Big Fish Games

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Big Fish Games, Inc.
Type Privately Held Company
Founded Seattle (2002)
Headquarters Seattle, Washington, United States
Key people Paul Thelen, Chairman/CSO
Jeremy Lewis, President/CEO
Industry Computer Software
Casual Games
Products Big Fish Games
Big Fish Studios
Big Fish Greetings
Game Club
My Game Space
Revenue ▲ Private
Net income ▲ Private
Employees 200 (2007)
Website www.bigfishgames.com

Big Fish Games is a provider of Internet media delivery software and services based in Seattle, Washington. The company is best known for its digital distribution of online casual games. Big Fish Games has several lines of business including distribution of downloadable casual games, ad supported free online web browser games, game development studios, e-greetings, and most recently a social networking site for casual game players for share opinions, invite friends, and earn cash for games their friends buy.

Contents

[edit] History

Big Fish Games was founded by ex-RealNetworks executive Paul Thelen in 2002. Paul Thelen was the Group Product Manager that launched the RealArcade games service for RealNetworks. The September 2006 launch of the social networking service My Big Fish Games takes the casual games industry in a new direction returning some of the industry’s profits to the consumers who drive new customers and grow the business.

Company timeline:

  • May 2002: Big Fish Games, LLC founded as a game development studio.
  • September 2003: Big Fish Games launches a web portal and begins distributing other developers’ games for the first time.
  • April 2005: Big Fish Games purchases the online games community site Ion Thunder.
  • June 2005: Big Fish Games Deutschland (www.bigfishgames.de) is launched.
  • July 2005: Big Fish Games launches game operations for NBC’s iVillage site and Viacom’s Nickelodeon site.
  • January 2006: Big Fish Games purchases casual games developer Funpause.
  • February 2006: Joint launch of Big Fish Games Japan and Bobby's Way, a blog by Bobby Valentine.
  • April 2006: Game Club subscription service is launched.
  • September 2006: My Big Fish Games social networking service for casual gamers is launched.
  • February 2007: The Principal Network Partner program is launched.
  • November 2007: Big Fish Games purchases MMO developer Thinglefin.
  • November 2007: Big Fish Games France (www.bigfishgames.fr) is launched.
  • March 2008: Big Fish Games Spain (www.bigfishgames.es) is launched.

[edit] Big Fish Studios Game Development

In May, 2002 the company was founded as a game development studio and experienced early success with titles like Mahjong Towers, Top Ten Solitaire, and Word Wizard. Big Fish Studios now releases 12 to 15 original titles per year, including Mystery Case Files: Huntsville, Hidden Expedition: Titanic, Mahjong Towers Eternity, Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects, Mystic Inn, Atlantis – Sky Patrol, Azada, and Fairies. Big Fish Studios also publishes titles from outside developers and controls online distribution of several hit franchises including Fish Tycoon, Virtual Villagers, Grimm's Hatchery, and Master of Defense. Games developed by Big Fish Studios include:

[edit] Digital Distribution

Big Fish Games distributes casual downloadable games for over 400 developers. Big Fish Games has over 1,000,000 downloads per day on peak days. The service offers downloadable casual games with a try-before-you-buy model where consumers can play a selection of over 300 games for free for 60 minutes, then have the option to purchase that game, in order to keep playing, if they want. Big Fish Games also has a game subscription service where consumers can buy games at a discount if they commit to volume purchasing called Game Club.

[edit] Principal Network Partnership Program

Distribution of Big Fish Games can now also be done through the Principal Network Partner program. This program allows those who sign up to distribute all Big Fish Games content on a site provided by Big Fish Games, or on the user's own site. Users who choose the latter option receive all gaming content through an XML feed provided by Big Fish Games. This XML feed is received by a website structure known as the Satellite Gaming System (SGS) developed Big Fish Games and made available to all PNP participants. SGS receives the Big Fish Games XML feed and converts it into a PHP based site. Skilled developers can edit the style of the final SGS driven site to match their own design vision.

[edit] Online Games

Big Fish Games distributes online web browser games that are free to play and advertising supported. There are over 80 games to play and a subscription service (called Club Atlantis) that allows user play free of advertisements. The games all include chat and players earn tokens that can be used to enter lotteries to win cash prizes and free games.

[edit] My Game Space

My Game Space is a social network for casual gamers launched in September 2006. It allows users to create a personal page, write and share game reviews, and earn rewards in a referral program.[1]

The referral program was described and sometimes criticized as a 'Multi-level marketing scheme'.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Social networking comes to casual games
  2. ^ The Mossberg Solution: Online games appeal to 'casual' players

[edit] External links

Languages