Verizon Wireless continued its push into carrier apps on Friday, announcing it will distribute Extent’s GameTanium subscription mobile gaming service. For $ 6 a month, Android smartphone and tablet users can play more than 100 games such as Fruit Ninja and World of Goo on an unlimited basis.
Verizon is offering up the gaming client through its Verizon apps portal. It’s available as a free download and, after an initial free trial, the subscription fee will be charged to customers’ monthly bills.
Verizon has been gradually adding more content to it’s app store in an attempt to assert more control – and make more money from – its smartphone portfolio. Last month it rolled out an ambitious video search app, called Viewdini, which aggregates content from across premium content platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and Comcast’s Xfinity. The Extent deal, though, is a unique take on the carrier-developer partnership.
It’s not technically exclusive: customers can download the app online, but it isn’t available through the Google Play store. So in addition to offering carrier-billing features to its partner, Verizon gives Extent a distribution channel that increases its chances of discovery. Verizon is surely getting compensated for that arrangement, though financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
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