BlueStacks is providing Kickstarter-favorite Ouya quite a challenge with its own mobile-to-TV gaming console GamePop, which just announced that, in addition to bringing Android games to your living room, it will be supporting iOS and iPad apps too, all in one box.
BlueStacks announced two initiatives Friday that will bring iOS games to the TV in their Android-powered GamePop console: partnerships with iOS-only game makers and a new technology that they're incorporating into GamePop called "Looking Glass." Like its previous "LayerCake" software, which brought ARM-based Android apps to personal computers and since its launch has been downloaded over 10 million times as part of BlueStacks "App Player," "Looking Glass" is a virtualization software which runs iPad and iOS software on their Android 4.2-based console system, giving GamePop the capability to play every major mobile game on your TV, no matter if its exclusive to either Android or iOS.
"There will always be popular titles that are iOS-only, like Clash of Clans," said CTO of BlueStacks, Suman Saraf. "Looking Glass enables these titles to be brought into the living room. Some of the Retina iPad games for example look spectacular on TV."
In an interview with TechCrunch, BlueStacks' CEO Rosen Sharma said that "Looking Glass" on GamePop isn't encroaching on any of Apple's intellectual property, and won't be getting in any trouble regarding Apple's developer rules for iOS software. "From a technology perspective, it uses virtualitzation, but it's a different kind of virtualization than what we use for example for our PC products," he said to TechCrunch. "This is more API-level virtualization. We don't use any of Apple's bits - the developer just gives us the app and we make sure that it'll run on GamePop."
In addition to the "Looking Glass" virtualization software, BlueStacks is partnering with iOS software makers to bring some of the top iPhone and iPad games to their console. The first company that they've partnered with is mobile developer Subatomic Studios, known for their Fieldrunners franchise, which is one of the best-selling games on iPhone. According to the Verge, Glu, Halfbrick, Jawfish Games, and Gameloft are also slated to support the console. In all, BlueStacks wants 500 top Android and iOS games to be supported on GamePop, taking a "Netflix for games" approach, instead of Ouya's game-by-game purchasing approach, which is more conventional to consoles.
GamePop will be getting so many games for its console in part because app developers won't have to change very much to bring it to the console, according to Sharma's interview with the Verge. "We're doing the engineering rather than relying on developers to remake their games," he said. "Literally all developers have to do is change their payments backend so it works with our subscription model and that's it. They don't have to do anything else to their games."
GamePop's claims of running both iOS and Android seamlessly in one box are quite bold, and would give the GamePop a huge step up over competitors like the Android-only Ouya and newcomer from Mad Catz, "Project M.O.J.O."
"The ability to bring iOS games to TV is unprecedented," said Jamie Gotch, CEO of Subatomic in BlueStacks release. "At the same time, this is a natural evolution. Mobile games are providing richer graphics and gameplay and heading towards the living room fast."
But the proof will be in the playing. To prove it for yourself, you can get the GamePop console for free until the end of June, after which you'll have to pay $129. But along with it, you'll start out with over $200 worth of paid apps and games included free with GamePop, according to BlueStacks. GamePop is a subscription service that costs $6.99 per month.