Web publishers looking to capitalize on the growth in social and casual gaming just got an easier way to integrate them into their sites. HeyZap, a platform that helps syndicate social and casual games and also offers expanded features like achievements, has just launched its Social Games Bar. The bar is similar in appearance to the Meebo Bar — it sits at the bottom of the browser window and persists as you navigate through a publisher’s site. But the functionality is obviously quite different. The bar gives users access to 30,000 different social and casual games, some of which are tied to Facebook using Facebook Connect.
HeyZap cofounder Immad Akhund says that there are a few major benefits from the bar. First, it’s actually easier to integrate than HeyZap’s standard gaming widget, because publishers don’t have to worry about where they’re going to position it on their site (they just add a line of code and it appears at the bottom). And because the bar is always visible at the bottom of the page, users are more likely to click it.
He also says that all links shared through games launched by the HeyZap Bar link back to the publisher’s site, as opposed to the game’s Facebook page, which is where they often link to by default. Finally, Publishers get a rev share on any virtual goods purchased through the games (which is true of the normal HeyZap widget as well).
