Scoreloop - Socializing iPhone Apps and Beyond

That’s a pretty fast turnaround considering all of the features that you get in the game thanks to the addition.

Additionally, for gamers and devs alike Scoreloop is including social Network Integration. This not only Increases game visibility and fun levels but helps your friends keep track of what you’re playing and how you’re doing. It’s like instant bragging rights on Facebook.

You can import all your friends from Facebook and add to your friends lists on Scoreloop. The service sends notifications when a profile item changes - new high score, new level, etc. and updates your Facebook profile.

For developers this is really cool because friend recommendations are a major way to sell games. Not only to see the game but how often friends are playing and how good they are which translates into how fun the game is. This is a great value-add for developers and publishers as it could seriously impact sales of the Apps in a positive way. Marc said that at present they have functionality in place and are working to expand the social networks offered including Twitter, Myspace and others.

Another fantastic feature of Scoreloop from a developer’s standpoint is Cross-promotions. Besides all the great social networking stuff like Facebook integration, there is also a dedicated Scoreloop app on iTunes that lists all Scoreloop-enabled games and your friends list. So all games can get promoted through the scoreloop app and the Scoreloop Community on the web. The dedicated Scoreloop App gives you some latest news on your gaming, games, challenges and buddies all in one place. Plus it can also connect to Facebook, track you scoreloop Coins (more below) and allows you to customize your avatar.

All games in the app have a direct link to the app store this also allows Developers to team-up and develop cross-promos with each other. Perhaps we might even see cross-game tournaments in the near future?

Since we know that not everyone speaks English Scoreloop has done some quick work for localization giving the apps complete usability in multiple languages. With that infrastructure in place that means that when a developer decides to expand their game into other markets (say Spain, Germany, France, etc) the Scoreloop application will easily be included in the native language of the market targeted.

Right now they have 3 or 4 languages completed but they are done by request so adding a language is just a matter of having it translated. Uses the system preferences of the iPhone to decide what language to display the Scoreloop specific text. Even the web-based community is completely localized.

Another piece of the puzzle for developers and gamers is Virtual Currency. Since Scoreloop started right from the get go with a secure infrastructure (they’ve done huge projects for banks and other places that need high levels of security) developers can implement virtual currency solutions in the game in the form of coins.

Coins are given for a number of things like winning a challenge and can be purchased on the Scoreloop site as well. They can then be used for item purchases in games. Drop in a coin and get a one-time game license like the old arcades? It’s a definite possibility. But the coins are also good for extending the gameplay experience with extra lives, new tools, etc.

This gives developers new and interesting ways to generate recurring revenue from items, plays and more. It creates a whole new business model that sees its roots in the days of the video game arcade. It can also help drive iPhone App development as it could extend the lifetime of games with continuously new items being added to virtual shops etc.

If you think about everything that Scoreloop is doing, you might turn an eye to the future and see complete MMO games being developed specifically for the iPhone using the features of Scoreloop. It’s already got friends lists, virtual currency, scoring leaderboards. The only thing we’re missing is the game that puts it all together with a real-time massive multiplayer environment. I’m sure it won’t be long now.

Scoreloop is truly expanding the boundaries of what we perceive as capable in an iPhone Application and I look forward to them continuing to push the boundaries and expand the gaming experience. The iPhone is turning into a great portable gaming solution on top of all the other things it does and that’s great news for gamers.

Thanks go out to Marc Gumpinger for his time and for Nicole DeMeo my main contact at Scoreloop.