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MySpace has launched a new initiative to invite social game developers like Playdom, Zynga, TheBroth and Meez to work directly with the MySpace Games team of developers to improve the experience for social gamers on the site.

MySpaceMySpace launched its MySpace Games platform earlier this year, and the company has already said that it hopes to increase user engagement with games and apps from around 20-30% to something more like 50%.

The company believes the program, called MySpace Games Lab, will increase the quality of the gaming experience. Developers and project managers from game-making companies will work in MySpace’s Seattle and Los Angeles offices to learn the best ways to make use of the platform.

One specific goal: Help developers avoid annoying users with unwanted, spam-like messages and notifications related to games — the sort of thing you’ve no doubt seen on competing platforms.

Taking Games Seriously

Music is MySpace’s big claim to fame, of course; the network is home to countless bands who share their music, tour info and more. A push into video characterized the previous couple of years of the social network’s existence, and now it looks like games might be the next frontier.

It’s a reasonable strategy; if you need proof, just look to FarmVille creator Zynga, which is now valued at $4 billion. Zynga offers games on both the FacebookFacebook and MySpace platforms, but MySpace has been responding to recent backlashes against Facebook by deploying privacy standards that Facebook users complain they don’t have. This new commitment to improving the gaming experience by cutting down on unwanted updates and other nuisances common to Facebook is a move of similar character.

MySpace Co-President Mike Jones told us that a “substantial portion” of the site’s page views are driven by music, and that he hopes to achieve similar success with games. “We’ll take games as seriously as we’ve taken music,” he said.

To that end, the company has hired Manu Rekhi as the general manager of the games and development platform, and has also brought on anthropologist Raquel Recuero (who previously worked with TwitterTwitter) to improve user experience.

Following those hires, the Games Lab program is the next step. Developers small, medium, large, new and old will participate in the program, though it’s an invite-only affair.

Neither Rekhi nor Jones would get too specific about exactly how the new Games Lab program will change the way MySpace Games are played, but the idea is to work with developers to “protect the common good” of users and figure out what those developers want to see on MySpace that other platforms like Facebook lack.

If you haven’t been paying attention to games on MySpace, this might be the right time to take a look. Let us know what you think if you do.

Today, ESPN Interactive announced that it is developing a slate of games for social media platforms, including Facebook.

The sports brand has inked a two-year deal with social gaming company Playdom to build the games, the first two of which should launch in Fall 2010. Other platforms for the games will include BeboBebo, Hi5Hi5, MySpaceMySpace and Taggedtagged.

In addition to launching on social networks, mobile apps will also be available.

Raphael Poplock is ESPN Digital Media’s VP for games and revenue strategy and development. He said today in a statement, “Our deal with Playdom marks ESPN’s first major presence into the social gaming space. The sports genre for this category of games has gone virtually untapped thus far, and through this agreement, we have an opportunity to be in front of a highly engaged audience and at the forefront of what is currently the fastest growing games category out there.”

ESPN Interactive has a long-time relationship with EA for developing and marketing console games. ESPN Arcade is the brand’s casual gaming arm, and it’s been growing and helping to increase users’ time on ESPN.com. Social gaming was the missing puzzle piece for ESPN, and we can’t wait to see what Playdom comes up with.

What kinds of sports genre games would you want to play on Facebook or other networks?

[img credit: prettywarstl]