After spending months reinventing themselves, browser-based gaming company InstantAction has finally debuted its service today, allowing game creators to easily embed any video game on the web, as CEO Lou Castle described to IndustryGamers back at GDC. The new InstantAction has debuted with LucasArts' The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.
InstantAction points out that not only can game publishers "dramatically expand distribution by embedding games online," but by doing so the publishers can also leverage the power of social networking and viral word of mouth marketing "where gamers’ recommendations and invitations are most effective."
The InstantAction platform lets players get started with Monkey Island right on Facebook and the game can be embedded on any websites that allow users to embed objects via iframes or any webpage that lets you edit the HTML code. It can also be embedded on popular blog sites such as pages on Wordpress.org, TypePad, Movable Type, Tumblr and Google’s Blogger. The one downside at the moment, which unfortunately affects this editor, is that InstantAction currently doesn't support Macs. "Currently, InstantAction does not support Macintosh operating systems including OS X. We're hard at work and hope to be compatible in the future," the company stated.
“The InstantAction platform provides a brand new way to get games from their creators to customers, thus avoiding obstacles to publishing and discovering new games that are inherent in the traditional brick and mortar model,” said Castle. “We give game creators a secure way to offer free trials, item purchases and pay-as-you play options, with a broad range of monetization formats and platform compatibility. Gamers not only get the try-before-you buy and rent-to-own benefits; they can easily embed full games into their social networks, accessing their friends’ lists and adding social features to games where they may not have existed. InstantAction not only changes how games are distributed and discovered, but how they are enjoyed.”
“It was only a matter of time before the Internet disrupted the extremely limited distribution channels available to game creators, enabling direct-to-consumer access and more control over sales performance and profits," added Evan S. Wilson, senior research analyst of Pacific Crest Securities. "The InstantAction platform virtually obliterates the obstacles to game distribution by making it possible for anyone to embed any video game anywhere on the web, just like embedding a video. For game creators, this opens up distribution channels that haven't previously been an option – especially for console-quality games. For consumers, it creates endless possibilities for game discovery, risk-free trial, and faster downloads."
You can test out Secret of Monkey Island right here on this IndustryGamers page. How cool is that?
The Secret of Monkey Island:SE powered by InstantAction
