Although HTML5 has become the preeminent design platform for most developers, the programming language has yet to make a huge splash in the mobile gaming world. Looking to alter this reality, the folks over at appMobi (News - Alert) have announced a cross-platform HTML5 software development kit (SDK) for game development, deployment and monetization.

The beta SDK, dubbed playMobi, is designed to remedy some of the troubles that game developers encounter when using HTML5, particularly when it comes to monetization. playMobi's hallmark component is its in-app purchasing system, 1 Touch, which automatically completes payments no matter what device or platform is being used.

Fully compliant with iTunes, Google (News - Alert) Payments, Facebook Credits and PayPal, playMobi can enable developers to make money from free-to-download HTML5 games. The SDK is also built to simplify user authentication, social player engagement, scoring and leaderboard management.

Perhaps the most appealing feature of playMobi is its ability to enable multi-device and even multi-platform social game play – something appMobi is calling an "industry first. With playMobi, achievement levels and high scores remain consistent throughout all platforms and devices. So if a users gets to level 7 on their iOS devices, they won't have to start from scratch if they want to continue via Facebook (News - Alert) on their PCs.

Another differentiating aspect of playMobi is its analytics and rules-making capabilities. Developers can tweak their game as needed by identifying trouble spots or levels that are too easy, and can create rules-based checks on posted scores, squashing attempts to cheat the leader board.

"With a single JavaScript API, playMobi gives HTML5 game developers all the tools they need to create interesting and socially engaging games that run on iOS, Android (News - Alert) and Facebook platforms," Sam Abadir, CTO of appMobi, noted in a statement. "playMobi leverages the rapidly expanding HTML5 platform, offering game developers the unique ability to 'write it once' and deploy the same code to iOS, Android, Facebook, and the open Web -- fully compliant with each platform's terms of service."

Developers who are interested in trying out platform can head to appMobi's beta program page. The company is offering the product free of charge for a limited number of developers during a test phase. No word yet as to when the product is expected to graduate from beta.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves