Wednesday, February 24, 2010

1000 seater Gaming studio in Hyderabd


Gameshastra opens 1000-seat facility in Hyderabad
 

Game outsourcing services provider Gameshastra on Tuesday opened a 1,000-seater game design studio in Hyderabad to cater to the growing demand for its services worldwide including from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

“We are currently 220-people strong and expect to reach 1,000 headcount by the end of this year to support new projects,” Prakash Ahuja, chief executive officer of Gameshastra, told mediapersons here.The 50,000-sft facility will focus on a full range of game development, game art, animation and quality assurance services for console, PC and online gaming platforms.
Stating that Gameshastra had invested $7 million (approximately Rs 33 crore) in its operations over the last three years, Ahuja said the company was developing an Indian mythological game, Ekalavya, for Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation3 (PS3) platform.
“The prototype is ready for the PS3 game and will be launched by the middle of next year,” he said, adding the company had so far published 18 games and would launch 16 more by the end of this calendar year.
Gameshastra today announced the launch of Desi Adda in PS2 and PS3 formats on the PlayStation Network (PSN) Store, an online virtual market available to users of Sony’s game consoles. Desi Adda is already available on the PSP (PlayStation Portable) platform and the company has sold 10,000 units so far.
It is also expanding the scope of its relationship with Sony Computer by developing ‘Cart Kings’, a bullock cart racing game on dusty rural tracks, for the Indian diaspora.
“We are excited about the new innovation Gameshastra is creating in India and can provide us the competitive edge globally,” said Jim Ryan, chief operating officer of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, adding the game would be launched during this Christmas.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

AVATARIZE YOURSELF

Social gaming to generate revenues of more than US$1 billion in 2010.


New Survey Reveals Social Gaming Phenomenon in U.S. and U.K.


Nearly a Quarter of All Consumers Now Play Social Games Regularly; Women Drive Latest Video Game Trend Ahead of MenPopCap Games, maker of some of the world’s most popular video games, today unveiled the results of a survey targeting “social gamers”: Consumers in the U.S. and UK who play games on social networking platforms such as Face book and MySpace. More than 24% of respondents said they play social games regularly, indicating a total social gamer population of approximately 100 million in America and the United Kingdom alone. And contrary to prevailing stereotypes, the average social gamer is a 43-year old woman. The survey identified a number of differences between U.S. and UK social gamers, and revealed trends and tendencies which establish the social gamer audience as unique from traditional video game playing audiences. While still in its infancy compared to the traditional video game industry, the social games sector represents a huge opportunity to reach hundreds of millions of consumers who historically have not played video games. The social games sector is projected by industry analysts and researchers to generate revenues of more than US$1 billion in 2010.
Among the nearly 5,000 consumers who responded to the survey, more than 1,200 play games on social networking sites and platforms at least once a week, qualifying them as “social gamers” for the purposes of the survey. Two-thirds of all qualified survey respondents are U.S.-based. 55% of all social gamers are female and 45% are male — with the disparity being even larger among UK consumers (58% vs. 42%). The average age of social gamers is 43, with U.S.-based social gamers averaging 48 years of age compared to 38 for those based in the UK. Further, 46% of American social gamers are 50 or older, compared to just 23% in the UK. Only 6% of all social gamers are age 21 or younger.

Monday, February 22, 2010