76-77-79 SOTN Gaming LSB 2020_muk.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 22/09/2020 19:33 Page 79
STATE OF THE NATION: GAMING
Exient Publishing emerges Exient has rebranded its Sad Puppy and Donut labels under a new Exient Publishing banner, as it seeks to position itself as the go-to mobile games partner for IP owners in games and entertainment. The company has experienced huge success over the last 12 months with the self-published Lemmings Puzzle Adventure, having previously built its business providing work-for-hire services on IP including FIFA, Angry Birds, F1 and more. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a new corporate brand identity and is now expanding its headcount across offices in the UK and Malta to support the development and publishing of self-funded mobile games based on IPs from the worlds of games, TV and entertainment. Several titles are already lined up for 2021. Nusrat Shah, coo at Exient, said: “We have a pipeline of self-funded projects for 2021 based on really exciting IPs and we’re keen to work with IP holders and brands interested in taking their properties to mobile platforms.” Right: Exient is keen to work with IP owners on mobile games.
Doctor Who goes digital Reality Gaming Group has secured an exclusive global licence from BBC Studios to develop and publish a digital trading card game based on Doctor Who. Above: The digital trading card The partnership will enable game will feature fan-favourite fans to collect and trade Doctor Who characters. digital versions of their favourite characters for the first time, before adventuring through the Doctor Who: Worlds Apart game as the Doctor, battling friends in turnbased contests. Each trading card a player collects will be tokenised into a non-fungible token (NFT) secured and protected on the blockchain, which means there can be no copies or disputes about ownership. Doctor Who: Worlds Apart players will own unique digital collectable items which can be used in the game or traded with other players. As with physical trading cards, some will be rarer than others, and all will feature Doctors, companions, allies and enemies from across Doctor Who’s expansive history. Limited edition
packs containing five digital cards will be available for fans to buy from October. The accompanying Doctor Who: Worlds Apart trading card game will be released for PC in 2021 with mobile to follow. More cards will also be made available at launch.
Gaming benefits mental health Video games helped to promote personal wellbeing, while also alleviating feelings of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, according to new research. A survey of some 3,000 individuals has revealed that almost all (97%) say that playing video games benefits their mental health. And at a time when people have felt intense loneliness during lockdown, almost two thirds (64%) said that connecting with others via online or multiplayer games had helped alleviate feelings of isolation. The research has been carried out by pop culture marketing agency Experience 12 which gathered the data from 3,000 people pop culture fans in the UK. 80% of the respondents were aged between 18 and 34 (48% were in the 25-34 year old category; 32% in the 18-24 category). Meanwhile, 58% were male, 38% female, 2% non-conforming and 1% transgender. 33% of respondents say that during lockdown they have been playing games for more than 20 hours a week; before lockdown, just 14% said they spent that time playing games.
Gaming as art Illustration agency, Jehane is collaborating with independent game studio Borderleap and Apple Arcade. Four of the agency’s leading artists - Tracey English, Jade Mosinski, Katherine Quinn, and Natalie Pedetti-Prack - have been commissioned to create new work for the puzzle game, Patterned. Over the next 12 months, 60 carefully researched designs by Jehane artists will be being released into the game, focused on the theme of travel. Patterned aims to immerse players in the joy of seamless, repeating patterns. Each pattern begins as a sketch and players must use visual clues to reassemble its scrambled pieces. It will kick off in October, starting with regions in the US, Canada and the Caribbean. Jehane’s owner, Jehane Boden Spiers, also has designs featured in the Apple Arcade games app. Bonuses within the game include being able to download a free wallpaper once the pattern has been solved. Above: Katherine Quinn is one of the artists commissioned to create new work for Patterned. LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2020
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