Online gaming supplier, SkillPod Media, has launched two new games portals for major clients, one in South Africa and one abroad, further consolidating its position as one of the emerging dynamos in the casual and skill games sector of the Internet.

New Webgames portal finding immediate success

Webgames.co.za is the new South African online games initiative of Interface Media,
owners of the successful Webmail email service. The site was launched under a month ago, and has already started to deliver the kind of visitor attraction that is a hallmark of SkillPod Media games portals. It has achieved a visitor return rate of 76%, a sure indicator of approval from gamers. Visitors spend an average of 18 minutes on the site, which is well above the industry norm for web sites.

These numbers give Webgames an extremely sound basis and an excellent opportunity to leverage advertising revenue off their new games platform. “We’re in the business of creating revenue streams for our clients, via the games portals we provide,” says Mark van Diggelen, CEO of SkillPod Media. “While games are obviously great fun, as the Internet matures, the emphasis is moving from a “fun” web site being a cost centre to an actual revenue stream in areas which were traditionally viewed as fun stuff for visitors,” he explains.

Irish Times games portal driving ad revenue

The other new SkillPod Media-powered portal is the Irish Times games channel at ireland.com – a premier web portal for Irish residents and Irish people abroad. The deal was brokered by SkillPod Media’s North American partner, Tag International, based in Toronto, Canada. The site launched with a lucky draw competition to encourage player registrations, and the team at the Irish Times is greatly impressed by the success of the portal thus far. It has delivered beyond expectations and, in keeping with their business drivers, is providing access to much-needed ad revenue.

4th-generation games management platform

SkillPod Media is currently developing its 4th-generation games management platform, which will comprise a number of enhanced features, including more than 50 games that can be loaded onto the Sony PSP console. There will also be a large number of games that can be downloaded for offline play.

The new platform, available from October 2007, will also feature:

• more than 150 new casual games
• a variety of multiplayer games
• over 150 Flash Lite mobile games
• a member subscription engine
• a range of members-only games and tournaments

SkillPod Media also plans to start selling its first shooter-style games, which will be digitally distributed to coincide with the launch of the new platform.

The new platform follows on the heels of the very popular enhancements in the current version of the platform, especially the game syndication feature, which allows gamers to add their favourite games to their own web sites and blogs. More than 2 300 players have taken advantage of this capability.

More international partnerships in the pipeline

SkillPod Media has secured more brand new partnerships with publishers in Australia and North America, and will be launching new games portals within the next few weeks.