 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | Incinerator Studios |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Carlsbad, California, United States |
| Products | Mobile games |
| Website | www |
Playdek is an independent video game development company founded in 2011, based in Carlsbad, California. Playdek specializes in developing board games and card games for the iOS platform.
The core of Playdek's team worked together in console game development with their previous company Incinerator Studios, a subsidiary of THQ. As part of cost-cutting measures, THQ spun off Incinerator studios as an independent studio in 2009; [1] in chief technology officer Gary Weis' words, "We offered to take ourselves off their payroll and go off and make it on our own." [2] After a transition period during which the developer was under contract with THQ to complete two projects, [1] Incinerator launched Playdek, a company focused on developing tabletop games for mobile devices. [3]
Playdek has collaborated with various tabletop game publishers to develop iOS versions of board and card games.
In September 2013, Playdek announced a collaboration with Yasumi Matsuno to develop two games in the new Unsung Story series. The first was to have been a digital card game designed by Christophe Boelinger and the second a tactical RPG, Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians. [4] For the latter game a successful crowdfunding campaign was held in January and February 2014 on Kickstarter collecting 660,126 USD from supporters. [5] A game release was scheduled for July 2015. In February 2016 Playdek announced that they had no resources to develop the game and no timeline to develop the project further. [6] In August 2017, Playdek announced that Little Orbit has taken over all the rights and assets to Unsung Story from Playdek, and is now the project creator. [7]
GMT Games launched a Kickstarter campaign in June 2014 for a video game conversion of their Twilight Struggle boardgame. The project targeted 50,000 USD and collected 391,047 USD from backers. The implementation of the video game version of the game was contracted to Playdek and released on April 13, 2016 on Steam for Windows and Mac.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a 1997 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. Released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment, it is the first game of the Tactics series within the Final Fantasy franchise, and the first entry set in the fictional world later known as Ivalice. The story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet placed in the middle of a military conflict known as The Lion War, where two opposing noble factions are coveting the throne of the kingdom.
Vagrant Story is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. The game was released in 2000, and has been re-released through the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita consoles. Vagrant Story was primarily developed by the team responsible for Final Fantasy Tactics, with Yasumi Matsuno serving as producer, writer and director.
Yasumi Matsuno is a Japanese video game designer. Matsuno was first introduced to video games in arcades while waiting for the train, and first played Space Invaders and Xevious there. He attended Hosei University for foreign policy but dropped out, and after working for a time as an economic reporter, he joined Quest Corporation.
Frank Brian Fargo is an American video game designer, producer, programmer and executive, and founder of Interplay Entertainment, inXile Entertainment and Robot Cache.
Hiroshi Minagawa, also known by the nickname Nigoro, is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director.
Big Huge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Timonium, Maryland since 2000, known first for real-time strategy games such as Rise of Nations, later for the console RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and more recently for mobile games such as DomiNations and Arcane Showdown. Throughout most of its history the company has been associated with its best-known founder, Brian Reynolds, whose prior career already included work as lead designer of Civilization II and Alpha Centauri, and co-founder of Firaxis Games. The studio's ownership has changed hands several times over the years, and it became briefly defunct in May 2012, but it was revived by Reynolds along with several original alumni and new partners. The company is presently owned by Nexon, and actively runs its mobile titles DomiNations and Arcane Showdown, while continuing to develop new games.
Level-5 Inc. is a Japanese video game developer and publisher based in Fukuoka. The company was founded in October 1998 by Akihiro Hino after he departed from Riverhillsoft. Early in its history, the company enjoyed a close relationship with Sony Computer Entertainment, with many of its games then funded by and produced in conjunction with them. Level-5 began self-publishing its games in Japan by the late 2000s, with other companies such as Nintendo handling publishing worldwide. The company is best known for their Dark Cloud, Professor Layton, Inazuma Eleven, Ni no Kuni, Yo-kai Watch, and Snack World franchises.
Ivalice is a fictional universe setting primarily appearing in the Final Fantasy video game series. The world was created by Yasumi Matsuno and has since been expanded upon by several games as the Ivalice Alliance series. Ivalice is described as a complex world with a very long history, and the stories of Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII take place in it.
Quest Corporation was a Japanese video game company founded in 1988. Quest is best known for its critically acclaimed tactical role-playing game series Ogre Battle.
Incinerator Studios was an American video game developer, based in Carlsbad, California, known for developing several racing games, three based on the animated film franchise Cars and one MX vs. ATV game, with all four of them featuring other versions developed by the more experienced racing developer Rainbow Studios. Incinerator Studios, like Rainbow Studios, was a wholly owned subsidiary of THQ, but it was spun off as an independent company in March 2009 as part of a cost-cutting move. In 2011, Incinerator launched a new company, Playdek, focused on developing mobile tabletop games.
The Pinball Arcade is a pinball video game developed by FarSight Studios. The game is a simulated collection of real pinball tables licensed by Gottlieb, Alvin G. and Company, and Stern Pinball, a company which also owns the rights of machines from Data East and Sega Pinball. Williams and Bally games are no longer available since June 30, 2018, as FarSight had lost the license to WMS properties, which has since passed to Zen Studios.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is a 2010 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Japanese company Square Enix. It is a remake of the 1995 Super Famicom title of the same name, second entry in the Ogre Battle series. The remake retains the same strategy RPG gameplay of the original, focusing on turn-based tactical battles and the use of character classes. The game incorporates additional features such as equipment crafting and the ability to revisit branch points in the game's narrative, in addition to multiplayer functionality. The storyline, following the actions of rebel fighter Denam Pavel during a civil war within the kingdom of Valeria, was also expanded with new scenes and characters.
Video game development has typically been funded by large publishing companies or are alternatively paid for mostly by the developers themselves as independent titles. Other funding may come from government incentives or from private funding.
Black Forest Games GmbH is a German video game developer based in Offenburg. The company was founded in July 2012 by a team of 40 staff members, including chief executive officer Andreas Speer, previously employed by Spellbound Entertainment, which filed for insolvency earlier that year. As of August 2017, it is a subsidiary of THQ Nordic. As of June 2019, the company employs 66 people.
Crimson Shroud is a role-playing video game developed and published by Level-5, with assistance from Nex Entertainment. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS on December 13, 2012.
Adam Saltsman, also known as Adam Atomic, is an American indie video game designer best known for creating the endless runner Canabalt. He is a founder of Semi Secret Software and Finji video game studios.
Golem Arcana was a tabletop miniature wargaming game developed and published by Harebrained Schemes for iOS and Android devices. The game combines physical miniatures on a game board with a mobile app that much of the gameplay takes place in; the physical pieces and the app communicate through the use of a Bluetooth stylus. Several elements of the game, including special abilities and optional missions, exist only within the app.
Unsung Story is an upcoming tactical role-playing game developed by Little Orbit. The game was announced via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in early 2014 by developer Playdek under the creative direction of Yasumi Matsuno. The game is meant to be a spiritual successor of Final Fantasy Tactics (1997), a game he directed.
Modiphius Entertainment is an RPG and tabletop game publisher based in Fulham, London. Modiphius was founded in 2012 by husband-wife team Rita and Chris Birch to publish their first game Achtung! Cthulhu. The company have since published a number of product lines based on independent licenses and established brands.
The Cortex System is a collection of related roleplaying games. Its most recent iteration, Cortex Prime, was designed by Cam Banks and published by Fandom Tabletop. Prior versions appeared in the licensed roleplaying games published by Margaret Weis Productions, where it was used as the house system. Cortex is an adaptable game system focusing on characterization and story development.