GetSocial launches social platform for games and raises $1M

GetSocial is announcing today it is launching its social networking platform to help market and monetize mobile games. It has also raised $1 million in a seed round.

The company said it has built a revolutionary backend platform that amplifies engagement of mobile gamers. Mag Interactive, the creator of the hit word game Ruzzle, said it will use GetSocial in Ruzzle Adventure.

The Amsterdam-based GetSocial is attacking a huge problem in mobile, which has so many games it’s hard to get noticed. The cost of acquiring users through advertising is skyrocketing, rising 34 percent from a year ago in September, according to marketing firm Fiksu. Only of tiny percentage of players pay for anything in free-to-play games, which have become the norm in mobile. And the cost of acquiring users is so high that it is sometimes exceeding the revenues coming in, and that’s a recipe for disaster.

One of the solutions is to encourage viral sharing, via social networks such as Facebook. But that’s not always enough. Reinout te Brake, the chief executive of GetSocial, said the company maximizes virality through a smart invitation system, which uses deep linking and tracking between popular chat apps like WhatsApp, Kakao, Line, WeChat, Kii, and others.

“For years I have been preaching for better targeted marketing and with GetSocial we can now enable developers to improve their F2P monetization, retention and virality. We are very happy to see the platform getting validated by leading gaming developers “ te Brake said in an email.

Te Brake said this invite system should significantly reduce the effective cost per install per user. On top of that, GetSocial has created a feature that allows a more sophisticated promotion of in-app purchase items, te Brake said. The goal is to make each game more profitable.

The company has 29 employees, and it was founded in 2013, as a pivot from a prior company dubbed Gramble. Te Brake joined as CEO amid that pivot. He is also an investor in the latest seed funding.

“Integrating GetSocial in Ruzzle Adventure was an easy choice for us. The GetSocial team makes it extremely light weight on our own developers to boost the social experience of the game,” said Daniel Hasselberg, CEO of MAG Interactive, in a statement.

Hutch, the game studio that created MMX Racing, is also adopting GetSocial as it adds multiplayer and community to its racing game.

Shaun Rutland, CEO of Hutch, said in a statement, “We believe in the future of connected mobile gaming, where a player can instantly share, connect and challenge their peers and engage on a new level that extends loyalty and awareness.”

Among the investors in the round is Chris Lee, a former vice president at game publisher Activision.

In a statement, he said, “As cost-per-install (CPI) continues to increase, it’s critical for free-to-play studios to do everything they can to drive stronger retention, virality and engagement. GetSocial is a solution that couldn’t have been better timed. Encouraging community, competition, collaboration and social-proof for players is a major piece of the puzzle that helps make games more sticky and ultimately more profitable.”