It usually starts off with a bright idea, but getting through to implementation has been a stumbling block for games platforms for quite some time. There have been a couple of options available to integrate online games into your website, but they were limited in what they offered site owners. Some elements always suffered when it came to customization and localization of online games platforms.
Skillpod Media has been working feverishly on getting all of this together and offering monetization of the platform as well. To ensure that it is a sensible option it should be possible to deploy the platform quickly and effectively in any country in the world. In essence it means that it should be fully localized and allow for translation into all of the global languages.
In steps the Rapid Deployment Framework (RDF).
The development and deployment of this is an ongoing process and this is due to the developers constantly striving for perfection. The need arose to set up a framework which makes it possible to fully customize the layout of the site, do translations, build a community, monetize it and integrate the games platform into Facebook.
RDF is a solution starting out strongly, with 9 months of R & D behind it. To date it has been deployed in a couple of markets with more coming. We will continually look at how it all progresses. Currently it is a fully functioning framework already and is proving very successful.
The concept is sound and should offer many companies as close to an out-of-the-box solution as is possible. The effectiveness of the elements incorporated in the platform can only be gauged after it has been in the market for some time.
The elements to keep a close eye on are:
* Localization and translation
* Facebook integration
* Community building elements
* Monetization, through micro payments
To date there have only been success stories with RDF when looking at these elements. The first important element to have a look at is localization and translation. We will be looking at two of the clients that have so far integrated the RDF for running their portals.
The first was a slightly less complicated version deployed in Belgium and the Netherlands. For this deployment translation was necessary into French and Dutch. The translations were done through all of the games with the translated text in every single part of every single game as well as game descriptions and other parts of the site.
The second was a more complicated version as it had to be done in Arabic, which required a lot more thought and cultural consideration. Although it is widely spoken everywhere in the Middle East, there wasn’t a lot of technical know-how available when it came to localization and accurate translation. The translations were however done successfully with the Arabic text displayed correctly as well as appropriate Arabic clothing for the SkillPod avatar creation system, which is called Pivatar.
Both of these have also been integrated into Facebook and are proving to be very successful. Player registrations are constantly growing and players are regularly coming back to play the games.
There are a number of community building elements that form part of RDF. The only feature you will really find in some other platforms is a chat system. Portals owners will be able to set up tournaments for players to fuel the competitive spirit of the players. Players can also set up challenges to compete against friends. A messaging system allows for player interaction and also comes with virtual gifts that players can send to one another.
The revenue generating comes from micro-payments, with which you can buy pods, the virtual currency of this online games platform. You can use the pods to buy better clothes and accessories for your pivatar, enter tournaments, buy power-ups, sending virtual gifts and for the challenges.
The total success of RDF can only be gauged over time. Because it is a constantly evolving concept it would be interesting to see in what direction the players and portals take it. The next couple of months will bring loads of extra players and many new portals up and running on RDF. The only thing to do now is to wait and see how successful it will become.
