This week at Mobile World Congress, the team at PlayPhone – a leader in mobile social gaming – announced an innovative partnership with Tango, the popular U.S.-based mobile messenger app that lets users connect with friends via calls, messaging, video and shared entertainment.
We’re told the partnership offers access to PlayPhone’s global gaming network from within Tango’s messaging app.
The deal marks the first-ever plug-in mobile game store for an over-the-top (OTT) communications app and significantly enhances the service proposition for Tango’s 190 million members and for PlayPhone’s operator and developer partners.
“PlayPhone’s massive gaming network and relationships with leading mobile carriers and game developers enable Tango to provide new ways for customers to connect and engage with one another,” said Renato Iwersen, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Tango.
So will the partners be successful? According to the findings of a case study put forward during the announcement, the outlook is definitely positive.
To highlight the associated revenue opportunity for messenger-based gaming services, PlayPhone collected responses from more than 1,000 mobile gamers as part of a wider study of gaming behaviors. 36 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat agree that they are more likely to play a mobile game if they receive an invitation from a friend through a messenger service such as Tango, and 25 percent have already been invited to play a mobile game via a messenger app.
“Partnering with Tango is a historic moment in PlayPhone’s history because it represents a significant expansion not only for our overall footprint, but in the type of segment that can optimally support our gaming portal,” said Anders Evju, CMO of PlayPhone. “Our ‘Game Store Plug-In’ for messenger apps and the corresponding increase of gamers in our global gaming community supports our ongoing efforts to provide a superior mobile gaming experience for PlayPhone gamers across the planet.”
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