Gamee vows to make gaming more accessible to brands via a messaging app and influencer strategy
Social gaming platform Gamee has just secured 2 million euros in funding, which it plans to use to shape its advertising products and power its expansion worldwide.
Gamee plots expansion after 2 million euro investment
Prague-based Gamee, a platform that sits as a standalone platform or as a service within major messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Kik, has already grown its presence in markets like Singapore by capitalising on gaming communities and tapping into local influencers.
Facebook's Instant Games platform allows users of Messenger to play one another, and even saw the launch of classics including Pac-Man and Space Invaders last year.
According to Gamee founder Bozena Rezab, Singaporeans play around 60 games a day on average, compared to 43 in Europe. Seeing the appetite for gaming early meant Gamee could find local influencers and task them with creating their own games, which they then promoted across their social channels, challenging fans to play against them.
“We do not yet have an office in Singapore, so we worked with influencers on social networks such as YouTube and Instagram. Gamee connects gamers as fans with the influencers in battle, so gamers can see how they stand against influencers, it’s something fans like a lot,” Rezab told The Drum.
A core part of growing relevance locally, is about taking the experience offline too, she said: “When we launched the first games, we had a context that awarded fans with meeting the influencers in person, allowing them to compete and take pictures. This was even managed out of our reach, we trusted the influencer and community.”
Putting trust in influencers outside of Gamee’s key geography of Europe has been crucial to it gaining scale before it had funding that could propel global growth.
“I have heard many marketers say that they see giving freedom to influencers as risky. They are worried about how the tone of voice and message turns out, but the more you control, the less authentic you are. Our philosophy is that you don’t tell them what to do, they have grown their community and know how to talk to them. For the best results, let them do what they are good at, instead of injecting,” she advised.
According to Rezab, Singaporeans now play for around 35 minutes a day, one of the highest globally.
Another way that Gamee grew its user base was its decision to launch onto messaging platforms Facebook Messenger, Kik and Telegram. She says, core gamers still use the Gamee platform but that launching onto messaging apps “removed the friction” and helps draw new users in.
The brand is now hoping to educate brands around platforms that remove the friction from using gaming as a way to engage with people online.
“Native games, which are the apps that you might find on Google Play, are hard to access for brands. They take a lot of research and development, you have to invest in people. For marketers, it’s hard and gaming is not their core business. Quick, snackable gaming experiences, that are sharable across platforms are much more accessible to marketers and brands. They don’t have to work on content for year, they can create short games and series, they can shape it by product launches because they are quick to iterate. It becomes a lot closer to content and campaign thinking, so you can tie it back to KPIs,” she explained.
Gamee has already worked with brands including Coca-Cola, Bershka, Skoda and NASA. One of the most recent brands to launch on the platform is Guiness World Records, which launched a game for its Blockbusters 2017 release.
Last week, Gamee announced that it has secured a series A funding round of 2 million euros, made up of venture capital funds Initial Capital, Credo Ventures, and Index Ventures, and some individual angels. As part of the announcement, it said it would be increasing its investment into product development and key hires.