It’s not unusual for carriers and ISPs to offer streaming music or movie subscriptions, but Verizon is now pushing the same service for Android games. The company has announced a partnership with Exent’s GameTanium, a subscription-based mobile gaming platform that offers unlimited access to its catalog of roughly 100 smartphone games and 50 tablet games for $5.99 a month. GameTanium launched in 2011, and it’s partnered with other carriers like Rogers and Tata Docomo, but Verizon looks to be its first US carrier partner.
Verizon partners with GameTanium to offer subscription-based Android gaming
Verizon has partnered with Exent to offer GameTanium, a service that provides all-you-can-eat access to Android games through a subscription model.
Verizon has partnered with Exent to offer GameTanium, a service that provides all-you-can-eat access to Android games through a subscription model.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
GameTanium is now included among Verizon’s other carrier apps for a number of smartphones and two tablets; if you use the app for more than three days, a monthly fee will be automatically added to your phone bill. The catalog currently includes Plants vs. Zombies, Fruit Ninja, and Doodle God among its more high-profile offerings, although there’s a bit of filler as well. Before the partnership, of course, it was already possible to download the app separately, so the partnership seems essentially a way to make the service more prominent and payment less visible. We’ll have to see if it draws new people to a subscription model.
Update: Verizon wants to clarify that users will be prompted to sign up for the service after using the app for more than three days — the charge won’t appear unless they’ve signed up.
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