The emerging channel of advergaming gets a shot in the arm as Yahoo! and Level Up! Philippines tie up to equip the latter’s nearly 10,000 internet café partners nationwide with Yahoo!’s improved software and internet products – thus making the gaming cafes more research-friendly and more acceptable for close proximity to schools.
The partnership is part of Yahoo!’s pioneering iCafe program. Through a free download, Level Up!’s distributing cafes get a business listing on the Yahoo! Advantage Internet café website, access to the community of other iCafe members, exclusive Yahoo! Merchandise software, updates and downloads, and participation in co-branding events with Yahoo! and partners.
“Our efforts [also] include persuading schools to allow internet cafes closer proximity to enable students easier access to go online,” added Level Up! Games Sales Director Apol Dionglay.
“The Philippines is a fast-moving Internet-savvy society and iCafés are critical onramps for new Internet users,” according to Jojo Anonuevo, Yahoo! Philippines general manager. The partnership supports the need for more locally-relevant Internet experiences for consumers and business growth opportunities for Internet café owners in the country.
Metro Manila is the pioneer market of iCafé, together with Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam. Next in line are Indonesia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Launched September last year by Yahoo!, the iCafe program has since signed up 20% of the country’s internet cafes. The project targets membership to reach the hundreds this year, the thousands in 2009.
The country’s pioneering online game publisher, Level Up! is known for introducing the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG’s) genre, a phenomenon already a byword to Philippine online culture. Level Up! is projecting itself as the foremost provider of online entertainment in the country.
