Nate AppStore Expands Its Pool of Users with NateOn Buddy API

Nate AppStore opend its NateOn Messenger Buddy API in Sept. 2010.  In one of our previous blog post, we introduced NateOn Messenger and mentioned how Nate AppStore could utilize it to break through viral issues it’s been wrestling with.  It is worthy of praise that NateOn is making progress by expanding its user pool from “1 chon network” (1 chon refers to friends list within Cyworld) to NateOn users, but on the other hand, it also made the gaming environment more complex for both developers and users.

Currently Nate AppStore games are developed based on Cyworld friends called “1 chon”.  Games were then limited by Nate to only 300 1chons.  With the introduction of NateOn Messenger Buddy API, users can now play games with 1000 friends and  developers can now choose to develop games with:

1)     separate network (1 chon/ NateOn) and separate personal data
2)     separate network (1 chon/ NateOn) but inter-linked personal data
3)     combined network (1 chon + NateOn) but separate personal data
4)     combined network (1 chon + NateOn) and inter-linked personal data 

As such, there are many different ways to play the game now, and developers are now open to variety of models to choose from.  Aside from the methods listed above, developers can also utilize NateOn Messenger to develop synchronous games.  Since messengers provide real-time log-in information of friends, developers can utilize synchronous functions in their games more flexibly.

The change in the platform, however, can also be a good opportunity for many developers.  The ability to grasp and capitalize the shift is pressing for those smaller developers hidden under the shadow of the big players.  The change of development environment applies to everyone and it’s the developers’ ability  to stand out among the rest.   This is the point of time where creativity kicks in.

Overall, NateOn Messenger’s 35 million user pool is indeed an attractive in-house resource for Nate.  Taking the initiative to expand seems to be a half success since we can expect some spillover of users from one container to the other.  Moreover, synchronism is now a new option for developers who are willing expand their field of genres even more.  Despite of all the new features, the floor is now yielded to the developers to show everything they’ve got.   We look forward to applying some creative ideas on how we could utilize the change of rules in our upcoming games.