Snapchat, everyone’s fifth favorite social media platform (after Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), is doing its best to stay relevant in the mobile phones of Millennials and Gen Zers by creating a brand new gaming platform inside the app.
What will be called ‘Snapabbles,’ the games will likely be AR-dominated and will rely on someone using hands, facial reactions, and even noises to play the games. While manically grinning and gurning a phone might not be suitable for the train commute in the morning (there are usually enough weird people there as it is), these might just be fun enough for parties or killing time at home. Expected to see the light of day in April, Snapabbles could definitely be a decent way to see a much-needed revenue stream for Snapchat, as we’ll likely see ads or in-game purchases available.
Snapchat has been looking for any excuse for users to come back after a mass exodus in 2018, in which millions of users and several key figures in the company itself abandoned ship. This is thought to be because of an update to the app which apparently made the user experience much more difficult – we can’t imagine this was the desired effect Snapchat wanted.
Snapchat’s reasoning for the change was this: “By putting everything from your friends in one place, our goal was to make it easier to connect with the people you care about most. The new Friends page will adapt to you and get smarter over time, reflecting who you’re most likely to be Snapping with at that moment.”
Apparently, megastar Kylie Jenner completely destroyed the app’s reputation after the change, when she tweeted: “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me … ugh this is so sad.” Words can have a powerful effect, people.
One of Snapchat’s biggest appeals at first was its Stories feature (temporary videos and pictures that would be deleted after a set amount of time), but since Instagram, WhatsApp, and even YouTube are now running the same idea and doing it very well, it seems Snapchat doesn’t have much of a reason to stay relevant anymore. Well, unless you count the Snapchat Spectacles.
For those who have never heard of the Snapchat Spectacles, what can these camera glasses do exactly? These are basically just a pair of sunglasses that can capture videos and photos from your own point-of-view and upload to your Snapchat account. Unfortunately, these were nowhere near as popular as predicted when released in 2016. The company sold 150,000 sunglasses, but actually lost $40 million with 300,000 unsold units. Strangely, the Snapchat keeps releasing updated models that go up in price, with a third version rumored to come out later in 2019.
Instagram is still considered as a better option for marketing your business than Snapchat, so if marketers, users, influencers, celebrities, and even employees are leaving the app in droves, then what does it have going for it? Well, the Snappables feature could make or break the app, because if this is a complete misfire and ends up costing more than it brings in, then maybe someday it’ll join the app graveyard with Vine, Peach, Pokémon Go, Prisma, Dubsmash, and Viber.
