Playhaven, the real-time mobile game marketing platform launched in May, 2010, announced it has expanded to the Android platform and added other new features.

Playhaven, which boasts 30 million unique users, driving a whopping 350 million game sessions every month, has enjoyed a 150 percent increase in users and game sessions in the six months since it introduced a new platform that let developers create customizable HTML5 pop ups in order to engage the user in real time by activating the underlying code. Playhaven calls these “Dynamic Overlays” and they have been a significant development for developers wishing to boost the engagement of their gamers because it means that the app does not to go through a full fledged update, then an often lengthy approval process at the iOS app store.

Playhaven's LTV platform is now available for the Android, and new features like Virtual Goods Promotion tool have been added.

“Dynamic Overlays” let developers use a simple web dashboard to, for example, pop up an alert box in current games when introducing a new game, or pop up a graphical alert box informing the user when there is an available update to a game and why they should update. Even more powerful is the ability to insert code to provide users with currency rewards in Playhaven’s API, which once approved, can simply be scheduled, changed or cancelled as desired, without having to go through an update every time.

Playhaven now calls its product “Mobile Game Life Time Value (LTV) Maximization Platform” a phrase coined by the company’s CEO Andy Yang earlier in the year, or ‘Zynga in a Box’ for short.  Yang explained the power of ‘Zynga in a Box’:

“The secret sauce of the big social companies is their metrics and analytics; the granularity with which they analyze their data. They’re excellent at segmenting their players into different groups and then managing them to make the most money.” Yang noted that in his discussions with studios the most important thing for them was to generate “actionable data” and it is surprising how many companies pay little attention to segmentation.

Playhaven’s ‘secret sauce’ is ‘Zynga in a Box’ and it lets developers target users on the fly, reward and motivate users who play frequently and show ads to those who are casual or infrequent gamers.

Playhaven’s “Mobile Game LTV Maximization Platform” was available in closed beta for the Android last month but the Android version was officially launched this week, along with several new features, including a Virtual Goods Promotion module, which developers can use to help make their social games more profitable by getting their gamers more quickly and directly to the virtual item for sale.  Testing by Playhaven’s partners has shown the Virtual Goods Promotion tool, by reducing the friction and steps between the message and point of sale, can boost revenue by more than 400 percent per user.

Another new feature being added to Playhaven’s toolkit is the User Segmentation Toolkit, which will let developers change their Dynamic Overlays based on real time metrics derived from the LTV platform. This promises to be a very powerful tool because it will let developers use measurable playing factors of users to set targeted parameters for certain segments of players. This actionable data, such as how often a user buys virtual goods or how much time they spend playing the game, allows the developer to optimize the playing experience and engagement of the user over the long term, thus also increasing the value of that user to the developer.

The User Segmentation Toolkit will help the developer optimize the player's experience and their value to the developer.

Yang said: “The field of in-app monetization is constantly changing and Playhaven has decided to lead the charge towards greater innovation with our revolutionary new features. Our LTV platform has already reshaped the App Store process in a way that allows developers to forgo resubmission for simple updates. Our latest additions are sophisticated and powerful tools which hand in-app revenue optimization to iOS and Android developers.”

Playhaven’s expanding network of partners includes GLU, GameCircus, Fluick, distinctdev, HALFBRICK. Playhaven recently signed partnerships with Pocket Gems, Natural Motion, NAMCO, Digital Chocolate, and Tapulous.

About David John Walker

Dave has a B.A. in Mathematics, loves writing and reading about the latest developments in technology and social media, and has been working as a freelance writer for five years.