Yahoo is on the move again after their shenanigans with Microsoft and the possible take over.
Today they’ve announced that they’re getting in to ad-supported downloadable games.
By the end of the year they’re planning on having over 400 games available, written by what they call ‘top casual games publishers.’
Technology being bought in
The advert will appear as pre- and post-roll ads — that’s before and after game play, to you and me — with Double Fusion and NeoEdge sorting out the technology for them.
If you decided that you just can’t bear seeing the advert, Yahoo think you can just jolly well go and stick your hand in your pocket and pay up to live that advertising free experience. Fair enough, someone’s got to pay, right?
The launch roster is pretty extensive including works from Alawar Entertainment, Anarchy, Big Fish Games, eGames, Floodgate, Freeze Tag, FreshGames, Funkitron, Gogii Games, GameHouse, Gamemill Publishing, HipSoft, I-Play, iWin, Last Day of Work, Legacy Interactive, Ludia, MumboJumbo, pixelStorm, PlayFirst, Playrix Entertainment, PopCap, Reflexive Entertainment, Sandlot Games, Sugar Games, TellTale Games, TikGames, uclick, Worldwide Biggies and Zero G Games.
Poor old Real
Real Networks has spent a lot of time and effort over the years building up their games distribution business, and are likely to be have their noses put out of joint by today announcement.