Having earned his stripes working as the lead developer on Plants vs. Zombies at PopCap, Roy Liu has teamed up with David Ng of content delivery specialist ChinaCache to launch new in-app purchase (IAP) incentivisation tool Gimmie.

The platform will enable players to earn real rewards when they make IAPs, amassing 'Gimmie points' that they can then trade in for free or discounted products in the real world.

According to co-founders Liu and Ng – the latter who will serve as CEO – the platform is designed to keep players engaged in the game, rather than pushing them out to a third-party website through in-game advertising.

Reverse engineering

It's an approach Ng claims mirrors the traditional model sported in arcades, where users win tokens in play they can then trade in for prizes of their choice.

"Users love Gimmie because we give them the ability to shop for a reward of their choice," said David Ng, CEO and co-founder of Gimmie.

"As in traditional arcades, users not only have fun playing games, but also gain enjoyment in knowing they can choose a reward right away or save up for something even better in our rewards store."

Gimmie will build on Liu's previous hand in the business, having worked with PopCap's own incentivisation tools.

However, Gimmie will – in the company's words - "work in reverse", focusing on rewarding users with items outside the game in question that they can pick up at a later date, rather than pulling them away at the moment they earn the credits.

Levelling up

All the goods up for grabs will be listed via a dedicated marketplace, while – as well as earning credit through buying virtual goods – credits will also be delivered if the user signs up for a newsletter, or plays long enough to unlock a higher level.

Gimmie – which has already raised $200,000 in seed funding from mobile industry incubator Tandem – will also allow brand partners to target specific groups of users with additional offers, engaging with consumers through social networking platforms such as Facebook.

No specific OS has been mentioned, though Gimmie is already in beta with 10 developers on board. Studios interested in finding out more should visit the platform's official website.