Paul Amery, director of the Skype (News - Alert) Developer Program, announced Skype’s new Game Developer Program and a brand-new Skype Game Channel during his keynote at today’s Communications Developer Conference.

The Skype Game Developer Program is designed to give third-party game developers access to the nearly 200 million registered Skype users through the just-announced Skype Game Channel.

The Game Channel is located within the Skype Extras Manager, which provides a quick and easy way for developers to promote their software to users. EasyBits Software is the creator and operator of the Skype Game Channel, and they will work closely with the Skype Game Developer program team to ensure the best possible user experience and the efficient delivery of games to consumers.

Last month, Skype announced that there have been more than 18 million downloads of Skype Extras since the Extras Manager in Skype 3.0 for Windows was launched in late December 2006. Of that number, users have downloaded approximately five million games.

Amery went into greater depth about the developer program in a recent interview.

Addressing the assembled audience at the Communications Developer Conference, Amery told the crowd, “Skype users are doing more than just placing voice calls, and we are constantly looking for new ways to enhance their overall Internet communications experience.”

Amery continued, “The tremendous size of Skype’s user-base makes it an ideal environment for multi-player and community-based games in which people can play against or collaborate with one another.”

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Greg Galitzine is group editorial director for TMC (News - Alert). To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

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