Exponential Entertainment has launched the first casual games on its HollywoodPlayer.com web site as well as on Facebook.
The Seattle-based company was the winner of the Who’s Got Game startup competition at our GamesBeat conference in March. Back then, we were impressed with the track record of the founders and the original games they were creating around a Hollywood celebrity theme.
Exponential has posted four single-player games on its web site, including Double Exposure, which challenges players to spot the differences between altered film frames and the originals. That game is also available on Facebook. Other titles include MovieMatchUp, JigScene, and Well Connected. In the games, players can use their movie trivia knowledge to score points or solve puzzles. Players can win gift cards, buy sweepstakes tickets, and donate winnings to charitable causes, said Bill Kuper, co-founder and chief technology officer.
Dave Long, chief executive and co-founder of Exponential, said the company decided to accelerate its development of Facebook titles because of the rapid growth and monetization opportunities on that platform. More games are on the way for Facebook, the iPhone and the HollywoodPlayer.com web site.
The company has managed to launch its beta with just 10 employees and a small amount of seed capital. It is in the midst of raising a new round of venture money. Long said the company has been revising the Facebook version every few days since making it available on July 22. Double Exposure fans will soon be able to issue challenges to their friends on Facebook. That’s one of the main methods by which the game can spread.
Long said the games will have advertising and premium subscription versions. The company is signing up advertisers and sponsors now. The idea is essentially to keep operating the games as a service as the company continues to evolve them.
Kuper and Long were the inventors of the popular movie trivia DVD game series, SceneIt? The series generated 25 editions and more than $500 million in sales for Screen Life, the predecessor company. In their new startup, Long and Kuper are essentially taking movie trivia games to the web and coming up with a more interesting mix of interactivity.