[Image Source: deviantART - ~djsoundwav]

Over the last few weeks the game ‘Words With Friends’ has been popping in and out of my Twitter stream with various friends mentioning, 1) they have the game and 2) their user name, should followers want to play with them. The fact that cross-platform casual social gaming is becoming popular gives me pause. As someone looking in on the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem (my phone is a Droid Incredible), this is one point where quality trumps quantity. If I had a Windows Phone I would want ‘Words With Friends’ to be available for me right now. Thinking about the the ecosystem, if I do not have the opportunity to play against my friends who (at this point) likely have a smartphone other than a Windows Phone we have one less thing we can do together, especially when we are apart.

I know Windows Phone is just getting off the ground. I know it supports asynchronous multiplayer gaming. Lastly, I know live multiplayer gaming is coming some time in the future. However, this is not so much a question of wondering when multiplayer gaming will come so much as wondering what form it will take. Will asynchronous and live cross-platform multiplayer mobile gaming come to Windows Phone 7? To clarify I am wondering if I will be able to play games against friends who have smartphones with a non-Windows Phone OS, as opposed to playing a smartphone game with friends who use an Xbox or PC.

[Image Source: OpenFeint Developers]

Among others, there is a gaming service called OpenFeint that serves both the iOS and Android platforms. Think of it like a smaller version of Steam, specifically for smartphones. It provides a way for developers to enable cross-platform mobile gaming from within their apps. Recently, OpenFeint announced a private beta for a new API that supports cross-platform score comparisons. This API includes support for Windows Phone 7. ‘Fruit Ninja’ is a decent example of an app that looks to benefit from this API, as the game is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7. Currently, if they have iOS or Android, I can see how my scores stack up against my friends. However, if I had a Windows Phone, Xbox Live would be the only place I could compare top scores. Will this change with the new API? Open Feint seems to coexist well with Apple’s online gaming service, Game Center. Some features are Feint-only. Could the same happen with Xbox Live-ready Windows Phone games? Remember Xbox Live is mostly for Windows Phone and the Xbox 360, with some integration with Games for Windows Live. As far as the multiplayer gaming on the PC is concerned, games support either Games for Windows Live or Steam, not both.

Outright, I am not saying the phone-console-PC integration is a bad thing. It has the potential to be awesome and unique. I would consider this vertical  integration (i.e. within the Microsoft ecosystem). In looking at a smartphone ecosystem, partially I am inclined to choose a phone that gives me the opportunity to play with my friends on their terms, not Apple’s, Android’s, or Microsoft's. I would consider this horizontal integration (i.e. gaming across smartphone OSes). I do not want to convince my friends they need a Windows Phone just to play with me. That is arrogant. I want to play with my friends and not feel punished for choosing one smartphone ecosystem over another. I want to be horizontally integrated. Imagine if Twitter or Facebook were only available for iPhone and Android. To expect everyone to use the same smartphone ecosystem when there are multiple compelling options is ignorant.

Thinking about Windows Phone 7, I realize this post puts the ‘cross-platform’ cart before the ‘multiplayer’ horse (there are only a handful of cross-platform games now) but If examples like Fruit Ninja are an indication of a future dichotomy between Xbox Live and Open Feint (or any similar service), then I wonder if mobile multiplayer will be limited to one platform per app when it comes to Windows Phone 7, with developers choosing their alliances. If so, as far as cross-platform mobile gaming is concerned, that feels more like a punishment for choosing Windows Phone 7 over iOS or Android. Even with a score-sharing API the larger question of cross-platform multiplayer mobile gaming remains unanswered.