Russian tech company Yandex makes its way to the Middle East, presenting a new service – Yandex Games: a launchpad for game-makers and a catalog of brand new HTML5 games. The platform is available for game developers and creators in the MENA region giving them an opportunity to share and monetize their game projects.

Yandex Games was founded in 2018 and has been growing rapidly in the past four years. The platform holds over 10,000 games in 70 different languages. The set of games offers more than 30 genres, including action games, puzzles, races, games for two, and more. Everyday, users spend around 40 minutes on the platform, while in a month, more than 24 million users play games worldwide.

The new gaming service is both a launching pad for developers and a list of browser-based online games for users that can be played on smartphones or desktop devices, requiring no installation. The service is free for users and developers, providing all the necessary technical support and tools. For example, if a developer translates a game into a local language, it automatically becomes available in the regions of that language; or once the game has passed the moderation, it drives free traffic from users based on their preferences.

The most popular games of different genres are listed on the main page of Yandex Games. The user can choose the game he likes from any category, or focus on the platform’s selection. In addition to a comprehensive system of user ratings and reviews, the service uses AI algorithms to create personalized collections and user recommendations based on previous choices. All games at Yandex Games are free, only some have in-app purchases. The user can buy extra time, life, points, or accessories for the game character. All this can be paid with a bank card or the virtual currency of the service, called Yang.

The platform provides income and game monetization for developers by advertising and in-app purchases. As part of the service, Yandex App dashboard is a dedicated tool for new games on the platform. App developers with Yandex ID accounts can easily add their games, track the progress, and edit if needed. Developers can enable monetization in games to earn money through the Yandex Advertising Network (YAN), where they can adjust the rate and format of advertising (interstitial ads, rewarded videos, custom ads). The in-game platform currency was developed specifically to encourage in-game purchases through promotions and bonuses.

Yandex Games does not require exclusive rights to the hosted content. Developers can port HTML5 games from their portfolio rather than create a new one from scratch. However, the mandatory moderation by Yandex includes integration with the Yandex Games SDK.

Yandex Games provides tools for game distributions by placing games on partners' resources to generate additional income for developers. Examples of this may include a chatbot for Viber or preinstallation on mobile devices (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, etc.)