GameHouse Fusion is the First Social Gaming Platform to Integrate Social, Online, Download and Mobile Gameplay

SAN FRANCISCO, May 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WEB 2.O EXPO -- GameHouse®, a division of RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), today unveiled GameHouse Fusion™, the first social gaming platform to give consumers access to thousands of socially connected games within a massive worldwide casual gaming community across multiple social websites and devices.  GameHouse Fusion provides game developers access to the GameHouse network of more than 50 million players per month, with the opportunity to reach the exploding audience of consumers who enjoy playing games and interacting with others on social platforms like Facebook and MySpace via mobile phones, PCs and other internet-connected devices.  

GameHouse Fusion is launching today with support from large media and technology companies, including Comcast, MySpace, Qualcomm Incorporated, Mattel and PopCap Games.

GameHouse Fusion enhances the player experience by offering a richer, more unified gameplay experience and enabling players to connect with friends and the larger gaming community across their favorite social sites and content providers on a variety of devices.  Consumers will enjoy access to a massive catalog of games, the ability to engage in multi-player gaming and live chat between networks, a centralized virtual economy that works across platforms, and community features such as high scores, notifications and news feeds.  GameHouse Fusion transforms single-player, non-social game experiences into multi-player games, providing options for players to meet new friends, create tournament challenges among friends and online communities and design virtual awards such as customized trophies for the winners.

The GameHouse application on Facebook is the first application built on GameHouse Fusion.  Leveraging the unique capabilities of the platform, this application offers more than 1000 games and is a centralized location for connected game experiences that will stretch across other platforms and fully take advantage of GameHouse Fusion's robust capabilities over time.  The GameHouse application on Facebook is a free app, available today at http://apps.facebook.com/gamehouse/. Other social applications will follow in the coming months.  

"GameHouse Fusion is truly a game changing platform, providing consumers access to thousands of great games and a community of millions of other players.  It offers our developer partners the opportunity to make all games social -- even those not originally designed for social interaction -- on virtually any screen," said John Barbour, president of GameHouse. "With the unmatched set of multi-platform development and distribution assets we have built over time, GameHouse is leading the transformation of digital games to mainstream social entertainment for the masses."

By helping developers place their games in front of hundreds of millions of players around the world, GameHouse Fusion efficiently accelerates a developer's social presence so they can focus their efforts on creating world class games.  The platform drives social connectivity with features including tournaments and trophies, user-created competitions and prizes, leaderboards, broadcast notifications, game recommendations, and other shared experiences.  Developer partners will have access to extensive data collection and analytics capabilities to help them better understand player demographic information and behavior and leverage a variety of monetization options including in-game advertising, sponsorships, micro-transactions and licensing programs.  

GameHouse Fusion is built to massively scale to hundreds of millions of players.  Using the GameHouse Fusion SDK, game developers can publish their game once and have it distributed to popular PC gaming portals as well as all the major social sites.  GameHouse will be releasing SDKs for Brew and Brew MP in the third quarter of this year, and for iPhone, Android and other mobile phones and internet-connected televisions and other devices later this year.

For technology and distribution partners, GameHouse Fusion offers a unique opportunity to accelerate their social presence and extend their brand awareness across social channels that reach a massive audience.  From major portals and retailers to social websites and other internet-connected devices, social channels can expose a brand to more than 1 billion consumers.  In addition, GameHouse Fusion provides partners with new monetization methods, including sponsored trophies, virtual goods and micro-transactions.

"We are excited to take our customers' gaming experience to the next level by building off the success of our rapidly growing community base," said Michael Finnerty, vice president and general manager, Comcast.net for Comcast Interactive Media.  "GameHouse Fusion will allow our current and future subscribers to access the best-in-class games across all devices and connect with the people that matter the most to them."

For more information on GameHouse Fusion, please visit www.gamehousefusion.com or email [email protected].  To enjoy thousands of socially connected online games in a single app, visit GameHouse on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/gamehouse/.    

GameHouse is a leader in the digital games industry worldwide and develops content across multiple platforms, with a vertically integrated development, publishing, licensing, distribution and retail business.

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About RealNetworks

RealNetworks, Inc. delivers digital entertainment services to consumers via PC, handheld device, home entertainment system or mobile phone. Real® created the streaming media category in 1995 and has continued to lead the market with pioneering products and services, including: RealPlayer®, the first mainstream media player to enable one-click downloading and recording of Internet video; GameHouse, one of the largest casual games destinations on the Web; and a variety of mobile entertainment services, such as ringback tones, offered to consumers through leading wireless carriers around the world. RealNetworks' corporate information is located at www.realnetworks.com/about-us.

Real, RealNetworks, GameHouse, GameHouse Fusion, Real and RealPlayer are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks Inc. Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc. All other trademarks, names of actual companies and products mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE RealNetworks, Inc.