MySpace today announced a new MySpace Games experience that creates a more social gaming environment with new tools and functionality for users and developers. The site, available at myspace.com/games, launched today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. These big steps are an evolution of the MySpace Platform to improve users’ gaming experience with a simple way to discover and share games. It also offers improved application engagement and analytics tools for developers on the MySpace Platform.

Also at GDC, MySpace announced the MySpace Neon iPhone application, giving users access to their MySpace games on the iPhone. MySpace also showcases new social games including Fish Isle (IGG), Hoop Fever Live (TheBroth), Kingdoms of Camelot (Watercooler), Paradise Paintball (CMUNE), SPP Ranch (Slide), Warlords (BitRhymes), Wild Ones (Playdom), and Zombie Revenge (DeezGames).

“Nearly one-third of MySpace users engage daily with games. We believe the new experience will empower even more of the MySpace audience to discover, share, and showcase games, which along with music and movies, are core to our content strategy,” said Mike Jones, MySpace Co-President. “We’ve been working with our developer partners to understand where they’d like to see MySpace go; based on that feedback we started rebuilding MySpace Games. These are the first steps in offering robust tools for developers to help their businesses thrive.”

The new MySpace Games Gallery now makes it easy for users to stay up to date on their games through Notifications, and discover new games through their friends’ Stream, personalized game recommendations, and popular game charts. Users will also be able to rate games, which enhance search results and recommendations.

MySpace provides a platform that is simple and friendly to independent game developers, while giving robust support for premium games from major development houses resulting in more gaming choices for users and developers alike. For developers, the new experience is a step to improve application engagement as games will be merchandised in more areas, games can be shared more easily by users, and deeper analytics tools provide more insight into how games are being used and by which demographics.

MySpace Platform developers are now able to:

* Review application-specific analytics via a new API, including invitation conversions, active users, notification responses and demographics.
* Build games in rich, 3D-like quality with Unity’s powerful 3D engine and allow MySpace users to access the games with a new plug-in. For example, Paradise Paintball utilizes this technology.
* Encourage cross-platform competition with Scoreloop, which allows games on different platforms to share the same high scores, achievements, challenges and buddy lists.
* Utilize GroovyCortex, which is a cloud-based solution for onsite application developers, to provide low latency push data for multiplayer games.
* Track the source of application invitations and utilization to learn how users are finding and choosing specific games.

“We are impressed with MySpace’s renewed commitment to deliver a great gaming experience to their users and our players,” said Marianne Borenstein, vice president of platform relations and player experience at Playdom. “We have worked closely with them to develop a roadmap that will improve promotional and viral channels on the platform. The gallery is the first of many new initiatives we’re excited to see roll out.”

For developers at GDC, MySpace is hosting “Game Development on Social Platforms” today, March 10. The day will focus on understanding how to build games for social platforms, the business aspects of developing social games, and how developers and designers can tap MySpace’s massive and highly engaged audience. Developers and gamers will be able to directly start building or perfecting their games with the help of the MySpace technical team and its partners. Speakers will include representatives from MySpace, InsideSocialGames, Lightspeed Ventures, Motorola, Unity 3D and more. The winners of the MySpace Developer Challenge will be announced, and include:

* Best New MySpace App: Paradise Paintball
* Most innovative use of the Real-Time Stream API: GeoMeme
* Most innovative use of the Open Search API: Social Mention
* Most innovative use of the Photos API: Browser Not Included
* Most innovative MySpace Integration on Mobile: iSkoot

Also announced at GDC, the new MySpace Neon for iPhone application will give users access to their MySpace games on the go. The application will make it easy for users to interact with games on their iPhones, share related real-time notifications with friends, and view the Stream with just game-related notifications. Users will be able to access all games available on MySpace and have the ability to remotely install games. The game will be available for iPhone users in the coming weeks.