Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 28, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Playyoo, a new social-networking platform that aims to distribute games on mobile phones, has launched. “The goal of our platform is to become a YouTube for user-generated games,” says Thomas N. Burg, spokesperson for Playyoo, in an interview with pressetext. The portal offers its users two kinds of service. On the one hand, games can be downloaded to a mobile phone free of charge and played there; on the other, users can create their own mobile games with the help of a Game Creator. For professional developers, Playyoo provides an corresponding Flash extension.
A community is being built around the mobile games on the portal, allowing members to interact with one another. Both games and players can also be commented on and rated, and tournaments can be organised. “The application itself is essentially a hybrid. From a PC, users can configure their profile or specify which game genres interest them. Games can also be tested on a computer, although there is no points score there,” explains Burg. Points can only be collected on a mobile phone. “The classic use case is when Playyoo users want to pass the time while waiting for the bus.”
On the mobile phone, the Playyoo system suggests for download only those games that match the user’s preferences. Burg gives the average size of the games as 80 kilobytes. This keeps data traffic over the mobile network within limits, which is also intended to go easy on users’ wallets. “Files half a megabyte in size are certainly possible, however. That naturally depends on the scope of the game,” says Burg. After downloading, the game is installed on the mobile phone; the score achieved is then sent back to the platform and stored there in the user profile.
The gaming platform is based on Adobe’s Flash Lite software, which will in future be integrated into a large number of mobile phones. “Although its distribution is not yet very high at the moment, new devices from Nokia, LG or Sony Ericsson already have the software integrated,” says Burg. Analyses by market researcher Strategy Analyst also point in this direction. According to them, Flash Lite is expected to be installed on 62 percent of all mobile phones by 2012. The current rate is 19 percent.
“Playyoo is currently financed by a private investor,” Burg says guardedly. At a later stage, Playyoo is intended to support itself through advertising. “We plan to finance the games in future through in-game advertising and short clips before or after the game,” Burg explains. The games themselves will in any case remain free for users, Burg promises. To offer a broad range of professional games, the platform is launching a developer contest with around €40,000 in prize money available.
Further links:
- Playyoo
