Oh Snap: Snapchat launches new gaming and AR features in bid to play catch-up

Snapchat has announced the launch of various new features focused around augmented reality (AR) and camera search. The launch, at the company’s first Snap Partner Summit, sees greater integrations with Lenses and Scan. The social media network is updating Lens Studio, its desktop app which enables users to build and distribute Lenses on Snapchat, to include capabilities such as hand and body tracking. The company has also launched a series of lenses which aim to bring iconic venues to life through AR, including Buckingham Palace, the United States Capitol Building, and the Eiffel Tower. Another aspect for Lens is AR Bar and Scan. The former aims to make it easier for users to discover and navigate Lenses and camera search experiences on Snapchat, while the latter will ensure relevant Lenses will ‘dynamically surface for Snapchatters based on what is in the camera view.’ So what did everyone make of the news? Gizmodo was suitably unimpressed with the launch. The headline – “Snapchat: Hi, Hello, I’m Still Here. Please Stay” – was naturally something of a giveaway, with Victoria Song noting the move was ‘a bid to remain relevant.’ Josh Krichefski, CEO at MediaCom, noted a similar theme. “Snapchat’s new AR and gaming announcement is a great example – once again – of the company having to innovate to stay relevant, and the move is reflective of the consumer demand for different types of content, engagement and entertainment all in the same place,” said Krichefski. “Snap’s foray into gaming and other social app integration is an attempt to not just draw in another pool of gaming users but create a more social hub for friends to connect and play games together.” TechCrunch, meanwhile, took a different path, noting that the company’s current strategy was a case of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them.’ Citing a ‘high-ranking Snap executive’, the publication noted the innovation element. “If it’s going to invent these products, and others want something similar, it’s smarter to enable and partly control the Snapchatification than to try to ignore it,” wrote Josh Constine.