A top social networking service company, Facebook, has introduced Fantasy Games, a new free prediction platform allowing users to predict sports outcomes for free.
According to the company, the newly launched initiative is a simplified form of playing fantasy sports.
With Fantasy Games, Facebook users on iOS and Android will be able to predict the outcome of various events, including sports games and pop culture happenings.
The feature is only available to some users as Facebook games are now available to mobile users in the United States and Canada.
Users living in one of these countries can open the Facebook app’s menu and tap the new Fantasy Games option.
Tapping the menu will pull up the prediction platform, including the user’s existing leagues, games, and the option to create a new league.
Facebook said users can set leagues to public or private, playing them with only friends and family or with the subject’s wider fanbase. Leaderboards will keep track of users’ scores.
The platform will also let users share their picks, leave comments and react to content. Pick and Play Sports is the first game launching with the platform today, but more will follow.
In addition to adding games related to sports leagues, the big app said it was also working to launch games that will involve hit shows like Survivor and The Bachelorette. Survivor fans will be able to use the platform to predict teams and then potentially receive points based on the episode’s outcome.
The addition of fantasy games could help Facebook increase the time users spend on its app at a time when the company was facing significant competition from TikTok.
The company has several other gaming investments as well, including through its cloud gaming service on the desktop web and Android, its games tab for streamers, and its Virtual Reality company, Oculus.