Big Fish Games

Last updated
Big Fish Games, Inc.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded2002;24 years ago (2002)
Founder Paul Thelen   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters Seattle, Washington, United States
Number of employees
350 (2020)
Parent BFG Entertainment (2025-)

Aristocrat Leisure (2018-2025)

Churchill Downs Inc. (2014-2018)
Website bigfishgames.com

Big Fish Games, Inc. is a casual game company based in Seattle with a regional office in Oakland, California, owned by BFG Entertainment. It is a developer and distributor of casual games for computers and mobile devices.

Contents

In 2016, the company was accused of knowingly deceiving customers into signing up for monthly purchases without informed consent. [1] It was also the subject of a class action lawsuit over its app Big Fish Casino, resulting in a settlement of $155 million after a federal appeals court ruled that it constituted illegal online gambling. [2] [3]

History

The company was founded in 2002. [4] In 2009, it announced the opening of its European headquarters in Cork, Ireland. [5] In July 2010, the company passed one billion game downloads from its online portal. [6]

In August 2013, Big Fish announced the closing of its cloud-based games service, Vancouver studio and Cork offices. [7] In 2014, the company was acquired by Churchill Downs Inc. in a deal valued at up to $885 million. [8] [9] In 2018, Churchill Downs sold Big Fish to Australian gambling machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure for $990 million. [10] In September 2018, Big Fish cut 15% of its workforce, [11] and in September 2020, it cut nearly 50% of its workforce. [12] By October 2025, Aristocrat Leisure sold Big Fish Games to a newly formed owner company, BFG Entertainment. Under BFG Entertainment's new leadership, Big Fish Games handed ownership of their mobile games Evermerge and Gummy Drop to publishers JetSynthesys and 7 Hits Games respectively, [13] ended developer Elephant Games' support of free-to-play game Midnight Castle, [14] terminated their contract with hidden object game developer GrandMA Studios, [15] and plans to open a new internal studio focused on hidden object games. [16]

Big Fish Studios

Big Fish Games has studios split between the Seattle office and Oakland office which develop games: Self Aware Games, Triton Studios, Epic Ventures and ARC Studios.[ citation needed ] Games developed by the various Big Fish studios include:

Online games

The company entered browser gaming with its acquisition of the game website Ion Thunder in 2007; the service was re-branded as Atlantis after the acquisition.[ citation needed ] The service which was revamped as Big Sea Games in 2009, was shut down in 2010 as part of the company's shift from traditional online games to social games on Facebook and other mobile apps. [17]

References

  1. ↑ Duryee, Tricia (August 6, 2014). "Lawsuit accuses Big Fish of baiting customers into signing up for 'free' game memberships that really aren't". GeekWire . Archived from the original on September 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ Soper, Taylor (August 31, 2020). "Judge approves $155M class action settlement related to Big Fish Games and online gambling lawsuit". GeekWire . Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (September 1, 2020). "250 Jobs Lost At Big Fish Games As Company Reaches $155 Million Settlement". GameSpot . Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  4. ↑ "About Big Fish". Big Fish Games. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  5. ↑ Cook, John (April 9, 2009). "Big Fish picks Ireland for European expansion". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  6. ↑ Martin, Matt (July 20, 2010). "Big Fish passes one billion game downloads". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  7. ↑ Cook, John (August 21, 2013). "Full memo: Big Fish CEO announces job cuts, cancellation of cloud games business and closure of Ireland and BC facilities". GeekWire . Archived from the original on January 14, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  8. ↑ Wingfield, Nick (November 12, 2014). "Churchill Downs to buy Big Fish Games for up to $885 million" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Churchill finishes purchase of Big Fish Games". The Blood-Horse . December 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Seattle-based Big Fish Games being sold for $990M to Australian firm". The Seattle Times . Associated Press. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ Levy, Nat (September 25, 2018). "Internal memo: Big Fish Games cutting 15% of its workforce, including key executives". GeekWire . Archived from the original on November 9, 2020.
  12. ↑ Soper, Taylor (September 1, 2020). "Seattle-based Big Fish Games lays off 250 people". GeekWire . Archived from the original on September 1, 2020.
  13. ↑ Chapple, Craig (2026-01-26). "Aristocrat Leisure sells off Big Fish Games assets". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
  14. ↑ Elephant Games (2026-01-04). "Elephant Games' Post". Facebook.
  15. ↑ GrandMA Studios (2025-12-22), "GrandMA Studios's Post", Facebook{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ "We are looking for multiple roles, as we are building our new studio: - Game Developers with experience in Unity - Game Artists with experience in casual games and Hidden Object genre - Game… | BFG Entertainment Inc. | 15 comments". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2026-01-27.
  17. ↑ Bell, Erin (August 9, 2010). "Big Sea Games fans swim to other ponds". GameZebo . Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2014.

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