Idea Fabrik Showcasing New Social Game Development Technology at GDC

Idea Fabrik Plc. today announced that it will be showcasing a new platform that represents a major breakthrough in the development of social games at the Game Developers Conference later this month in San Francisco.

According to a recent report from Business Insights, the social gaming market encapsulates nearly 600 million users and was worth nearly $1.5 billion worldwide in 2010. Similarly, market research firm Newzoo found that roughly 90% of gamers in the United States play casual games. Since acquiring the HeroEngine platform for MMO game development last year, Idea Fabrik’s growing engineering team has been working in stealth mode to create a better way for developers to bring their games into this rapidly-expanding space.

GDC attendees interested in learning more, as well as taking a first look at the new technology in action, can visit Idea Fabrik at booth #932 in the South Hall of the Moscone Center from March 2-4.

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RockYou Signs Game Development Agreenment With John Romero’s New Studio, Loot Drop

RockYou, a leading social entertainment company, has signed a development agreement with Loot Drop to fund and publish the new studio’s first title. Led by John Romero, co-founder of id Software and designer of the Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein 3D series, Loot Drop develops innovative games with true gameplay that push the boundaries of social game design.

The deal between RockYou and Loot Drop builds on RockYou’s commitment to create and publish the very best social games, and to invest in world-class creative talent. RockYou enables independent developers to reach a broad audience with its publishing and distribution expertise, and with strategic investments such as the agreement with Loot Drop.

“Our partnership with Loot Drop allows RockYou to work with some of the industry’s most creative minds,” said Jonathan Knight, RockYou’s SVP of Games. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with John Romero, a game design visionary, as we aim to inspire innovation in the social gaming space and expand our games portfolio throughout the year.”

“The social space is where the excitement and the players are at, hundreds of millions of them, and I’m excited to make another game on the platform,” said John Romero. “RockYou’s support will drive Loot Drop’s first project forward. I believe social games have an incredible future, and we’ve barely explored their potential.”

After John Romero’s early success pioneering the first-person shooter genre, he became a recognizable figure in the industry, establishing independent studios and designing games for over thirty years. Most recently Romero shifted his attention to the social gaming space to design and develop the popular family-friendly game, Ravenwood Fair for Facebook. Launched in October 2010, Ravenwood Fair is notable for bringing role-playing game (RPG) elements to the social gaming space, and boasts a 4.2/5 user review score, five million monthly active users (MAUs) and over 700K daily active users (DAUs).

Tom Hall joins Loot Drop as Studio Head and Game Designer at the company’s Austin studio. Hall is a 30-year veteran of the game industry, and a frequent business partner of Romero’s. Together, the two have founded three companies, including id Software. Robert Sirotek serves as the company’s CEO. Like Romero and Hall, Sirotek is a veteran entrepreneur, VP and CEO with over 30 years’ experience in the game industry. Sirotek co-founded Sir-tech Software in 1980, and during his 26-year tenure at the company, the firm released over 150 games, including the award-winning Wizardry and Jagged Alliance series.

Details for Loot Drop’s first game are not announced yet, and the terms of the investment were not disclosed.

For more information about RockYou, visit www.rockyou.com.

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