Kabam and Pokki Bring Hardcore Social Games to the Desktop for the First Time

SAN DIEGO and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SweetLabs Inc., the company behind Pokki, and Kabam, the leading developer of hardcore social games, today brought the first social gaming apps to the Pokki platform with the launch of Pokki desktop apps for four popular Kabam games: Dragons of Atlantis™, Edgeworld™, and The Godfather™: Five Families™. The launch marks the first time Kabam titles have been available as desktop apps, bringing players one-click access to hardcore social gaming without having to launch a browser. The games are available as individual apps as well as a four-game pack on www.pokki.com/kabam.

Pokki is a platform that re-invents the PC app experience by enabling developers to easily create and distribute desktop apps while helping consumers seamlessly discover and access their favorite apps. The popular, award-winning hardcore social games from Kabam join a variety of apps available in the Pokki store for services that include Instagram, Facebook, Rdio, Gmail, Twitter, and many others.

"Kabam creates uniquely rich social games for real gamers, and we couldn't be happier that they're using Pokki to bring those games to the desktop for the first time," said Chester Ng, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of SweetLabs. "A word of caution though: One click access to Kabam games without ever having to open a browser can be highly addicting, especially when coupled with real-time in-game notifications."

Kabam is making several of its top titles available on Pokki. These massively multiplayer, synchronous strategy games encourage collaboration between players via alliances. Set in the lost island civilization of Atlantis, Dragons of Atlantis is a vibrant game of real time strategy and combat. The hit sci-fi strategy game Edgeworld brings strategy games to the future with fully animated tactical combat, real-time battles, and other new gameplay mechanics. The Godfather: Five Families, which was recently given its exclusive social network launch on Google+, is an online multiplayer game set in the Prohibition era preceding the films, with players and crime families battling for money, power, and respect.

"Kabam is constantly looking to create technology and build partnerships that bring our hardcore social games closer to PC game quality and experience," said Chris Carvalho, Chief Operating Officer of Kabam. "This partnership with Pokki expands Kabam game distribution to reach more gamers and provides unique value to our players. It has the potential to usher in a powerful new chapter in core social game distribution."

In conjunction with the launch, the Pokki team is also kicking off "Pokki 1UP," a $50,000 contest to reward game developers who create new games for Pokki. Developers can use standard web languages like HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, and emerging technologies like WebGL and Web Audio. The contest officially opens December 20, with winners announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March.

To download Dragons of Atlantis, Edgeworld, The Godfather: Five Families and Thirst of Night, today visit www.pokki.com/kabam. For more information on the Pokki Game Developer contest, see www.pokki.com/1up.

About SweetLabs

SweetLabs was founded in 2008 to empower developers to reach new users and monetize great applications. The company's first product was the OpenCandy advertising network, which powers user-friendly software recommendations during the download and installation process. In June 2011, SweetLabs launched Pokki, an application platform that brings the modern "app" experience to the desktop, enabling developers to create engaging, connected desktop applications using standard web languages like HTML5. SweetLabs is based in San Diego and funded by Intel Capital, Google Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. Visit www.sweetlabs.com for more information.

About Kabam

Kabam is leading the next wave of gaming—hardcore social games. The company's studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of gamers looking for highly immersive social games. The first wave of Kabam's new games for Facebook and leading media sites, including IGN "Reader's Choice Facebook Game of 2010" Kingdoms of Camelot®, have been widely recognized for their depth of play and social interaction. Founded in 2006, Kabam has offices in San Francisco and Redwood City, Calif., Beijing, China, and Luxembourg. More information about Kabam can be found at www.kabam.com.

SOURCE SweetLabs, Inc.