New York — In a surprising turn of events, more than six years after AOL acquired Games.com from Infogrames, which was previously a PC-based service, but AOL has now redesigned the site to enable better “cross platform” with a new HTML5 version, bringing about new features which allow online-gamers to easily discover more games as well as personalize their own profile with their favorite games.
Now, in the smartphone-jumbled, tablet-centric year of 2012, for the first time in two years, AOL has given the browser-based platform a makeover to make it more appealing in the social-mobile era — launching today with more than 5,000 free online games, a swathe of mobile games, and a slew of additional new features, AOL is seeking to position Games.com as the number one portal for online gamers.
The announcement was disclosed during GDC Online, a game developers’ conference in Austin, Texas. However, the most interesting part about the launch is that AOL is seemingly evading the native mobile app route, and is tapping the power of HTML5 to create browser-based games that work cross-platform.
The overall scenario according to John Fox, general manager at Games.com, explains that AOL boasts more than 5,000 free online games, including the largest library of HTML5 mobile games that can be played in web browsers. He further added that as part of the personalization of the new Games.com, gamers can not only get recommendations for new games to play, but also see their entire gaming history as well as keep track of their badges, points and other stats.
“AOL users have always been passionate about gaming and we are thrilled to empower them with an industry-leading experience that operates fluidly across all devices,” Fox, said in a statement. “We are focused on creating an experience that allows users to discover, play and share games.”
Games.com players will also have easy access to their gaming history, badges, points, and rankings via a new Social Bar, which is seamlessly integrated into the new experience.
AOL says data from Jefferies Equity Research shows that 65 percent of play has shifted from the web and toward mobile and tablet devices in the past year. So the new platform has been designed with a mobile-first approach. Additionally, the site’s search function allows players to find their favorite games, regardless of device, and provides personalization features that make it easier to discover and enjoy new offerings.
“Gaming is not just on one device anymore,” Fox said. “We want to get gamers to discover games quickly and give them options to share it among their friends.”
Moreover, AOL’s top partners include Arkadium, Big Fish Games, Masque Publishing, Mochi Media, and Tylted. Fox said the average session time is 29 minutes. The site has 3 million monthly active users in the U.S. and 4.5 million worldwide. That is very likely down from peaks in the past, but Fox promises to grow those numbers.
“This is just the start,” said Fox. “We will be rolling out new products and features on Games.com in the coming months. We have focused on building a product that introduces players to games they will love, and that is exactly what we have built and will continue to enhance. We value each of our players individually and will continue to build products to make the experience that much more relevant to each individual player.”
As a matter of fact, “We saw a huge opportunity in this space,” said Fox. “We are a big-scale internet company, with distribution power through Games.com, an ad platform, and a transactions platform. We took that base and built an industry-leading game platform across devices.”