ScottishGames.biz

David Gosen Leaves iPlay

While Iplay/Oberon is no longer a strictly Scottish company, the latest announcement from the company is worth noting.  David Gosen, the company's CEO for the last several year has left the company.  He's to be replaced with Don Ryan, the former GM of Microsoft Game Studios and head of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

According to the press release, "Mobile remains a pivotal part of Oberon’s strategy to maintain its leadership position as a multi-platform casual games company. We wish David well in his future endeavours."

Casual Games Publisher Oberon Acquires I-Play

Mobile games publisher I-Play has just announced that it has been acquired by the US casual gaming provider Oberon Media.  This follows a number of other acquisitions by Oberon, which is pushing the casual games company into the very big league and giving them presence in a number of key areas including mobile. 

According to the press release, the company now boasts a catalogue of over 1,000 titles which can be delivered to every platform including mobile, online and TV.

David Gosen, I-Play's CEO becomes Oberon's global head of mobile.  The press release goes onto report that the I-Play brand and structure will remain as it currently stands.

Oberon announced a new round of funding at the same time, with new and existing investors including Goldman Sachs, Oak Investment Partners, Lehman Brothers and other investing in the what's becoming a very powerful and broad company.

As the press release says:

Oberon Media is the fastest growing company in the casual games category, with a growth rate greater than 100 percent year-over-year.  The combined company will hold an intellectual property portfolio with more than a thousand games including chart-toppers Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile, Dream Day Wedding and The Fast and The Furious, the ultimate casual mobile racing franchise, which boasts more than 7 million, downloads to date. Together, Oberon and I-play have global distribution partnerships with more than 350 partners and more than 1000 revenue engines through carrier networks and online partners such as: Microsoft, Comcast, Sprint, AT&T, Yahoo Games, Verizon, Electronic Arts, AOL Games, France Telecom and NHN, among others.

Oh my! 

The casual games market has become recognised as an area with massive growth potential over the last several months - and one which the mainstream games industry has all but ignored.  Today's announcement could well mark the first step in a period of consolidation and acquisition which will define the key players very quickly.

Oberon obviously sees the mobile sector as a crucial part of this.  In 2006 the company acquired the remains of Blaze Interactive, the US mobile publisher, along with the company's assets including titles like The Da Vinci Code.

We'll be chatting to I-Play later today for some informed comment and to find out how thrilled Mr Gosen is about things.

I-play Award Shocker

The loveable scamps at I-play are up for yet another award, having been nominated for a 'Meffy' or Mobile Entertainment Forum Awards.  The company's The Fast & Furious: Tokyo title is up for the award.

TF&F: T has already scooped its fair share of trophys, having scooped the Best Made For Mobile Game at the 2007 3GSM Awards, plus IGN's Best Racing/Driving game in 2006.

David Gosen, I-play CEO, is reportedly 'proud'.

More Awards For I-play

I-play has picked up another award for general wonderfulness in the mobile games sector.

The company's 24:Agent Down title, based on the TV series 24, picked up the Duke's Choice award for Best Java.Com Application.  The awards were handed out on Tuesday night at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

The Best Java.com App award is chosen by members of the Java.com community, which means I-play picked up considerable grass roots support for the title. It's another feather in the company's cap and yet another shiny trophy they'll have to find space for on their already groaning mantelpiece.

David Gosen, the company CEO is just thrilled:  "We are thrilled to have won a Duke’s Choice Award. This type of acknowledgment strengthens our reputation of developing innovative and creative mobile games that appeal to the casual gamer and further reinforces our proven track record of transforming valuable Hollywood properties into successful mobile games."

You can find out more by following the link below...

UPDATE - Pillowfight Graphics

We posted a story about I-play's new Pillowfight title yesterday, but now we're even more excited about it.  I-play sent through a couple of logos and screenshots to accompany the press release and they look FAB...

Saucy, a little revealing, sparkly bikinis, stockings, flying feathers, there are even big chunky 8-bit like stars in the background.  What more could you ask?

Of course, if we were to be picky, we'd point out that the competitor in the green weighs in on the lighter end of the scales and would be flattened by the first proper down filled comforter to come her way, but that's mere pedantry.

More screenshots after the link...

Update: I-play seem to have solved the problem of the lightweight model.  Link.

Pyjama Time - Iplay's 'Explosive' New Pillow Fight Game

It's almost universally accepted that when two or more girls gather in one place, dressed in jim-jams, that a giggly pillow fight will ensure.

It's a matter of faith for many men and boys, brought up on films such as National Lampoon's Animal House and despite evidence to the contrary, they cling to it with a quiet desperation.

However, in the recent past, Pillowfights have been hijacked as a social networking phenomenon, known as 'Flash Mobs'.  While this sounds - at least superficially - like the same sort of thing, it's actually emergent behaviour in which large crowds of people - of both genders - appear at a specified point in a large city and engage in a short, good humoured pillow fight.

Distressingly, very few seem to arrive in pyjamas.

So bravo to I-play for their new original mobile title Pillowfight, which returns the noble art to its roots.

Promising an 'explosive' experience, players can compete as a French Maid or Cheerleader.  Single and multiplayer gaming, uploadable high scores and downloadable content are all promised.

Fingers crossed the downloadable content will include Strict Schoolteacher, Lascivious Librarian, Battling Ballerina and possibly a Topless Traffic Warden.  Though that may just be us.

No word from the press release on how delighted I-play CEO David Gosen is, but he's on record as saying:

“We’ve all done it sometime in our life - squared up to someone with only a pillow for defence.”

A quick poll of the SG.biz team revealed that only two out of five people have ever squared up to someone armed only with a pillow.  Both girls.  However the personalisation options (we are in the UK, David) sound great.  Especially if they can be licensed by Fig Leaves.

You can read the entire press release after the link.

I-play Pick Up GSM Award For 'The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo'

Finally, some news from this year's 3GSM conference in Barcelona.  I-play have picked up a GSM Award for their The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo game.  This is the second year in a row I-play have won the award. In 2006 they won it with Skipping Stone.

The company claims that The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo was downloaded over 1,000,000 times in just over five months, with the whole franchise generating 6,500,000 downloads since it was launched.

This is fairly impressive for an industry area which many people still see as embryonic, emerging and yet to find its feet.

David Gosen, the CEO, is proud, delighted, etc.  However the quote from the 3GSM judging panel is worth repeating: "This [game] stood out for its universal attraction, intuitive design and sheer 'playability'.

Nice.

As reported several days ago, I-play were also included in the Real Business/O2 Top 50 Mobile Companies in the UK, along with Dynamo Games and Tag Games.

Mobile games.  Believe.

Congratulations to I-play. Again.

Iplay - Gosen Defends Company Figures

GamesIndustry.Biz has posted an interview with David Gosen, the CEO of Iplay.  The company posted it's annual figures recently showing a number of losses.

However, Gosen maintains the company is still healthy, despite a report in the Scottish press (always the first to look for woe and disaster) reporting the company is 'technically insolvent':

A report in The Herald newspaper claims that the company is technically insolvent, following substantial losses in 2005 that resulted in a balance sheet deficit of GBP 17.6 million at the end of the year. I-play maintains this is almost entirely attributable to changes in accounting regulations that have forced a reclassification of preference shares as debt.

I-play's CEO told Mobileindustry.biz: "I-play's position has never been stronger and our performance so far in 2006 is testament to the investment we've put into the business during the previous year."

Referring to the recent Telaphia survey which investigated the mobile gaming market in the US and positioned I-play as the second biggest mobile games publisher behind EA Mobile, Gosen said it was clearly evident that the company has changed significantly over the past 12-18 months, growing from a European into a global mobile publisher with a dominant presence in the industry.

"That kind of growth takes investment, and we're starting to see the benefit of that investment coming out of 2005," Gosen stated.

"Not only have we seen our revenue year on year, but also coming into 2006 we've seen stronger revenue growth than Q4, we've got a leading position in the US and European markets and we have operational profitability."

Discussing the change to the accounting rules which has led to a reclassification of preference shares as debt, resulting in a noticeable change to the company's balance sheet, Gosen stated that this was not unique to I-play and that "there are other Venture Capital backed companies that will have to reclassify their preference shares as debt in the same way."

Iplay are in a very strong position and have been building their catalogue and distribution very strongly in the last year.  If they are #2 in the US, it will be interesting to see what they can do in the future to catch up with EA.

(It's also no surprise that it was the Scottish media who jumped, whooping, into this story. They tend to run past five success stories to find one grim and dismal one...)