Viber is introducing a social games platform into its mobile messaging service, and has rolled out the new feature in five countries.
Viber, which was acquired back in February by Japanese online retail company Rakuten for $900 million, seems to be emulating other messaging apps from Asia with the launch of three initial games for the feature.
Kakao Talk from Korea started making a profit in 2013 due to the launch of its gaming platform, and Line from Japan made $192 million in revenues for the third quarter because of games.
The company's initial partners for developing the games are Storm 8, which developed Viber Pop and Viber Candy Mania, and Playtika, which developed Wild Luck Casino. Viber users will notice that the characters featured in the games are from the sticker collections of Viber.
In Viber Candy Mania, players use Legcat and Violet, a pair of popular Viber sticker characters, in a puzzle game that requires matching and collecting candies.
In Viber Pop, Legcat is also featured in a bubble puzzle adventure game. Players will be looking to beat the Evil Bubble Wizard to be able to rescue friends.
In Wild Luck Casino, players can choose from several kinds of slots games. Players can win coins and prizes, and will have the option to send the prizes to friends as gifts.
The games will not be released worldwide right away though, as they will be initially made available only for users from Belarus, Israel, Malaysia, Singapore and Ukraine. The rest of the users of Viber worldwide will be gaining access to the feature by January of next year.
"We have been focusing on broadening the functionality of Viber and are really excited to unveil Viber Games," said CEO of Viber Talmon Marco.
"This major expansion of our platform gives people another completely new way to connect with Viber. It's an important step for us and we are looking forward to the response from our users."
The games were developed using the new private API Viber Connect, which gives users the ability to sign in for the games using their Viber accounts to be able to connect with their Viber friends. Users will be able to send their friends gifts and brag about their achievements through the Viber games, and will also be allowed to send invites to friends and see what everyone else is playing. Additional items may also be bought as paid purchases within the games.
