Greystripe to offer Vivendi supplied, ad-supported games

The ad-subsidized mobile gaming space gained another backer as Vivendi Games Mobile said it will offer 10 of its titles free through Greystripe.
The mobile division of Paris-based Vivendi Games said games such as “After Dark Flying Toaster,” “Amy’s Hangman” and several Garfield products would be available through Greystripe’s GameJump.com and other channels. Like other Greystripe offerings, the games will be “wrapped” in marketing messages that appear before and after each gaming session.
“We believe, just as there are multiple distribution models for traditional gaming platforms, there will be a similar outcome in the mobile space,” said Lou Fasulo, Vivendi Mobile’s vice president of distribution for the Americas. “We are pleased to partner with Greystripe because we share the same goal of growing awareness for mobile games and exploring new models of distribution that will protect the value of our popular titles and franchises.”
Once a distribution channel only for lesser-known publishers, Greystripe has gained traction in recent months as an alternative way for established game makers to leverage the long tail and monetize more venerable offerings. Hands On Mobile last month became the first major mobile publisher to experiment with free games, agreeing to release several titles through Greystripe, and Konami has begun offering games through the San Francisco-based distributor.
But more established publishers have steadfastly opposed such efforts, claiming that giving games away undermines the market in its infancy.
“We think it’s a bad thing for the industry,” Glu Mobile Inc. CEO Greg Ballard said last month. “We think the current model, where people are actually paying dollars for games, works pretty well. . We don’t find ourselves in a situation where we are in search of an alternative mechanism to monetize games.”