Central (service)

Central (formally the Clever Games Player) is a video game digital distribution, online gaming, and communications service developed and operated by Clever Interactive where users can purchase and play video games from Clever and have cheaper prices for Clever's games and add-ons and allows users to download game trials, rent games for 7 days, and can access an unlimited number of titles from the Central+ subscription service. The service also enables users to communicate with other users from their friends list, play online multiplayer games and earn achievements across multiple platforms through its Central Online gaming network.

History
The service launched as the Clever Games Player and was released for and  on 6 July 2021 to coincide with the release of Dominate.

An version of the Clever Games Player was announced on 14 April 2022 in support of the new  handheld computer from. The software utilises the compatibility layer to run Windows games on  devices. It was originally planned to be released in the third term of 2022, however, it was delayed to 2023 due to the service's rebranding.

On 3 October 2022, the Clever Games Player was rebranded as Central as part of Clever's rebranding of their gaming services to make them part of one universal platform, with the online gaming network Crossover being renamed to Central Online and the Clever Games Plus video game subscription service getting renamed to Central+. At the same time, the client was updated to v2.0.0 to include a refreshed menu, extra search filters, and features originated from the discontinued Crossover app.

In 15 October 2022, to coincide the release of Dominate on PC, the Central client was updated to v2.1.0 to include game file optimisation called “Smart Game Asset Downloading”. It allows the client to automatically detect the resolution of the user’s display in order to download game textures of a specific resolution to save on file size. The user can also manually set the resolution in the settings menu. If it's detected that the user has a display with a higher resolution, or if the user manually selected the highest resolution but hasn't downloaded the required high-res textures, the user will have a choice if they want to download the high-res textures or continue playing the game with the textures currently installed.

Library
When the service first originally launched as the Clever Games Player, it only featured titles released by Clever. This was until the Clever Games Player was rebranded as Central that Clever allowed for third-parties to release their games for the service.

The Android version of Central will have console-like games that require the use of a controller to play, however, games designed for mobile will also be available for the service. In order to distinguish different types of games, a category is assigned to them depending if the game has an experience of a console or mobile game.

Third-party games on the service are expected to be released in 2023. As they have previously done with Lifestyle Gaming before it was operated by Lifestyle Technologies, Clever will take a 20% cut on games sold on the service compared to the industry standard 30%.