Goko’s HTML5 Game Portal Goes Back to Beta After Failed Launch

After a splashy launch last week, Goko has decided to put its HTML5 game platform back into beta, after experiencing multiple problems.

By doing so, it will be even harder for the start-up to convince developers that HTML5 is indeed ready for large-scale projects.

In an apology on its site, the company explained: “As we moved out of beta and into the live world, we learned that we had problems with our backend and weren’t able to scale fast enough to support the load. As a result, we experienced numerous problems and created a really bad experience for the fans trying to access our games or even get on our website.”

As part of last week’s launch, Goko attempted to demonstrate how well its HTML5 platform worked by releasing the Dominion card game across Facebook, Google+, Goko.com, Android and iOS simultaneously. All of those games are now back in beta for further testing, which won’t help to change popular opinion about the technology.

Goko did not provide a timeline for repairs.

“We will go live again when it’s ready,” the statement said. “We’d love to say that will happen tomorrow or next week, but that’s not the right way to proceed.”

The Redwood City, Calif.-based company is backed by $8 million from Redpoint Ventures and Alsop Louie Partners.

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