On April 8, 2010, Apple announced Game Center, a social gaming platform for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. The announcement was made at a conference for Apple's iPhone OS 4.0. Game Center is a social network designed to allow users to be able to invite friends, be matched up with other players, and do side by side comparisons to other players via leaderboards.http://www.macworld.com/article/147282/2010/04/apple_gamecenter.html Game Center is due out in mid to late 2010, but is anticipated to be released during the summer around the time the Apple iPhone OS 4.0 release.

Game Center works much like Microsoft’s XboxLive or the Playstation Network communities; linking players to one another. Gamers can speak to each other during gameplay, invite their friends to play, and compare high scores through the application. Apple representatives have even referenced the possibility of adding achievement points, similar to the gamerscore or trophy collections held by Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/04/08/apples_game_center_aims_to_be_like_xbox_live_for_iphone_os.html With over 50,000 games and entertainment titles available at the App Store, Game Center has the potential to compete against traditional gaming platforms.http://www.macworld.com/article/147282/2010/04/apple_gamecenter.html

Third party applications made available through developers, like Aurora Feint and Gameloft, have already made attempts at addressing the iPhones lack of socializing functions, releasing social platforms similar to those of the Game Center, that allow users to add friends lists and manage leaderboards. Although these platforms are integrated with over a thousand applications, they have only managed to attract a small percentage of users.http://www.macworld.com/article/147282/2010/04/apple_gamecenter.html

The Game Center platform will first be made available to developers, so that they have the opportunity to integrate the technology into their games. Most developers are expected to take advantage of the new Game Center technology, making serious changes to the way multiplayer features are incorporated into their games.http://www.macworld.com/article/147282/2010/04/apple_gamecenter.html