Sandlot Games | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 2002Washington | in
Founder | Daniel Bernstein |
Defunct | 2014 |
Fate | Sold to Digital Chocolate |
Successor | UpTap Games |
Headquarters | Bothell, Washington, United States |
Key people | Daniel Bernstein (founder & CEO) |
Products | Games |
Parent | Digital Chocolate |
Website | www.sandlotgames.com |
Sandlot Games was a developer and publisher of casual and family-friendly games based in Bothell, Washington, United States. It was founded in 2002 by Daniel Bernstein.
The Sandlot Games portfolio consisted of franchises like Cake Mania, Westward , Kuros, Super Granny, Slyder, and Tradewinds. Although most of its products were downloadable PC games, it offered other titles for PlayStation 2, Mac, iPhone, iPod, Wii, Nintendo DS, Palm OS and PSP.
In August 2011, Sandlot Games was acquired by Digital Chocolate [1] as a fully owned subsidiary.
In September 2013, Ubisoft completed the acquisition of Digital Chocolate's Barcelona studio along with its entire portfolio of intellectual property, [2] as well as the rights to the titles developed by Sandlot Games. [3]
On January 7, 2009, Intenium, Germany's leading distributor of casual games, announced that it entered into a distribution partnership with Sandlot Games. [4] A total of 12 titles from Sandlot Games launched to several European regions.
In July 2009, Sandlot Games entered into a distribution partnership with Steam, [5] Valve's digital distribution platform. Its games were part of Steam's foray into a family games category. [6]
Since its inception in 2002, Sandlot Games developed and published the following games:
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books, as well as in Japanese media.
Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a French laxative company headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include Assassin's Creed, Driver, Far Cry, For Honor, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy's, and Watch Dogs.
Digital Chocolate, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher headquartered in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, the founder of video game companies Electronic Arts and The 3DO Company. The company focused on developing games for Java ME-based mobile phones, iOS, and Microsoft Windows, and made some non-entertainment titles. Its marketing motto was Seize the minute.
TrackMania is a series of racing games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo DS, and Wii developed by Ubisoft Nadeo and Firebrand Games. Instead of following the usual trend of choosing a set car and track to play the game, in TrackMania the players can create their own tracks using a "building block" process similar to games that existed before the first TrackMania game, such as the 1984 game Excitebike, the 1985 game Racing Destruction Set, and the 1990 game Stunts.
StarForce Technologies is a Russian software developer with headquarters in Moscow. Its main activities are information security, protection against unauthorized copying, modification, and analysis (decompilation).
PlayMania was a live interactive game show on GSN, hosted by Mel Peachey, Shandi Finnessey, Jessica York, Angelle Tymon, and Jeff Thisted. The two-hour program featured interactive games that the viewers could play to win cash prizes. On February 20, 2007, the show was replaced with two separate programs, quiznation and 100 Winners which were collectively known as the PlayMania Block.
There have been numerous Monopoly video games based on the core game mechanics of Parker Brothers and Hasbro's board game Monopoly. They have been developed by numerous teams and released on multiple platforms over 35+ years.
Anino Games is a Philippine third-party game developer for different platforms founded by Niel Nagondon who is often acknowledged as the pioneer of the gaming industry in the Philippines. It is composed of two sister companies – Anino Entertainment, which focuses on PC, console, and virtual reality games, and Anino Mobile, which develops mobile games. The company takes its name from anino, a Tagalog word meaning "shadow".
Cake Mania is a cooking time management video game developed and published by Sandlot Games in 2006. Some ports of Cake Mania have different titles; the Wii version is known as Cake Mania: In the Mix!, and the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions are titled Cake Mania: Bakers Challenge. Cake Mania received mixed reviews from critics, with some reviewers praising the game's 'addictive' and 'simple' casual gameplay, while others criticized this as being 'repetitive' and 'shallow'.
Poptropica is an online role-playing game, developed in 2007 by Pearson Education's Family Education Network, and targeted towards children aged 6 to 15. Poptropica was primarily the creation of Jeff Kinney, later known as the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. As of 2015, he remains at the company as the Creative Director. The game primarily focuses on problem-solving through game quest scenarios, called "islands". Islands all center on a problem that the player must resolve by going through multiple obstacles, collecting and using items, talking to various characters, and completing goals. All islands, upon completion, award "credits," which are non-negotiable currency that may be used to buy costumes and special effects in the Poptropica store.
Alawar Entertainment is an international developer and publisher of video games for PC, consoles, mobile platforms, and other devices. Founded in Novosibirsk, Russia, it is based in Lewes, Delaware, United States. Its main areas of activity are mid-core games for experienced players, as well as casual downloadable and F2P games for PC, MacOS, IOS, Android, PlayStation (console), Xbox, social networks, and other platforms.
Boomzap Entertainment is a casual games developer registered in Singapore with a virtual office environment. It was formed in 2005 and has released 50 games to date that are ported on various platforms. Boomzap has developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS, and Android. Its games are available on games portals such as Big Fish Games, Yahoo!, WildTangent, GameHouse, Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, Steam and others.
Ubisoft Connect is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications service developed by Massive Entertainment to provide an experience similar to the achievements/trophies offered by various other game companies. The service is provided across various platforms. Ubisoft Connect is used exclusively by first-party Ubisoft Entertainment games, and although some third-party ones are sold through the Ubisoft store, they do not use the Ubisoft Connect platform.
In the video game industry, digital distribution is the process of delivering video game content as digital information, without the exchange or purchase of new physical media such as ROM cartridges, magnetic storage, optical discs and flash memory cards. This process has existed since the early 1980s, but it was only with network advancements in bandwidth capabilities in the early 2000s that digital distribution became more prominent as a method of selling games. Currently, the process is dominated by online distribution over broadband Internet.
Video gaming in Finland consists of video game industry of 260 active video game developer studios, roughly a dozen professional players and countless enthusiastic amateurs.
The popularisation of mobile games began as early as 1997 with the introduction of Snake preloaded on Nokia feature phones, demonstrating the practicality of games on these devices. Several mobile device manufacturers included preloaded games in the wake of Snake's success. In 1999, the introduction of the i-mode service in Japan allowed a wide variety of more advanced mobile games to be downloaded onto smartphones, though the service was largely limited to Japan. By the early 2000s, the technical specifications of Western handsets had also matured to the point where downloadable applications could be supported, but mainstream adoption continued to be hampered by market fragmentation between different devices, operating environments, and distributors.
The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer developed by Valve and released on February 25, 2022. The device uses Valve's Linux distribution SteamOS, which incorporates the namesake Steam storefront. SteamOS uses Valve's Proton compatibility layer, allowing users to run Windows applications and games. In addition to handheld use, the Steam Deck can be connected to a TV or monitor through a docking station and be used like a desktop computer or home video game console. In desktop mode, users can install third-party applications for Linux.