MatchMove Games partner with Singapore Press Holding

Southeast Asia's leading media organisation Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is partnering with MatchMove Games, Singapore to be the exclusive games provider for three of its popular websites: AsiaOne, RazorTV and STOMP.

Under the partnership, SPH users who click on the "Games" link from these websites' homepages will be taken to a new game vertical co-branded by SPH and MatchMove Games. This page will give users access to a wealth of game content, including both downloadable games and browser-based free-to-play titles. MatchMove Games' catalogue includes hundreds of titles from popular genres, including Action, Breakout, Match 3, and Puzzle games. Internet measurement company Hitwise ranks AsiaOne, RazorTV and STOMP amongst the top ten news sites in Singapore.

Talking to Animation Xpress Asia Pacific, Nelly Jimron, VP of New Markets, MatchMove Games shared, "The partnership benefits both parties immensely. First, MatchMove Games gains access to significant amounts of traffic in our hometown market, where the local internet penetration rate is among the highest in the globe. On the other end of the spectrum, SPH's tech-savvy audience gains access to over 180 quality titles, and will also soon be able to play excellent MMO and social game titles. Their popular AsiaOne, RazorTV and STOMP websites will each have a games section for the first time, and this will help entertain their demanding audience. To top it off, our co-branded sites will also open up a host of new opportunities for local and regional advertisers, meaning increased revenue for everybody."

In March 2010, 6 million unique visitors came to AsiaOne, RazorTV and STOMP, boosting total page views to 88 million, a record high.

SPH publishes most of the major newspapers in Singapore, including The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, the Malay-language Berita Harian/Minggu, and Tamil Murasu. Other properties include My Paper, the Shin Min Daily News, Lianhe Wanbao, The Business Times and The New Paper.

"MatchMove Games provides exactly what our users have been calling for: world class games," says Felix Soh, SPH's Digital Media Editor. "Through this partnership, we will now be able to give our users a varied selection of excellent games and game-related content that can be enjoyed by all age groups. We are confident that such content will help to grow our online audience."

"We're thrilled to be able to find a distribution partner with the stature of SPH in our home town of Singapore," says Shailesh Naik, MatchMove Games CEO. "As the leading national media publisher, we believe that SPH will help us maximise our reach to the local audience, 80 per cent of whom have regular access to high-speed internet. These web-savvy people are always looking for new avenues of entertainment, and we're more than happy to oblige."

Soon after the launch, MatchMove Games will have a number of month-long challenges to encourage players to use the site's social features. Winning each challenge, such as MatchMove Games' popularity challenge, will earn users a number of rewards, the most exciting of which is a brand new Apple iPad.

"MatchMove will continue to add new titles and features to its site, including social and massively multiplayer games, as well as community features that will encourage users to interact," adds Naik. "What's particularly exciting for Singapore is the potential to add Singapore-developed games to our site and share this world-class content with our global audience."

The value of the video game sector in Singapore has seen an exponential rise in recent years. In 2009, it was valued at $285 million compared to $87 million only three years ago, according to the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore.