Now we know why Seth Priebatsch was so happy about Facebook Places last week. His company, Cambridge, MA-based SCVNGR, said today it has integrated its game layer and activities platform with Facebook Places, meaning people can now post their SCVNGR check-ins and “challenges” to Facebook and share them with friends.
It’s not a big surprise, but it is part of a major media blitz for the startup this week. SCVNGR has also announced rewards and challenges partnerships with AT&T and Zipcar, as well as other bits and pieces of its business strategy. (On the Boston-area community front, the company is also helping to bring the Quest for Innovation, an interactive mobile game, back to Kendall Square on September 23.)
To date, the company has stayed relatively under the radar of the national press, but has recently garnered more attention from the likes of TechCrunch, Mashable, The Boston Globe, and The Huffington Post.
There has been tons of noise in the location-based services and mobile gaming sectors lately. Prietbatsch told me last week that companies like Foursquare have been very “loud” about getting their message out to consumers and the media, and that SCVNGR was learning to do that better.
With all its new partnerships, the company is starting to put some real distance between itself and its competitors in location-based gaming and rewards. It still needs more consumers and businesses to use its platform, but if this week is any indication, SCVNGR could be on its way to becoming a household name.
