US internet giant Yahoo has announced the launch of the Yahoo Games Network, a new platform for third-party developers which allows them to tap into the company’s huge distribution network.The deal follows Yahoo’s acquisition of Playerscale, a cross-platform gaming infrastructure provider, for an undisclosed sum in May last year.
The platform will provide studios with services to help authenticate players, better monetise games, offer social sharing, analytics and operational support to aid their growth.
The launch also sees new free-to-play variants of the Yahoo Poker, Pool and Bingo games rolled out, with the products available on web, Android and iOS.
The developers will pay a revenue share of between 0 per cent (for less than 5,000 daily active users) to 10 per cent, and 30 per cent of revenue for distribution and sales via its site.
Among the games to launch on the platform are social casino titles including SGN’s Bingo Blingo, the Slotomania app operated by Caesars Interactive subsidiary Playtika, and the massively multiplayer online casino game Vegas World, developed by FlowPlay.
Yahoo Games general manager Jesper Jensen, formerly chief executive of Playerscale, said that the company would keep enhancing its platform with improvements and new features in order to allow customers to tap into the company’s 800m users, including 400m mobile users.
Yahoo is active in the UK real-money gaming industry, offering GTECH-powered bingo, scratch cards and slots, and also allows users to buy National Lottery tickets.
It first launched a poker product in April 2007, targeting UK customers, using Boss Media software.
source : www.gamingintelligence.com
