hi5 Developer Portal

SAN FRANCISCO – July 20, 2010 – hi5, one of the world’s most popular social entertainment sites, today announced the launch of its new hi5 Developer Portal ( http://developer.hi5.com). Through this portal, developers can integrate content on the hi5 platform quickly and easily. hi5 launched its Game Developer Program in March of this year. While access to viral channels has been shut down by other networks, hi5’s program has opened up new viral channels, enabling social game developers to drive acquisition and monetization of their games. With today’s portal launch, hi5 will further simplify and expedite the process of getting games live on hi5 and support developers looking to distribute and monetize their games among millions of users worldwide.

“With the release of our new developer portal and support for Facebook-compatible APIs, it is now nearly frictionless for developers to publish their games in our network." said Alex St. John, President and CTO, hi5. “As of today, anybody who has made the investment to create a social media game is simply throwing money away if they don't publish it on hi5 as quickly as possible. It’s virtually effortless.”

Unlike other social networks that have been actively crippling the viral channels relied on by social game developers to acquire new users, hi5 has invested in creating innovative new hooks for promoting their content. In addition to hi5’s existing Payments API, developers will now have access to Virtual Goods and Gifts APIs for hooking into the highly active hi5 gift economy. These interfaces enable third-party games to provide gifts and other virtual goods to users, which persist on user profile pages and trigger the viral channels that get new content discovered.

“hi5's new Developer Portal will enable us to integrate our games with their virtual goods economy and viral marketing channels quickly and easily,” said David Godwin, CEO of Sneaky Games. “By working with hi5, we'll be able to reach millions of users worldwide who enjoy playing social games and engaging with virtual goods.”

“We're enthusiastic about working with hi5 to further promote and monetize our games through their innovative distribution platform,” said Heiko Hubertz, CEO of Bigpoint. “The close partnership will support our long-term strategic growth initiatives by helping us introduce new audiences to our top-performing games.”

Additionally, developers can access API documentation (both OpenSocial and Facebook-compatible interfaces) for all integration points, sample source code, reference guides on promoting and monetizing games on hi5, revenue share terms, and distribution agreements. Developers can also submit their games and applications to hi5 for approval directly from the portal, and manage all their applications on hi5 from one place.

hi5 is showcasing the new Developer Portal at booth #22 in Benaroya Hall from July 20-22 during Casual Connect Seattle. To learn more about how to participate in the Game Developer Program or to schedule a meeting with hi5 representatives at Casual Connect Seattle, please contact http://developer.hi5.com/php/contact.php.

To learn more about the hi5 Developer Portal, please visit http://developer.hi5.com.

About hi5

Founded in 2003, hi5 is among the top 20 largest web sites worldwide and the leading destination site focused on social entertainment and gaming. hi5 delivers a fun, interactive entertainment experience to millions of visitors worldwide by combining a robust social platform with premium content, including localized games, virtual goods and more. The newly launched hi5 Game Developer Program enables talented social game developers to drive audience and monetization of their games on the hi5 platform through free promotion, access to viral channels, and favorable revenue shares. To learn more about the program, visit http://developer.hi5.com.

hi5 and the hi5 logo are trademarks of hi5 Networks, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.