Playdom Partners with i-Jet for Eastern European and Russian Distribution
International game publisher i-Jet Media announced today that it would publish four unnamed Playdom games across Eastern Europe, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Facebook is weak in several countries in the region — most notably Russia, where the Facebook competitor Vkontakte reportedly has over 80 million users. I-Jet claims to reach 60 million users.
Although several US social gaming companies are focusing on reaching Asia, Europe or Latin America, few have looked seriously at the former Soviet markets, even though a growing number of developers are located in those countries. Playdom may be the first large company to do so, although the company hasn’t yet confirmed i-Jet’s release with us.
Along with the publishing deal, i-Jet also said that it’s entering an anti-piracy initiative with Playdom. That may help its cause, as Russia is often seen as a haven for copycats and piracy (Vkontakte itself being a case in point).
I-Jet claims to have already met with success, making $20 million on one game, Happy Farm, in 2009. It’s actively looking for other American developers to work with.
