Hooked Media Group launched its social game platform that allows developers to reach a community of players across web sites, social networks and mobile devices.
The Yoo-Mee platform lets publishers create games that try to get players to come back to compete against each other, talk about games and otherwise gather in a like-minded community. Developers embed code in their games that ties them in with other games in the platform.
The idea is to create additional sales through cross promotion and virtual currency purchases. The platform comes with two kinds of virtual currency, which can be used to buy digital goods in the games. The first is Tokens, a reward currency that users earn by playing games and inviting friends. The second is Gold, which players buy with real money and can be used in one-on-one challenges.
The San Francisco company raised $4.5 million from U.S. Venture Partners and Altos Ventures. Hooked Media has 20 employees and was founded in late 2008. It competes with rivals such as GameDuell and Mochi Media. The company has 200 website partners.
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