Interview

Sulake CEO Paul LaFontaine on turning Habbo into a key gaming platform for mobile

Teens are voracious players

Sulake CEO Paul LaFontaine on turning Habbo into a key gaming platform for mobile
With 1 in 10 kids aged 13 to 16 registering for Habbo, it's clear the Finnish site has massive presence in terms of online community.

Indeed, CEO Paul LaFontaine also points to its very strong monetisation when outlining the new vision that will shift the retro pixel-themed teen hang-out destination into a powerhouse platform for gaming.

"We're experts in online safety and monetisation but we're less experienced in building games," he explains.

"We're looking to play to our strengths, while sharing revenue and mindspace to work with the best developers to bring games to Habbo."

Channel plays

The plan is two-fold. Web developers can develop games using the provided APIs, which will be accessed directly within the web community, taking advantage of its synchronous platform and embedded social features such as avatars and real-time chat.

Meanwhile, mobile developers can deliver native games on iOS and Android, that will drive traffic back to Habbo as players unlock special items which can be displayed within the online community.

Sulake has already experimented with both elements.

A 5-on-5 snowball mini-game was played by 27 percent of Habbo users at Christmas, while the Fabrication Games-developed Niko platformer on iOS saw 24 percent of players who unlocked special themed items, going back to Habbo to display them.

All systems go

Of course, the two channels are different in terms of how easy the games will be to develop, as well as how active Sulake will be in curating the content, and the potential revenue generated.

Either way, LaFontaine is keen to get a lot of content released.

"Our audience has a voracious appetite for games," he says. "We can't flood the market, but I think 3 to 5 games a month within Habbo would be acceptable."

The first is already in development from an as yet unnamed UK studio, and due for release in two months.

The route for native games that link into Habbo will be quicker to ramp up and require less technical work and curation from Sulake.

"We want as many mobile releases as possible," he says. "I want to build the momentum now."

The business model for such releases will be worked out in terms of volume of traffic sent back to Habbo; something that may be hard for developers to calculate until the process is fully up and running. No doubt, more detail will be provided in discussions with interested parties.

They will play

As for the potential for Habbo as a gaming platform - an area already seeing plenty of competition in terms of DeNA, GREE, PlayPhone etc - LaFontaine isn't too concerned.

"We're a great retention tool so it should be a no brainer for developers to support us," he says.

And with 2.5 million weekly active users and 10 million monthly active users in a core gaming audience demographic, Habbo certainly looks like a big opportunity.
Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.