NEW DELHI: After the success of music and movie streaming businesses, Bharti Airtel today announced the beta launch of ‘Wynk Games’ with a library of over 2,000 global and local games.
The gaming app is the latest OTT addition to Airtel’s content portfolio which will be free for its internet subscribers and paid for customers of other network.
“We see people are required to download games even without knowing the content. Then they are required to unlock stages by paying. We have done away with it. During beta version, we have made games free for Airtel data customers and charging subsidised rate to other customers”, Bharti Airtel Director for Consumer Business Srini Gopalan said.
For Wynk Games, the telecom major has tied up with Playphone Inc, a global leader in mobile social gaming.
“Like Wynk Music and Wynk Movies, customers using Wynk Games can download games and play them offline. Wynk Games is also an ad-free application, thus delivering the best experience for avid gamers”, Bharti Airtel Wynk CEO Kartik Sheth said.
Airtel started Wynk with music streaming service and now claims to have over 15 million downloads, of which only one third are from Airtel users.
“When we launched Wynk Music we realised people either use pirated music often infested with malwares or go for highly paid services. We addressed the issue on both side with Wynk Music. There were free songs available but people opted for Wynk. It has helped over all category to grow,” Gopalan said.
He said music application category has grown substantially with consumption having grown 50 times over the last 18 months.
“Wynk Games application, bundled with Airtel data packs aims to similarly stimulate consumption of this category,” Gopalan said.
California-based Playphone Chief Executive Ron Czerny said, “together with Bharti Airtel we are bundling Wynk Games with data packs. New games will be added daily from global developers.”
The catalogue currently includes games from about 150 developers including top global developers like Square Enix, Zeptolab, Thumbstar, Tresensa, Bulkypix and more. (PTI)