Big Fish Games

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Big Fish Games, Inc.
legal form Holding company
founding 2002
Seat Seattle (USA)
management Paul Thelen , Chairman / CEO
Number of employees 622 (2014)
Branch Casual games
Website www.bigfishgames.com

Big Fish Games is an American game development studio founded in 2002 and operator of browser-based and mobile online games based in Seattle . Most Big Fish Games titles can be played for free as trial versions and are available as full versions for a fee. Big Fish Games has several divisions including the distribution of downloadable casual games , free browser games , game development and licensing, and most recently a social networking website for casual game players to share opinions and information about games.

history

Big Fish Games was founded by ex RealNetworks CEO Paul Thelen in 2002 with $ 10,000. Thelen was the Group Product Manager who introduced the RealArcade Games Service for RealNetworks. In 2009 the company announced the opening of its new European headquarters in Cork , Ireland . The BBB gives Big Fish Games an A + due to its response time, the resolution of complaints and the relatively low complaint volume for a company of this size. In 2011 the company employed around 700 people. In August 2013, the company announced the discontinuation of its cloud-based games service, the relocation of the Vancouver studio to Seattle and the closure of the office in Cork. In November 2014, Churchill Downs Incorporated bought the company for $ 885,000,000 . At that time, Big Fish Games still had around 600 employees. In 2017, Churchill Downs sold the company to Aristocrat Technologies, a subsidiary of Australian gaming machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure, for $ 990 million .

Big Fish Studios

Big Fish Studios is its own development studio that publishes games through Big Fish Games every year. Many of the games developed use their own proprietary game engine , which supports DirectX and OpenGL .

Games developed by Big Fish Studios:

  • Mystery Case Files: Huntsville (November 14, 2005)
  • Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects (April 6, 2006)
  • Mystic Inn (April 12, 2006)
  • Hidden Expedition: Titanic (July 21, 2006)
  • Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst (December 14, 2006)
  • Hidden Expedition: Everest (June 1, 2007)
  • Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate (November 6, 2007)
  • Mystery in London (December 14, 2007)
  • Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst (November 27, 2008)
  • Hidden Expedition: Amazon (June 20, 2008)
  • Drawn: The Painted Tower (September 5, 2009)
  • Hidden Expedition: Devil's Triangle (October 24, 2009)
  • Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove (November 25, 2009)
  • Life Quest (April 29, 2010)
  • Drawn: Dark Flight (August 31, 2010)
  • Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull (November 25, 2010)
  • Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident (June 29, 2011)
  • Drawn: Trail of Shadows (October 21, 2011)
  • Hidden Expedition - The Uncharted Islands (October 28, 2011)
  • Mystery Case Files: Escape from Ravenhearst (November 24, 2011)
  • Fairway Solitaire HD (May 24, 2012)
  • Mystery Case Files: Shadow Lake (November 20, 2012)
  • Fetch (March 21, 2013)
  • Mystery Case Files: Fate's Carnival (November 26, 2013)
  • Hidden Expedition: Smithsonian Hope Diamond (December 19, 2013)

The trade magazine Adventure Gamers placed Drawn: The Painted Tower in 2011 in its list of Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games at number 76.

Digital distribution

Big Fish Games distributes over 2500 free downloadable games from over 500 developers. According to Big Fish Games, the company server makes 1,500,000 downloads every day. The service offers downloadable casual games with a try-before-you-buy model , where consumers can play the games for 60 minutes for free and then have the option to purchase the game in order to keep playing.

Online games

Big Fish Games uses online web browser games , which are free to play, to advertise in them. Over 80 games are offered. The games include chat and tokens that players can earn, which can then be used to participate in lotteries that include cash prizes and free games. There are currently over 20 community games from Big Fish Games. Big Fish Games also operated the popular online game Faunasphere , which was accessible via its own website and Facebook. Faunasphere was shut down in March 2011.

Club membership

Big Fish Games operates a game club as a subscription that is optionally activated when a customer purchases a full version game. The subscription is calculated as a monthly fee and can be canceled at any time.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Executive Team - Paul Thelen. In: Press Room. Big Fish Games, accessed March 13, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Heather Reese: Thelen Worked Through Illness to Launch Big Fish. In: Puget Sound Business Journal. Puget Sound Business Journal, September 9, 2005, accessed March 18, 2015 .
  3. ^ Big Fish Games Inc. In: BBB. BBC, accessed February 17, 2012 .
  4. ↑ John Cook: Full memo: Big Fish CEO Announces job cuts, cancellation of cloud games business and closure of Ireland and BC facilities. In: GeekWire. GeekWire, LLC, August 21, 2013, accessed April 22, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Geekwire.com: Big Fish Games to be acquired for $ 885 million by racetrack operator Churchill Downs. Retrieved February 16, 2017 .
  6. ↑ SeattleTimes.com: Seattle-based Big Fish Games being sold for $ 990M to Australian firm. Retrieved March 19, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Philip Jong: Chris Campbell, Brian Thompson, Peter Yiap interview. Adventure Classic Gaming, January 23, 2010, accessed July 24, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Big Fish Games presents the Big Fish Games collection. Big Fish Games, July 24, 2011, accessed July 24, 2011 .
  9. ↑ AdventureGamers.com: Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games. Retrieved March 31, 2016 .
  10. ^ Dean Takahashi: Big Fish Games and PlayFirst team up for online game distribution. VentureBeat, January 12, 2010, accessed May 23, 2011 .
  11. ^ People and Big Fish Games Launch Exclusive Partnership. In: IGN.com. Ziff Davis, LLC, July 30, 2009, accessed October 25, 2009 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 37 '15.4 "  N , 122 ° 21' 42.9"  W.