Owlient
| Owlient | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Subsidiary of Ubisoft |
| founding | September 8, 2005 |
| Seat |
Paris , France
|
| Branch | Software development |
| Website | http://www.owlient.eu |
Owlient is a French company that belongs to the Ubisoft group. She became known among other things through the browser games Howrse and Babydow, which are also available in German.
history
Owlient was founded on September 8, 2005 when the first Equideow project (the French version of Howrse) went online. The company was founded by Vincent Guth and Olivier Issaly . Both got to know each other during their studies. The name Owlient is based on the two first names of the founders ( Oli ver and Vinc ent ). Due to the success of the site, they decided in 2006 to interrupt their studies in order to devote themselves fully to the Owlient company.
The game Equideow was later translated into various other languages under the name Howrse, and other games such as Babydow followed. In July 2011 it was announced that Ubisoft had acquired the company in order to expand its portfolio in the area of free-to-play games.
The company's headquarters are in Paris . The company had 45 employees in 2014 and, according to its own information, has 55 million players since 2005, of which 2 million are active players.
Products
The Owlient company is primarily concerned with the development of various free-to-play titles, most of which focus on breeding animals or mythical creatures.
- Howrse , a browser game about horse breeding
- Tom Clancy's Elite Squad , a smartphone app in which characters from different Tom Clancy titles compete against each other
According to the company's website, games are available in 24 different languages.
Discontinued products
- Howrse Cup , a browser game about horse breeding, with a focus on racing against other players (ended)
- Babydow, a browser game about raising virtual babies , has been discontinued since June 30, 2014
- Dragow, a browser game about the dragon breeding , set for June 30, 2014
- Aquariow, a browser game about fish farming , has been discontinued
- Fashiown, a browser game about fashion design , has been discontinued
- Howrse for Friends (Facebook app, discontinued)
- Howrse Quiz , a browser game about horse knowledge, has been discontinued
- Mojow Locow, a browser game in which little monsters were led through different levels and improved through merging, has been discontinued
- Horse Adventure, a smartphone app with 3D adventure, in which a horse friend explored a foreign country, has been discontinued
criticism
The design of the browser games offered by Owlient primarily addresses children and young people as a target group . A central component of the game model is paid virtual game content - in the case of Howrse, for example, items that improve the horses' abilities or give access to game functions that would otherwise not be available or would only be available after a long period of playing.
This content is also featured prominently in the game world.
Some critics see the fun and progression of the game in this way as being linked to the willingness of the players to pay money for a better gaming experience.
It is true that Howrse's payment system provides that children and young people should be protected from purchases that have not been authorized by their legal guardians. In reality, however, it is easy to make purchases of game content without parental control, for example by forging these authorizations and illegally calling a premium rate number or sending an SMS to such a number.
The television magazine Frontal21 published an article about this type of game model and reported in it about a Howrse player who had chosen a corresponding premium rate number 267 times in order to buy so-called “passes” for her game (at the time 1.99 euros per “ Passport").
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c company website
- ↑ The official press releases from Ubisoft | Forums
- ↑ a b Seduced to gamble: When alleged free games become a problem. c't 8/2013, pp. 82-89, of which p. 86 on Howrse .
- ↑ Video Frontal21: Online games for children (December 11, 2012, from 5:01 p.m.) in the ZDFmediathek , accessed on May 15, 2013. (offline)