W3i Launches Games Program to Set Up Servers, Analytics & Storefronts for Developers

In another step that will help it move beyond incentivized installs, W3i is starting a games program that will help developers set up servers, analytics and storefronts for their games. It's another sign of a little trend we keep seeing over and over. More companies are emerging to take over tiny, but easily reusable pieces of the app development process, by providing them as services to scores of developers. Think Urban Airship, which handles notifications, or Dalton Caldwell's new project App.net for landing pages or SimpleGeo for adding location features. Then there's Parse, Stackmob and Kinvey, which all try to take the hassle out of storing and organizing data from a mobile app's thousands or millions of users. W3i, which originally focused on driving user acquisition for web apps, has been trying to build more a presence this year among mobile developers. It launched a free-app-a-day program and did incentivized downloads until Apple clamped down on the practice this spring. The games program seems like a natural next step. While the program is still in beta and the company hasn't released details about pricing or the tiers of service, W3i says it will handle server set-up, maintenance and security. It also says it will provide analytics and go beyond basics by showing an app's total revenue breakdown by item and giving developers the ability to segment out which kinds of users purchase what for targeting. The program will also help developers create and manage their storefront where they sell virtual currencies. It's worth noting that several rivals have various in-app purchase solutions like Tapjoy, which can host games and their virtual goods and virtual currencies. Rival Flurry also has a large footprint with its analytics product, which is in about 100,000 apps across iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phone.

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W3i Launches Games Program to Set Up Servers, Analytics & Storefronts for Developers

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