Mobile technology company Scoreloop has announced its new downloadable content and monetisation tools and infrastructure.

We caught up with CEO Marc Gumpinger to find out some more about why the company thinks the free-to-play model is becoming more popular and how it fits in with Scoreloop's future plans.

Pocket Gamer: Why is the freemium model important to Scoreloop?

Marc Gumpinger: We've invested a lot of time and money into the features we're announcing today. We totally believe in the freemium model so we want to provide developers with the architecture and infrastructure to do these things.

A lot of games are moving from monetising the download to monetising for use so for us this is very important.

We want to enable developers to increase the activity in their games so there are more occasions when people can buy items, as well as allowing them to offer different ways of monetising that activity.

Why do you think people will pay to download virtual items?

It's not just about adding downloadable content to games. It's making sure you invite your friends too.

For example, in Parachute Panic HD, you can now change the game's theme from scribble to say da Vinci. But you have to play against your friends to win the tokens that allow you to do so, so there is a competitive element. Equally, you can challenge someone and let them play using a theme they don't own yet just for that challenge, so it's a way of encouraging them to see and want it.

Having downloadable content and increasing activity means that developers can make sure freemium is more than a business model and is something that's precious for the player too.

How does the token system work?

Tokens are specific to Parachute Panic, to be compatible with Apple's rules, but it also shows the flexibility with which you can use our in-game currency.

Players can also buy Scoreloop Coins, which you use in Parachute Panic as poker chips to play against your friends. Whenever you win, you get the same amount of tokens as the coins you wagered. The tokens are what you use to buy themes.

How does your business model relate to this?

We take a revenue share in terms of the in-game currency. There's no set up fee for using Scoreloop.

We participate in the upside that developers get by selling items, so in the case of Parachute Panic, we take a share of the Coins sold, but depending on the game, it's a cut of whatever virtual items are sold. I think that's fair. Developers don't have to pay anything upfront to use Scoreloop, but if they make revenue, we participate.

How do you think Scoreloop differs from the competition?

I think they're trying to create new social networks. We believe that time is over. We already have MySpace and Facebook so we don't want to create a new platform. We want to make sure everyone who's connected to the internet can play against each other. We don't want people to be limited in terms of the opportunities where they can play.

Thanks to Mark for his time.

You can find out more about Scoreloop via its website.