games without having to install new apps. Using only one build that will run in web view, developers can easily deploy their Instant Games across multiple platforms to reach the 1.79 billion people on Facebook, as well as 1 billion people on Messenger. Facebook News Feed posts also include the “Instant Play” call-to-action to help drive distribution and discovery of new games.

Play Instant Games

There are 17 Instant Games now available to play, with many more to come, across both Messenger and News Feed in the latest version of the apps, including popular titles from arcade classics to action to other modern favorites.

To learn more about how to access Instant Games on Messenger and Facebook News Feed, take a look at this video:

Here's what some of our launch partners are saying about Instant Games:

“We are excited to work with Facebook to feature two of our classic IP's, PAC-MAN and Galaga on the new Instant Games platform. To give the opportunity for our global fans to access these classic titles on mobile and web, we are working with Facebook to allow users to play Instant Games on Messenger and Facebook News Feed, both of which have significant reach around the world,” said BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

“Back in 1978, the first game in the world which the enemy character attacks the player character was named, SPACE INVADERS. This new cross-platform gaming experience combined with us, one of the oldest game companies in the world, will create a new formula for all game fans. We are very happy and excited about this partnership to let game players around the world play SPACE INVADERS again,” said Koichi Ishii, President at TAITO CORPORATION.

“We believe this new cross platform gaming experience provides a new and unique discovery surface for our games and will delight and entertain our players around the world,” said Kimihiro Horiuchi, Head of Global Marketing at Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.

“Facebook, like Game Insight, has always placed tremendous importance on connecting with gamers wherever they are,” said Anatoly Ropotov, CEO at Game Insight. “And it’s becoming increasingly clear that the future of messaging apps is about much more than just chat and video. Messaging apps are a platform now; a blank canvas with a billion users waiting to see what comes next. Facebook's Instant Games expands that canvas even further, allowing for a wide range of gameplay experiences built from the ground up for the new consumption paradigm, and reachable in an instant.”

“We are always looking for ways to reduce player friction, and Instant Games on Facebook News Feed and Messenger is a wonderful solution that allows players to jump right in and immediately start playing. We know our players well, and we know that they will love this new easy, streamlined approach to gaming on Facebook and Messenger too,” said Johan Persson, Vice President of Product at MAG Interactive.

“We believe that the flexibility of web-games integrated with the social strength of the Messenger and Facebook platform will allow for a whole new type of games,” said Laurens Rutten, CEO of CoolGames.

“We’re excited to be launching the Shuffle Cats Mini Game on Facebook’s new Instant Games feature, which will allow people to play games within seconds on Messenger and through Facebook News Feed. As one of the first developers to partner with Facebook on Instant Games, it’s an exciting opportunity for us to develop a game for a new platform to engage both our fans and the huge, global audience that Facebook has,” said Carolin Krenzer, London General Manager at King. “Instant Games makes it easy for people to play anywhere and at any time. The Shuffle Cats Mini Game is fun, fast-paced and provides a truly social experience for our fans — it is ideal for when players have a few minutes to spare and want to be entertained.”