Inside Social Games

Peanut Labs Media has announced partnerships with MMORPG developer Frogster and online game publisher Outspark to bring their survey-based virtual currency monetization system to more free to play online games.

Frogster, a division of Berlin-based Frogster Interactive Pictures, is best known for its MMO Runes of Magic. Through the team up, players of Runes will now be able to participate in Peanut Labs’ 5-10 minute market research surveys in exchange for virtual diamonds. This, in turn, is expected to increase monetization by allowing users that do not wish to spend any money to go further in the game.

Two weeks ago, Peanut Labs also announced a partnership with Outspark, which currently runs five online free-to-play titles that serve about 5 million gamers monthly, including  Fiesta, Project Powder, and Wind Slayer. As with Frogster, players can now earn Outspark SparkCash through surveys..

Partnerships like these shouldn’t come as a surprise, as virtual currency monetization is working well and growing rapidly throughout the industry. It gives more players the opportunity to engage more deeply in the game, and provides developers with sustainable sources of revenue from a variety of advertisers. We’ll of course continue to follow the evolution of the space closely.