Booyah’s MyTown is still losing to Foursquare in the hype department, but frankly, I don’t think CEO Keith Lee really cares.
MyTown is still adding users at an impressive clip. This Tuesday, the geo-location game hit 3.1 million users. The site has racked up 400 million check-ins in the last 6 months, or roughly 67 million check-ins per month on average. For comparison, Foursquare, which poignantly differs from MyTown by emphasizing social utility, is quickly closing the gap but currently stands at roughly 2.7 million users.
So what does Booyah’s MyTown nation look like? We have a handy check-in infographic that breaks it down by geographic location. The map below is a snapshot of MyTown’s July activity, with the dots representing check-ins. Logically, the higher the density, the greater number of check-ins. As shown in the image, Booyah is attracting significant activity from the Northeast (particularly near New York). In fact, there seems to be strong coverage across the Eastern section, only a sprinkling of users in the mid-section (with the exception of Colorado), and, as expected, a hubs of activity in the northern and southern sections of California near San Francisco and Los Angeles.
For a fun comparison, here’s a map of the actual density of the US:
Beyond traditional game mechanics, Booyah’s MyTown is also trying to increase engagement with the recent introduction of its product check-ins. With the product check-in, users can scan real-world products via barcodes for points and to unlock promotions from advertising partners. The feature, which launched in late July, is still in its infancy but it represents a major financial opportunity for Booyah, which, like Foursquare is rushing to bulk up its rolodex of advertising clients. The greatest hurdle here is not only expanding the user base but also getting users to actually check into products, en masse. So far, so good, Booyah recently registered 350,000 check-ins in one week.
Founding CEO of Booyah, the Lead Producer for Diablo III at Blizzard Entertainment, and Lead Engineer at Insomniac Games. Besides angel investing, I’m currently working on a stealth startup. Prior to founding Booyah, Keith was the Lead Producer for Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III franchise. The Diablo series has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Before Blizzard, Keith’s roles as the Team Lead and Lead Engineer for Insomniac Games helped propel the Ratchet & Clank series to surpass 10 million...
Booyah, headquartered in San Francisco, is the market leader in real-world & location –based gaming. The company is founded on the premise that “where you play matters” and creates compelling, innovative mass-market games and entertainment products that have been enjoyed by tens of millions of worldwide. By integrating real-world signals into its portfolio of products, Booyah is more than a games company…literally changing how people play and delivering more personal, more social & more meaningful ways for gamers of...
MyTown is a location-based app built around local shops, restaurants, and hangouts. Users check-in at real-world locations to level up, unlock rewards, and earn cash to buy their favorite real-life places. Booyah recently unveiled the Product Check-in, where users scan real world items to receive special virtual items and rewards. MyTown has over 2.8M users who play the game on an average of over 70 minutes a day.
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