Posts Tagged ‘bigpoint’

Summit Partners and TA Associates invest $350 million in Bigpoint, gain controlling share

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Hamburg, Germany based Bigpoint, one of the largest online gaming destinations, has recently announced that both Summit Partners and TA Associates have invested in the company to the tune of $350 million.  This new funding is slated to be used as “recapitalization,” and will continue to fuel Bigpoint’s growth.

This buy-in by both firms signals a controlling share, as previous shareholder Comcast Interactive Captial’s Peacock Equity Fund will sell off their holdings as part of the deal.  Likewise, GMT Communications Partners and GE will also sell the majority of their remaining investment in the firm.  As for the company’s founder Heiko Hubertz, will retain his ownership stake, “I see the potential in Bigpoint to exceed a value of one billion dollars and become the top online gaming company in the world.” Added Hubertz, “Our thanks go to GMT Communications Partners and Peacock Equity Fund for three very exciting years. Their support has seen the company rapidly grow during this period.”

There also appears to be no bad-blood brewing behind the scene, as Comcast Interactive Capital Executive Director Megumi Ikeda comments, “We received an excellent return on our initial investions.  Wile we are selling our share, we are very optimistic about Bigpoint’s future and are continuing our operational relationship with them at NBC Universal,” in a statement.

It’s exactly this relationship with NBC Universal that has been a driving force behind Bigpoint’s success.  You’ll remember that Bigpoint has had previous success with work for the USA Network, an NBC Universal property, their Battlestar Galactica Online title, a property of Syfy, also an NBC Universal company, and the most recent deal regarding Universal Monsters, a title that highlights NBC Universal’s deep catalogue of bad-doers including The Mummy, Frankenstein, and Dracula.

And Bigpoint’s 700+ workforce aren’t just focusing on NBC Universal products, as Farmerara, DarkOrbit, RamaCity and Drakensang Online are all already in the pipeline, proving to new investors that the company is well on track to achieving Hubertz’s lofty billion dollar goal.

“The investment by TA Associates and Summit Partners is a validation of Bigpoint’s leadership position within the gaming industry, and will give us a huge boost toward becoming one of the most successful gaming companies worldwide,” said Hubertz, in a statment. “Summit Partners and TA Associates are supporting Bigpoint’s international expansion; a course we set out upon in recent months with the opening of new offices in the United States and Brazil. I’m looking forward to a future partnership of mutual trust and cooperation.”

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Bigpoint names former Discover Networks EMEA Managing Director Arthur Bastings to Co-CEO position

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

“Winning,” might just be the hashtag of the year applied to Bigpoint. In addition to their already massive (and growing daily) registered user base, the Hamburg, Germany online gaming platform has recently announced the appointment of former Managing Director Discover Networks EMEA, Arthur Bastings as Co-CEO. Mr. Bastings will serve alongside the company’s founder Heiko Hubertz effective April 7th. As Bastings is intimately familiar with the EMEA territory, this move will free Hubertz plate to focus his efforts towards futher international expansion in the U.S..

“Arthur Bastings has successfully built top media brands on a global level, and I’m very happy that we’ve been able to attract him to Bigpoint,” said Hubertz in a statement.

“We are now ideally positioned to accelerate our global growth plans.” Added Simon Guild, Bigpoint’s Chairman of the Board, “Arthur Bastings will bring a whole range of skills to Bigpoint and we are very excited about him joining the company.”

Arriving at Bigpoint from Discovery Networks, Bastings headed up the EMEA region expansion of the network. Prior to his position with Discovery Networks, Bastings served as Managing Director for Northern and Central Europe at Turner Broadcasting Europe. Adding to his international flair, Bastings previously served as VP of Strategic Planning and MTV Networks International, as wells as SVP of Asian operations.

Bastings’ experience should come in particularly handy when Bigpoint sits at another Hollywood meeting. Remember, the company already has a few high profile deals in place with Universal, Syfy, and USA Network. Something tells me that Bastings’ contact list looks quite similar to a Bigpoint shopping/wish list. The firm has been able to negotiate these previous deals without Bastings, so the company’s future moving forward could look quite interesting. I’d wager that Bigpoint will be doing a big push to position themselves as the gaming house of choice for a number of media companies. Need proof?

“Online gaming is the strongest growing industry in the entire entertainment sector,” said Bastings, “and Bigpoint has demonstrated impressive international growth. I’m looking forward to working together with Heiko Hubertz in guiding the company on its continuing journey.”

Let’s just wait and see what the next move from Hamburg is.

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Bigpoint and Universal announce partnership

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Universal Monsters coming soon Hot on the heels of the EA partnership announcement, Bigpoint has now revealed that they’ve struck a deal with Universal. The partnership and licensing agreement also includes plans to develop Universal Monsters, a browser based title.

If you’re thinking, “Hey wait a second, didn’t they already have this deal via The Mummy?” you’d be correct, however, this new agreement will incorporate a vast array of classic Universal characters, and include The Mummy within this new title. Score two for The Mummy. The deal was announced by Bigpoint Inc., the U.S. based, fully independent subsidiary of Bigpoint GmbH (the German holding company). Bigpoint Inc. will take on the development of the new MMOG. As previously mentioned, both The Mummy and the new Universal Monsters are under license from Universal, and will remain their own independent properties.

Bigpoint Inc. will build both titles from the ground up and be built upon the growing Unity 3D platform in their San Francisco studios. “With full 3D, increasingly sophisticated design, and easy access for the end user, browser-based MMOG’s continue to emerge as an exciting gaming segment,” said Bill Kispert, Vice President and General Manager, Digital Platforms, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “We look forward to partnering again with Bigpoint to bring some of our most iconic characters and universes to life in this space.” The Universal Monsters title will feature a number of Universal’s legendary cast of ghouls. On tap for digitalization are Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula, both of who are slated to duel to the death, or … life as it were. Likewise, The Mummy will make an appearance. On The Mummy solo side, the title is slated to appear in conjunction with the third installment of one of the highest grossing film franchises of all time; The Mummy Returns. Not satisfied with a simple digitalization, Bigpoint’s SFO based team will leverage Unity’s technology to include a number of original techniques used in the films they draw from. Conversely, The Mummy Online seeks to create and incorporate the same style and intricate detail found within the previous The Mummy films. Bigpoint’s goal is to differentiate the titles, and make them both their own unique artistic presentation.

Production for both titles began in February. “We see tremendous opportunity in translating Hollywood titles into browser-based games. Battlestar Galactica Online was our first attempt in working with such significant properties, the games recent launch has already surpassed our expectations,” saidHeiko Hubertz, CEO and Founder of Bigpoint. “We’re excited to begin these new projects in San Francisco inspired by great films that bring a built-in appeal from legions of fans around the world.”

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Bigpoint acquires Radon, opens Bigpoint Berlin

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

German based browser games firm Bigpoint has recently acquired Radon Labs, also based in Germany. This Bigpoint acquisition of Radon is a true silver lining for the company, as they’d recently filed for bankruptcy due to financial concerns.

Radon Labs was founded in 1995, and have carved out quite a name for themselves, developing over 20 PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and NDS titles that have received a host of awards. Radon’s biggest claim to fame comes via their first two Drakensang (Dragon Song) titles. At the time of their semi-closure, Radon had Drakensang 3 in production, something that Bigpoint plans on continuing, and is slated for a 2011 release.

Heiko Hubertz, Bigpoint CEO and Founder views the acquisition as a vital strategic move for the company, “Under Bernd and Andre’s leadership, Radon Labs became one of Germany’s top three development studios. We’re excited to add their highly qualified workforce to Bigpoint as we continue to push the limits of what’s possible in online gaming. This acquisition is also greater proof that the market continues to consolidate. As such, we plan to purchase additional studios, both in Germany and abroad, to support our long-term growth strategy.”

Bigpoint has had some impressive expansion already over the course of 2010. They’ve expanded past their headquarters, Hamburg, and opened offices in Malta (Bigpoint Internationa), San Francisco (Bigpoint Inc.), and most recently Berlin. The Berlin office opening is a result of another Bigpoint acquisition. In December of 2009, Bigpoint acquired Berlin based game development studio eLOFD. The former eLOFD offices and staff officially became recognized as Bigpoint Berlin as of the end of May 2010. Bigpoint’s current employee count has surpassed the 500 mark, and with the addition of (now former) Radon employees (35), shows no signs of slowing.

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Bigpoint.com tops 100 million registered users

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Hamburg, Germany based free-to-play gaming portal Bigpoint.com has recently announced that they’ve topped over 100 million registered users. The number now places them as the world’s largest online German community. Not just gaming communities, but the largest German online community overall. The 100 millionth user also puts Bigpoint on top in terms of browser-based gaming portals, but also one of the world’s largest online gaming sites.

us.bigpointBigpoint, launched less than 4 years ago claims that they see 250,000 players register every single day. “A few years ago, I never would have dreamed that we would one day reach this crazy goal,” comments Heiko Hubertz, CEO of Bigpoint GmbH. “This is a great achievement for us. But, the approximately 250,000 new daily registrations at Bigpoint.com shows that we have the potential to be even bigger.“

With over 50 different free-to-play titles available, Bigpoint attributes it’s success to the free-to-play model. At Bigpoint, users can test and play every aspect of the game for free, for as long as they want. Should they chose to delve deeper into their favorite Bigpoint game, they can purchase virtual goods with real money to heighten their gaming experience. And as with most other free-to-play online gaming portals, Bigpoint also offers players the opportunity to gain a number of these RMT items, however play time is greatly increased.

And while Bigpoint’s 50 various games is enough to keep almost any gamer happy, in May of last year, Bigpoint opened the doors to third party publishing, as well as making a set of development tools available to independent developers. The advantage here is twofold: Major corporations including Sony have already taken advantage of Bigpoint’s (now) 100 million user database, and the DevLounge tool gives independent developers the tools to stand side by side with giants such as Sony.

Looking forward, 2010 will see attention to license and royalty games from Bigpoint. The company already has a number of quality titles in its arsenal, most notably, Sony’s ‘Free Realms’. The company also has the post-apocalyptic strategy game ‘Nemesis 2030’ waiting for launch, as well as the anime role-playing game ‘Wonder King. In addition to Sony, Bigpoint boasts a media partner list with over 1000 accounts. MTV, NBC, MySpace and Facebook are all associated with Bigpoint.

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USA Network sets stage for casual gaming

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Major television network USA Network, a division of NBC Universal announced today that they’ve entered into partnership with NeoEdge Networks, Bunchball, and Bigpoint. All three games developers will contribute to USA’s Character Arcade, a casual games portal. Startup GlowPlay was tapped by the network to develope the portal’s interface and social features. Character Arcade features roughly 50 ad-based casual games, free-to-play titles, complete with virtual goods sales via microtransactions, and the obligatory social networking features as the hook.

USA's Character ArcadeNeoEdge will be contributing the ad based games segment to Character Arcade. As part of the agreement, NeoEdge will then in turn wrap ads around a number of USA’s properties and distribute them across their own games distribution network which includes top slots such as MSN Games and Yahoo! Games.

German based Bigpoint will handle the free-to-play, microtransaction based games in the form of MMO’s. While the focus of Character Arcade seems to be pointed in the short-and-sweet casual game, Bigpoint’s contributions are sure to add variety to the lineup, perhaps even drawing in players that have never previously considered an MMO.

Rounding out the deal, Bunchball, responsible for return traffic and community interaction will be kicking off with a rewards and points platform. Bunchball is also planning a full Facebook and Twitter integration packet, as well as supporting interaction on a number of other social media centric destinations. Using their own proprietary SocialLink technology, as well as Facebook Connect, Bunchball’s contribution will allow fans across various networks share scores, set up challenges, and interact via chat as they play together. Another selling point in Bunchball’s corner: USA can then offer further return and interaction incentives through their own virtual goods system.

If “traditional” and/or “old” media stepping up their game (literally) and entering new territories sounds a bit familiar, remember, back in March we reported on the Syfy, ZooKazoo, Acclaim Games partnership deal. As part of this deal, Syfy was/is looking to diversify their offerings and engage an audience that may or may not have ever thought of themselves as “gamers.” It looks like USA is doing just about the same thing here. However, this is a prime example of new meeting old. The USA Network counts 36 years of air play, they’ve tapped four relatively new firms to deliver a package that appeals to both new and old, while delivering a quality and positive end user experience.

In an interview with Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat, USA Network VP Jesse Reniss sums it up, “The intersection of social media and games is the hottest part of the industry now. The projection is that casual games will be a $10 billion to $11 billion business by 2011 and that is something we want to be part of.”

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ION Game Conference in Seattle: redefining online

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

ION Game Conference in Seattle: redefining online

Under the motto “Redefining Online”, the Annual ION Game Conference took place in Seattle, WA ion between the 13th and 15th of May. The global gaming industry converged at ION to discuss the future of Online Gaming, exchange news, and set new goals for the coming years. Besides industry titans from both the US and Asia such as EA Games, Bigpoint, Crytek, and Epik; fatfoogoo was one of the few European companies present. We were here not only to represent Fatfoogoo, but also to get a view of the newest developments in online gaming. How these developments look, and where they will be taking the next generation of Online Gaming, we proudly present to you here:

Free Games with downloadable content and additional services

The first Trend that’s abuzz in the industry is the increasing alternatives to drive revenue generation. Publishers will sooner or later move further and further away from costly subscription fees and expensive stand alone games, and more in the direction of a “Free to play” platform, i.e. the game is free to download and play, but it’s also self financing by additional downloadable content, services, and micro-transactions between player to player or publisher to player. An excellent example of this concept would be South Korean publishers Nexon, who with Court Rider and Maple Story have banked over $230M in turnover, or German publisher Bigpoint whom already have over 10 million users. On average 8%-30% of these users have already, or will in the future pay for additional functionality and levels.

Outsourcing

The second trend amongst game publishers deals with competition in the global market and the often negative feelings/opinions associated with outsourcing. In order to spend more time in developing games, publishers are increasingly relying on third technologies; game engines, sound creation tools, and/or micro transactions (the selling and/or trading of objects, items and services within a game), between players or between publishers and players. The time and money saved with outsourcing should be reinvested in the core components of manufacturer; game development. There’s already a prime example of a masterful use of outsourcing in Epik’s Unreal 3. Unreal 3′s engines are pretty much the same as any 3D shooter, but they employ various sound engines from the Dolby Engineering labs, or micro-transactions from operators like fatfoogoo. The already existing cooperation with second and third line suppliers of engines and services should be worked out in the future. At it’s essence this will free up game publishers to do what they do best: Develop and publish games.

The merging of (suppossed) opposites

The third trend focuses on the fusion of the various different pieces of Social Networking and Gaming. The border between PC and Console, virtual worlds, games and personal net applications, mobile and casual games is becoming more and more blurred each day and should interoperate with each other – technically, functionally and economically. The platforms will be open to each other, and offer the end users several different levels of interaction. Nevertheless, the challenge for this kind of openness in technology lies not only in the tech sector, but the judicial as well. Copyright and tax laws vary from state to state, country to country. The challenge of a functional multinational system is a priority not only for software and hardware manufacturers, but for politicians as well.

Final Thoughts

Final thoughts and personal observations from Martin Herdina, our foogoo on the ground at ION:

A letter from America

Martin HerdinaBeing back in Europe the jetlag still doesn’t allow me much sleep at night but – and what’s a lot more relevant – I am looking back to a super exciting week at fatfoogoo.

Listening to the industry legends from EA, THQ and NCSoft talk about micro-transactions as the future revenue model for online gaming and to the success stories around Nexon’s “Cartrider” in Korea ($ 250M p.a.) has been extremely interesting and demonstrated once again that fatfoogoo is serving exactly the right market segment at exactly the right time.

Apart from these business aspects I met a full crowd of great people from the US gaming industry, enjoyed some super cool US Ska music at night (check out http://www.myspace.com/dealsgonebad) and was successful at avoiding all business-development meetings taking place in one of Seattle’s strip clubs.

Best,
Martin

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