Social gaming is taking off in a big way, and social networks should be working hard to get in on the trend. Yahoo is a bit late to the party, but it’s better late than never as the search engine operator has a lot to gain from launching its own social gaming network. Now, Yahoo will become a platform through which third-party gaming developers can distribute their software.
The move follows Yahoo’s acquisition of Playerscale, a cross-platform gaming provider. With Playerscale, Yahoo will be able to operate its social games in a new way, allowing the search provide to authenticate players, monetise its games and provide sharing tools. With any luck, it will become a social gaming network that could rival Facebook.
A statement from Yahoo provides more details about the new network: “Besides providing a channel to reach a global audience, the Yahoo Games Network will offer developers a reliable backend, and secure and streamlined payments methods to allow their users to purchase virtual goods, along with providing analytics, operational support and many other methods of monetizing their games”.
At OnlinePokies4U, we wonder how successful Yahoo’s new social network will become. Facebook has monopolised the social gaming network, and Yahoo has picked up on the trend quite late in the game. So, we anticipate that Zynga will struggle to capture a significant portion of the social gaming market share. One area that could see Yahoo’s new social gaming network thrive is mobile gaming.
At the moment, Facebook’s gaming network is not integrated with mobile Android and Apple devices. Yahoo’s network will operate seamlessly across a wide range of devices, which could provide the company with a competitive advantage over other gaming networks like Facebook and Zynga.
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