Meta launches interactive game generation app Pocket in the United States after Brazil tests
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Meta has begun rolling out its new experimental app, Pocket, to general users in the United States, expanding its lineup of software driven by prompt-based development. The release follows a quiet pilot in Brazil last month. The platform allows users to build bite-sized interactive games and publish them in a scrollable feed reminiscent of social media platforms.
The platform's experience is built around the team behind the gaming platform Gizmo, which Meta acquired through an acqui-hire earlier this year.Built using the app and dubbed "gizmos", the games rely on multiple inputs, including touch and phone tilting, alongside sound effects and the ability to insert snippets of favorite songs. The app also supports drawing on the device's photo library or accessing the camera directly to integrate visual elements into gameplay.
The app's interactive architecture includes the ability to share these games on a user's profile, allowing others to save them, remix and develop them into new creations, or repost them across the platform. This direction marks the latest step in the company's push to turn AI creation tools into mainstream consumer software, following earlier releases of image generation tools in the Meta AI app and video generation in its experimental app Vibes.
The launch is part of a broader wave of standalone apps the company has accelerated over the past few months.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attributed this rise in software productivity to the growing reliance on AI tools in software engineering and development, enabling teams to test new ideas and ship them to users much faster than usual.
Speaking to analysts during the July earnings call, Zuckerberg explained that the company had launched Instagram Instants, followed by the group-focused Forum app and the marketplace-oriented Seller app. At the time, Zuckerberg reaffirmed his expectation that shipping new apps would become even easier, noting that the strategy aims to build more experimental concepts and then leverage recommendation systems to scale their reach across audiences.
This series of standalone software is rounded out by additional experiments, including an app for generating children's bedtime stories, as well as the release of a standalone Meta AI app for Mac devices this week, reflecting the accelerating pace of experimental products emerging from the company's AI-assisted development tools.