Company:Zylom

Zylom is a distributor of casual games for PC and Mac computers, as well as for devices like mobile phones and tablets. Based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Zylom delivers casual games throughout Europe. Zylom offers both online and downloadable games through its own direct-to-consumer website www.zylom.com, which has more than 800 different games to play and download. It also has a mobile website with games for tablets and mobile devices. Zylom also develops and publishes several of its own popular casual games, such as the Delicious series, the Campfire Legends series, and Heart’s Medicine.

The company was purchased by RealNetworks and folded into their GameHouse division.

Games

The games on the Zylom website are divided into online games and downloadable games. The online versions of the game are only trials, with various restrictions for the player (such as shortened time period or levels he/she can play) unless he/she purchases the full game.

Although Zylom.com is not a free gaming site, it still uses third-party ads for its online trial games. The advertising consist of not only regular images and flash animations, but also constant in-game ads. These ads pause the trial of the game for an amount of time while displaying themselves, and the player is forced to wait until the ad finishes before returning to the game. This form of advertising during gameplay can easily irritate some players and spoil their gaming experience.

The downloadable versions of games are called Deluxe games. These games are not for free, but only available through direct payment to the site, or by having a paid subscription plan. A player can still download and use a trial of a game, in which they can only play the game for 30 minutes. As in many vendors' offers, the way this site presents its downloadable trials may be confusing for some people, meaning that the player can be fooled that they are about to actually download a full, unrestricted game for free.

Zylom claims to release new online and download games every week. Most of the games offered by Zylom are, according to them, fully localized in 8 languages (English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Italian and Portuguese).

The main casual game categories offered are:

• 3-in-a-row games
• action games
• board games
• bubble games
• card games
• hidden object games
• management games
• puzzle games

Subscriptions

Zylom offers two paid subscription models called FunPass and FunTicket.

FunPass is a paid subscription which allows players to download and play all Deluxe games with no restrictions. In principle, it works like a library card; players can "borrow" as many games as they would like during their paid subscription period, but do not purchase any individual games.

At the end of 2013 Zylom introduced a new paid subscription type: FunTicket. This paid subscription allows players to own for free one full game each month that (in contrary to FunPass) they can keep it forever, and a 30% discount on any other game purchase.

Both paid subscriptions use an automatic renewal at the end of the subscription period. That means that the player has to manually cancel the paid subscription right before its end, otherwise they will be charged an additional subscription period which will be automatically applied afterwards. Although the site typically informs the user for this subscription behaviour, it can be very easy for him/her to not notice it and be charged additionally without his/her will.

History

Zylom was founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2001. Due to the success of the company it expanded fast and just a couple of years later in 2006, it was acquired by the American RealNetworks Inc.. In 2011, RealNetworks came up with one name for all their game websites, GameHouse. Zylom became part of GameHouse too, but because of the popular and well-known name of the company, it stayed Zylom for their consumers. In 2012 Zylom’s in-house game studio was closed, but Zylom still continues to develop their own game titles like the Delicious series.

The nine founders of Zylom had a hard time making the website profitable in the first years. Releasing Deluxe games, advertisements, and a change of target audience was the answer. In the beginning, Zylom mainly focused on online games for young men, until extensive research revealed their games were mostly played by women. The company decided to change their target audience and focused more and more on download games that were suitable for female players. Nowadays Zylom is strongly related to www.gamehouse.com, www.realnetworks.com, and www.atrativa.com.br

• 2001 – Zylom is founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
• 2004 – Zylom expands to Europe.
• 2006 – Zylom is acquired by RealNetworks Inc..
• 2011 - Zylom becomes GameHouse, but still operates under the name Zylom for consumers.

Awards

• 2004 – Received the Rising Star Award.
• 2005 – Website of the Year in Germany and the United Kingdom (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2006 - Website of the Year in Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands (Games & Entertainment category). According to Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranking, Zylom is the fastest growing media/entertainment company in 2006.
• 2007 - Website of the Year in Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2008 - Website of the Year in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2009 - Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2010 - Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2011 - Overall Website of the Year in the United Kingdom and Spain. Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2012 - Overall Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, Brazil, France and Spain. Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil (Games & Entertainment category).
• 2013 - Overall Website of the Year in the United Kingdom and Brazil. Best and most popular Website of the Year in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil (Games & Entertainment category).

Company information

Type: Subsidiary
Founded: 2001 (Eindhoven)
Headquarters: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Industry: Casual Games/Casual Online/Video Games Developer/Publisher/Distributor
Employees: 50 – 70
Website: www.zylom.com

External links

• Website of Zylom