InstantAction launches online game distribution

InstantAction has announced the availability of a new ‘direct-to-consumer’ online video game distribution service that allows publishers to embed their titles anywhere online.

Websites, blogs and social media sites like Facebook can all be used as platforms for embedded titles. The service has debuted with LucasArts’ The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

The new distribution service uses a combination of in-browser, thin-client and ‘progressive’ downloading technologies which InstantAction claim will make embedding games as simple as embedding standard video or photo – and at equivalent speeds.

Senior research analyst of Pacific Crest Studies Evan S. Wilson said of the unveiling that he thought it would only have been a matter of time before something came along to disrupt what he called the “extremely limited distribution channels available to game creators”.

"The InstantAction platform virtually obliterates the obstacles to game distribution by making it possible for anyone to embed any video game anywhere on the web, just like embedding a video,” he said.

“For game creators, this opens up distribution channels that haven’t previously been an option – especially for console-quality games. For consumers, it creates endless possibilities for game discovery, risk-free trial, and faster downloads."

InstantAction CEO Louis Castle said of the release that it allows game creators to avoid obstacles to publishing and discovering new games that currently exist.

“We give game creators a secure way to offer free trials, item purchases and pay-as-you play options, with a broad range of monetisation formats and platform compatibility,” he said.

“Gamers not only get the try-before-you buy and rent-to-own benefits; they can easily embed full games into their social networks, accessing their friends’ lists and adding social features to games where they may not have existed. InstantAction not only changes how games are distributed and discovered, but how they are enjoyed.”