InstantAction launches browser distribution service

InstantAction has officially launched its new direct-to-consumer online distribution service, with the browser release of LucasArts title The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition.

The company's technology will enable publishers to embed game anywhere on the web much as they would a video or picture.

Using a combination of in-browser, thin-client and progressive downloading technologies, InstantAction said that speed would be comparable to a video, and that the model will both save consumers downloading time and expand distribution for publishers.

The platform will allow games to be played via Facebook, most websites that allow the embedding of objects via iframes, and popular blog sites such as Wordpress, TypePad, Movable Type, Tumblr and Google's Blogger. The embed code will also work with any webpage that allows HTML code to be edited.

"It was only a matter of time before the Internet disrupted the extremely limited distribution channels available to game creators, enabling direct-to-consumer access and more control over sales performance and profits," said Evan S Wilson, senior research analyst of Pacific Crest Securities.

"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. 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."

"The InstantAction platform provides a brand new way to get games from their creators to customers, thus avoiding obstacles to publishing and discovering new games that are inherent in the traditional brick and mortar model," added Louis Castle, CEO of InstantAction.

"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.

"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."

Earlier this month, Louis Castle, a co-founder of EA's former Westwood Studio, told GamesIndustry.biz that he hoped InstantAction would be the distribution model that kills bricks and mortar retail.

"We're not going to be the only technology out there, but every one of them will be another brick in the wall, another step in the right direction to saving our industry from partners that became parasites. They're really no longer partners - they're killing the goose that lays the golden egg," he said.