Sennari Entertainment explores the Final Frontier
Star Trek licensed for unique skills with prize gaming service
Mobile content provider Sennari Entertainment has signed a licensing agreement with Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer products, for the creation and distribution of Star Trek themed mobile phone titles.
The company's recently announced PrizePlay gaming is the first mobile phone service offering a catalogue of skill-based games which give players the chance to win a prize with every game played. The proprietary event-driven client/server system enables real-time gaming, messaging and transaction capabilities, tournaments and storage of virtual currency.
Using Sennari's Blingadero Rewards service, players collect virtual currency called Bling, which is awarded for winning games or achieving high scores. The Bling can then be redeemed directly from the mobile phone or via the Internet for a wide range of prizes, including new mobile content and music, books, DVDs, gift certificates, travel and dinner vouchers, electronics and more.
The new agreement enables Sennari to create a series of Star Trek themed quiz and trivia-based mobile games, the first of which will be available in Q1, 2006 throughout Europe and the Americas. No firm details regarding the content or style of the first title have been provided to date.
Sennari CEO Bill Barhydt commented: "Star Trek is easily one of the most widely recognized franchises in the history of science fiction. Bringing our Skill with Prize model to Star Trek should make an easy decision for carriers who want to offer customers the very best in games and entertainment."
Led by UV Partners with contributions from prior investors Novak Biddle and Blacksmith Capitol, Sennari recently completed a successful round of series B funding which closed at USD 5 million. The company announced its intention to utilise the funding for the development of its PrizePlay service; securing new licenses, content and partnerships for the innovative 'skills-with-prize' gaming service. The system is being used by virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile, to provide loyalty points for spending, games with loyalty point prizes and rewards for sharing content with friends.