Snapchat reportedly announcing new gaming platform in April

If a new report is correct, you could soon have the option of playing a smattering of mobile games on Snapchat in between all of those goofy snaps you take of your dog barking at its own shadow. 

The news comes from Cheddar, which reports that Snapchat will announce the platform, codenamed “Project Cognac,” at its partner summit on April 4 in Los Angeles. Cheddar also reports having seen an invitation for the event (I assume mine was lost in the mail) that features the slogan, “Less talk. More play.” 

Snapchat hasn’t publicly commented on the report; Mashable has reached out for further details as well. 

A new gaming platform on Snapchat seems like a logical conclusion for anyone who’s been following the company for the last year. After all, it’s been nearly a year since Snapchat rolled out its AR games feature, “Snappables,” that allowed users to play games while taking ridiculous selfies of themselves. 

Since then, The Information reported the development of a Snap gaming platform in June 2018 and, earlier in 2019, CNET reported that the company had invested in Prettygreat, the studio responsible for the popular “Fruit Ninja” game. 

All of this has occurred against the background of investment in Snapchat by Chinese firm Tencent, which has previously said games are a new potential path to revenue for the company. (Tencent also owns Riot Games and has made significant investments in U.S. game development and publishing interests.) 

So, yeah, these seem inevitable at this point. I only hope the people involved are smart enough to develop a game with that dancing hot dog because while it’s not the hero we deserve, but it’s the hero we need.