With a reach to more than 50 million users, PapayaMobile is releasing Social Splash, a tool for game developers to convert their existing social games into Android games.
Targeting Facebook and Google+ developers, PapayaMobile said it will make it easy for a customer to port a game from Adobe’s Flash format (which doesn’t work on mobile) or HTML5 (the lingua franca for the web) to a fully functioning Android app without having to learn a new coding language. Social Splash is essentially a wrapper for HTML5 and Flash games. The compiling is handled in PapayaMobile’s cloud.
The tool should help customers move from one platform to another. That’s a strategy that is becoming increasingly common as game developers chase after gamers on whatever platforms they use. It should help game companies escape the domination of Zynga on Facebook and deal with Adobe’s decision not to port Flash to mobile devices.
“This tool is for every developer that has felt abandoned by Flash and crowded out by Zynga,” said Si Shen, chief executive and co-founder of PapayaMobile in Beijing. “We believe in helping HTML5 and Flash developers make the transition to mobile a seamless experience. Not only does this new tool decrease development time, but it also allows developers to launch their entire games catalog onto mobile without having to learn a new coding language.”
Two games that use Social Splash are Running Panda and Cage Match. PapayaMobile has raised $22 million to date and has 100 employees. Rivals include Gree and DeNA/Ngmoco.