OpenFeint confirms standalone iPhone app; details revealed

Aurora Feint Inc., the company behind the popular iPhone social gaming network OpenFeint, has confirmed that a standalone app will be arriving shortly to provide OpenFeint gamers with direct access to the network. (Gamezebo had previously reported on this possibility last week), after a brief Twitter conversation with the OpenFeint team suggested this was in the works.

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Aurora Feint Inc., the company behind the popular iPhone social gaming network OpenFeint, has confirmed that a standalone app will be arriving shortly to provide OpenFeint gamers with direct access to the network. (Gamezebo had previously reported on this possibility last week), after a brief Twitter conversation with the OpenFeint team suggested this was in the works.

“We’ve received many requests from players and developers alike, so we decided to release a stand-alone app on the heels of our OpenFeint 2.4 launch,” said Eros Resmini, VP Marketing at Aurora Feint, in a statement released today. “We hope the app provides our players with a simple way to access the OpenFeint community of 7M+ players and discover content in our catalog of 650+ games.”

As it stands, OpenFeint gamers can only access their accounts and other OpenFeint services through an OpenFeint-enabled game. The release of the independent OpenFeint app will allow users access to all of the features of OpenFeint 2.4, including:

  • Presence: See when your friends are online
  • Instant Messaing: friend-to-friend IM style chat
  • Inbox: All your messages in one area
  • Forums
  • Developer Announcements: Developers can let players know about the latest with their games
  • Developer Newsletters: Traditional newsletter sign-up for developer communications
  • Player Reviews: Players can now ‘favorite’ a game and review it for their friends to see
  • Geolocation Leaderboards: See how you stack up with people near you
  • Network Save Card: Save game data on OpenFeint servers for use with multiple devices
  • Game Discovery Enhancements: New ways to find games in OpenFeint
  • Developer Featured Games: Developers can promote content within OpenFeint
  • Simple Ticker: News ticker that displays information about the community and games

In addition to the OpenFeint 2.4 features, the iPhone app will showcase a different free game every day, and dynamic list of games that your friends have recently played.

While no specific release date can be confirmed due to Apple’s approval process, Aurora Feint said it anticipates a January launch.

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.