HOVR, a new mobile gaming provider has recently launched its services. Offering totally free game for cell phones, this is one gaming company you should not over look.
Totally free! Yeah, right. But it is true. The only catch is that a short advertisement will play before the game starts, when the game ends, and sometimes marketing schemes will be built into games. However, there is often a button to skip these advertisements.
HOVR has recently released this statement to the public:
”NEW YORK, NY – February 26, 2007 – With industry analysts counting more than 2 billion mobile devices already in use around the world, a team of industry veterans announced today the launch of a new mobile gaming community. Hovr Inc. (www.hovr.com) begins service with more than 100 titles from over a dozen world-class mobile game publishers, all subsidized via advertising and available to users at no cost. In addition to downloading free games users can join Hovr MobileSpace, a social network in which players interact and compete against each other.
“Ad-supported content is absolutely necessary if there is to be mass adoption of mobile phones as a content delivery platform,” said Christine Arrington, senior analyst with Acacia Research Group. “After years of attempts, interactive advertising finally has a chance to succeed because of companies like Hovr, which is solving two critical problems. They address creating a seamless user experience by eliminating extra steps to download and view content, and they are offering far more precise demographic targeting, making their whole solution attractive to both users and advertisers.”
By embedding advertising into games and other mobile applications Hovr delivers ad-subsidized content without compromising the user experience. Hovr’s AdLogic Platform places dynamic, targeted and interactive advertisements into mobile content giving advertisers an important way to efficiently target ads based on demographic and personal profile information. Hovr directly addresses the desire of advertisers to reach the important demographic of people ages 13-34 by using a new and pervasive medium: the mobile phone.
“Advertisers are looking for new ways to get important product and brand information in front of targeted audiences,” said Vipul Sawhney, Hovr’s president. “At the same time, consumers want a way to get mobile content without having to pay before trying it. Hovr’s technology lets the needs and desires of these two groups form a perfect marriage inside the Hovr community.”
On other gaming sites users can typically expect to pay between $5 and $15 – even as much as $50 – to download a single game. By contrast, at Hovr all games are free. Users merely view a quick commercial before the game begins, and may see product placements embedded within the game. Profile information, not shared with entities outside Hovr, allow Hovr’s AdLogic platform to dynamically place relevant advertisements in front of people most likely to be interested in that content.
Users can download popular titles such as Underground Racer, Hugo Cannon Cruise and Texas Holdem’ from some of the world’s most popular mobile game publishers. Hovr has already struck distribution agreements with 15 major game publishers, including Robotube Games, Kiloo and Ozura, and is continually adding new titles to its catalog. Only weeks after activating its beta site, Hovr surpassed 200,000 downloads and Hovr MobileSpace membership now spans over 100 countries.
“Hovr is offering Robotube an innovative new way to make money from our mobile games,” said Jason Cirillo, founder of Robotube Games. “Our games can reach a vastly larger audience when they are downloadable for free. Typically game producers are paid per download, but Hovr is paying us based on usage. By earning mobile ad revenue each and every time our games are played, a popular game stands to earn its developer exponentially more money.”
Gamers simply go to www.hovr.com and join Hovr MobileSpace to immediately begin enjoying free games. The Hovr MobileSpace social network lets users interact with friends and compete against other community members. A list of supported devices is available on the Hovr website, and the Hovr team is actively working to expand this list.
About Hovr Inc.
Hovr is a mobile media company that marries the needs of advertisers seeking to reach the important and growing mobile demographic with the desires of mobile users wanting entertaining content and applications on their mobile phones. Hovr provides users with free ad-supported mobile content such as high-quality, fun-to-play mobile games. The Hovr MobileSpace social network lets users connect, compete and interact with their friends and other players in a compelling community environment. For more information visit www.hovr.com.”
Hovr is definitely on to something. Trading off cost for in game advertisting seems like a fair trade off. Who knows? Maybe the success of this mobile gaming community can strike its way into other avenues such as the Xbox Live Marketplace. Stay with mygamer as more news develops.
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