Update*: Zapak informs that Zapper is an engagement wrapper and not an ad-wrapper. The company has clarified that the tool has been built with an intent to increase user retention and game discovery, and that the company will continue to work with partners like Vserv for monetization through advertising. It added that the wrapper will help Zapak in increasing the overall donwloads on its platform which, according to the company, will in turn increase the overall advertising inventory which it will monetize through current ad-partners like Vserv.

Zapak, the gaming division of Reliance Entertainment Digital, has launched Zapak Connect, an open platform allowing mobile game developers to upload games on Zapak’s Mobile games store located at m.zapak.com. Game developers will be able to distribute their Java games through Zapak’s free mobile game platform, and earn revenue through ads served by Zapak. The company has created an automated wrapper called ZAPPER that allows mobile game developers to wrap their mobile games, following which the game is ingested with Pre-roll & Post roll advertisements and is posted automatically on m.zapak.com which is Zapak’s mobile games download destination.  The company claims that the entire process of uploading and submitting a game takes 60 seconds. Developers can also distribute the same game on other app distribution platforms. Zapak’s Developer portal also provides real time statistics to game developers showing the number of downloads, clicks and revenue generated by their games. The Wrapper also adds a social layer on top of the games allowing gamers to interact among themselves and track their friend’s gaming behavior across Zapak Connect platform

The company plans to extend the offering to Android in another 45 days, and is conducting trials, internally. The Android version will also support video ads. The solution for Java games only supports images. According to Zapak, the m.zapak.com site is currently attracting 2 million unique users a month.

How It Works: ZAPPER allows game developers to login, upload their JAD/JAR files and wrap it automatically. Developers do not need to open the game files as the game source code is not needed to wrap the game. Once wrapped, developers can download the wrapped game, distribute it anywhere and generate revenue through the inventory generated by the ads inserted using the wrapper. Zapak will sell the inventory through its own sales network.

Speaking with MediaNama, Deepak Abbot, Vice President, Product Management at Reliance Entertainment-Digital, informed that, at the moment the Zapper solution is only live with Zapak Mobile (erstwhile Jump Games) titles, with 14 games on m.zapak.com. However, the company has submitted more titles wrapped in the Zapper solution to the Nokia (Ovi) Store, for approval, and hopes to see them live in Nokia’s app store by end of this week. He also added that the company has invited five international developers to use the wrapper in their games.

Rev Share: The revenue sharing arrangement in the solution offers 70% share to the developer, while the rest goes to Zapak. However, it might vary depending on the developer.

Serving ads: Zapak serves ads for companies with which it inks tie-ups for ad sales, besides serving ads from mobile ad exchanges such as InMobi, AdIquity (Guruji), VServ.mobi and Google Ad Sense. The company is also in talks with Pubmatic for a similar deal. Zapak has run campaigns for Chevrolet, Nutrine, and Getit, among others, informed Abbot.

Previously, Zapak (or Jump) was only offering a wrapper solution with VServ.mobi to game developers, in which VServ was serving ads in games, and integration with the wrapper was not automated. Zapak was only earning revenue by serving ads on the app discovery pages. Update: Zapak will continue to work with VServ for serving ads through the wrapper.

With the new wrapper incorporating, Zapak’s own ads, it would be looking at an increase in revenues, and more visibility for its clients.

Other developments

Recently, Reliance Entertainment Digital consolidated its gaming business under the Zapak brand name. The company’s gaming business was spread across Zapak and Jump Games brands. Jump Games is the mobile gaming subsidiary of the Reliance Entertainment group.  Following the consolidation, it has been rebranded as Zapak Mobile Games.

*The story has been updated for more clarity.