Intel backs OpenFeint with $3m

The investment arm of chipmaker giant Intel has spent $3 million on OpenFeint, the third-party alternative to Apple’s own Game Center.

The mobile social gaming platform, built by Aurora Feint, has so far reached $12 million in external funding.

Intel’s newest investment may be a signal, perhaps, that Apple’s official alternative to platforms such as OpenFeint may not enjoy the kind of dominance that Apple is used to.

As well as being a popular developer choice on iOS devices, Aurora Feint’s OpenFeint platform is now becoming a success on Google’s Android OS.

Intel told Techcrunch it bought Aurora Feint because of the potential of the social game space, which OpenFeint quantifiably has succeeded in.

The chipmaker said it is observing several new platformds for further investment including Windows 7, BlackBerry, and a number of tablets.

OpenFeint is a simple-format add-on that iOS and Android game developers can attach to their products – providing high score leagues, online functionalities, as well as adverts for other products.

Aurora Feint took a $5 million investment from Chinese gaming company The9.