New mobile-game publishing platform is a ‘simple’ alternative for free-to-play developers

A new platform aims to make publishing mobile games easier.

Mobile-social gaming company FunPlus announced today its new free-to-play game-publishing platform, PublishingPlus. The San Francisco-based company aims to bring a “simple, transparent” alternative to traditional games publishing through a flat revenue split and a tiered milestone system. The group aims to lower risk and barriers to access for creators wanting a way into the $30 billion mobile-games market, calling the program “a major step into the future of mobile-game publishing.”

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The PublishingPlus website is now live and accepting applications from interested developers.

PublishingPlus sets out to remove the negotiation and paperwork involved in publishing for iOS and Android, and it lets approved developers maintain ownership of their intellectual properties. The program covers full financial support of a project through launch as long as milestones are met, and it provides operational support throughout the development process. Beyond financing, assistance includes art guidance, design, analytics, marketing, engineering, and tech assistance. Developers work through a tier-based system with preset milestones to reduce risk for both parties. The platform is open to all free-to-play developers regardless of team size or location.

“As FunPlus continues to expand globally, finding content that resonates multi-culturally is key. The App Store charts have unified across most of the globe, but there are still regional differences in play-style and user-expectation, especially around game operations,” FunPlus head of business development Greg Essig told GamesBeat in an email. “We feel we bring valuable knowledge and experience to the table and are looking for developers who can provide the same. Entering this relationship with a fair and transparent business understanding allows us to focus on actually making the best games with strong chances of success.”

PublishingPlus only deals with free-to-play titles as it is the global norm for mobile gaming. Essig says that FunPlus prefers free-to-play as its service-based natures fits with how users interact with smartphones already, and the model helps scale user bases quickly.

Essig says that the PublishingPlus platform aims to be a transparent approach to guiding creators through the development process.

“Making great games is hard. Making great free-to-play games can be even harder,” Essig said. “Great games need to feel positive and fun to play at all stages. This is why our tier-based structure is uniquely suited for this type of development. It establishes a deliverable schedule with pre-set expectations from the start, and with multiple approval processes, it forces both us and the developer to step back and regularly evaluate whether the game is going in the right direction. The idea of milestone approvals is not new, but what is different is our transparent approach to it.”