Company:IOMO
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile Game Development |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | August 2008 |
| Headquarters | Eastleigh , |
| Owner | InfoSpace |
IOMO was a British mobile game developer and publisher based in Hampshire, England . IOMO was founded by John Chasey, Glenn Broadway and Andrew Bain in 2000. Initially a developer, the company was very successful in the early stages of the mobile game industry and worked with the majority of mobile technologies and customers across the whole value chain. This ranged from pre-installed titles developed for handset manufacturers and carriers, creation of branded titles for mobile games publishers and self-published original titles.
History
The first public announcement mentioning IOMO is in May 2001 when Nokia announced development of seven WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) titles by IOMO for the Nokia Mobile Entertainment service, one of the first platforms designed for carriers to be able to host and bill for games content.[1] IOMO also worked on SMS titles including TxtDating which launched on O2 in the UK.
As the industry moved away from WAP and SMS to Java ME titles, in May 2003 IOMO acquired mobile game studio Covert Operations Ltd for an undisclosed sum.[2]
The peak of IOMO's success came in 2004 when in addition to winning the Develop Industry Excellence award for the second year running, IOMO were developers of half the games in the Top 10 charts for two different UK operators.
January 2004, the Vodafone Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Tomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, Pub Pool, Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex and Monopoly.[3]
November 2004, the Orange UK Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Pub Fruity, Colin McRae Rally 2005, Monopoly, Golf Club and Pub Darts.[4]
In March 2004, IOMO partnered with Kayak Interactive to demonstrate the first live multiplayer pool tournament between Java ME and BREW handsets on at the GDC Mobile day of the 2004 Game Developers Conference.[5]
This success culminated on 1 December 2004 when it was announced that InfoSpace had acquired IOMO for approximately $15 million in cash.[6]
In January 2005, an N-Gage version of the classic Snakes, developed by IOMO was launched. The title had universally positive reviews averaging a Metacritic score of 85.[7]
As a studio within the InfoSpace group, IOMO games were published under the InfoSpace brand. However, on 25 January 2007, InfoSpace announced it was exiting the content space and had sold its US games studio to Twistbox Games with IOMO to follow.[8]
On 6 August 2007, IOMO was closed and staff from IOMO formed a new mobile game developer, FinBlade,[9] and a new mobile middleware developer, Metismo.
Awards
- 2002 Nokia Mobile Challenge - Entertainment Category - Foto Fun Pack [10]
- 2003 BAFTA Nomination - Scooby Doo [11]
- 2003 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile Studio [12]
- 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005[13]
- 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Colin McRae Rally 2005[14]
- 2004 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile/Handheld Studio [15]
- 2006 Edinburgh International Entertainment Festival Edge Mobile Award - Dirty Sanchez[16]
Embedded Games
- Adventure Race on Nokia 5140i Video on YouTube
- Foto Fun Pack on Motorola RAZR V3
- GemGemPanic on Sony Ericsson T610 (Vodafone live! handsets only)
- Golf on Motorola RAZR V3
- Jedi Trainer on Nokia handsets
- Monopoly on Motorola V525/V600
- Munkiki's Castles on Nokia 3410 Video on YouTube
- Skydiver on Nokia 3510i and Nokia 5500 Video on YouTube
- Snakes 2 EX on Nokia 3300 and others
- Stuntman on Motorola V525/V600
- Triple Pop on Nokia 7210 and others Video on YouTube
ExEn Games
- Football Challenge published by InFusio
Java ME Games
- 007: Hoverchase published by Vodafone
- Activision Anthology published by InFusio
- Aquastax published by InfoSpace
- Colin McRae Rally 2005 published by Digital Bridges
- DBI 3D Golf published by Digital Bridges
- Dirty Sanchez published by Infospace
- Fight Club published by Superscape
- Fight Club 3D published by Superscape
- Finding Nemo published by Airborne/Disney Interactive
- FPR Superbikes published by InfoSpace
- Golf Club published by IOMO
- Le Mans 2006 published by InfoSpace
- Monopoly published by iFone
- Now Quiz published by InfoSpace
- Chase H.Q. published by Nokia
- Pub Arcade published by IOMO
- Pub Darts published by IOMO
- Pub Fight published by IOMO
- Pub Fruity / Pub Slots published by IOMO
- Pub Pool published by IOMO
- Pub Pool 3D published by IOMO
- Pursuit Squad published by IOMO
- Scooby-Doo: Jeepers Creepers published by Digital Bridges
- Slot Racers published by Infospace
- Steve Davis Snooker published by IOMO
- Stuntman published by iFone
- Thief: Deadly Shadows published by Eidos New Media
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf published by EA/Digital Bridges
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 published by EA/Digital Bridges
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 published by EA/Digital Bridges
- Tomb Raider: Puzzle Paradox published by Eidos Interactive
- Tomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar published by Eidos New Media
- Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex published by Eidos New Media
- Tomb Raider: The Elixir of Life published by Eidos New Media
- Tony Hawk's Project 8 published by Infospace
- Tony Hawk's Proving Ground published by InFusio
- Treasure Planet published by Airborne/Disney Interactive
- Trickshot Pool published by Infospace
- Urban Freestyle Soccer published by Acclaim Entertainment
SMS Games
- TxtDating published by Digital Bridges
Symbian Games
WAP Games
- Blinker Thinker published by Nokia
- Dial-A-Word published by Froghop
- Infiltrator published by Nokia
- Fortune Cookie published by gameplay.com
- Magic 8-Ball published by gameplay.com
- NumbaRumba published by Nokia
- Runway published by Nokia
- Thief: Constantine's Sword published by Digital Bridges/Eidos New Media
- Pass The Egg published by Vodafone
- StrikeOut! published by Nokia
- Tamacutie published by Aspiro
- The Love Game / The Dating Game published by Aspiro
- Thunderbirds published by Digital Bridges
- TicTacToe published by gameplay.com
- WAP Fishing published by Nokia
- WAP Hunter published by Nokia
- WAPPet published by gameplay.com
- Wapundrum published by Nokia
- Wentworth Golf published by Digital Bridges/Empire Interactive
References
- ↑ "Nokia and Supedo to develop mobile gaming content for WAP enabled phones". http://press.nokia.com/PR/200105/821309_5.html. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "IOMO buys Covert Operations". The Register. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/05/29/iomo_buys_covert_operations. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Five Out Of Ten Ain't Bad". http://www.midlet-review.com/index?content=news&id=258. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "1, 2, 4, 6, 9 IOMO's Games Are Doing Fine!". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/1-2-4-6-9-iomos-games-are-doing-fine. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Kayak Interactive and IOMO Partner to Create Dynamic, Mobile, Multiplayer Games; Partners to Enable First Live Mobile, Multiplayer Tournament at Mobile GDC". Business Wire. 2004-03-25. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_114605341. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ↑ "SEC Info - Infospace Inc - 8-K - For 12/1/04 - EX-99.1". http://www.secinfo.com/d14D5a.16958.d.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "metacritic.com Snakes (ngage: 2005)". http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ngage/snakes?q=snakes. Retrieved 2009-09-28.[yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
- ↑ "Updated: Infospace's U.S. Games Division Sold To Twistbox". http://www.moconews.net/entry/infospaces-us-games-division-sold-to-twistbox/. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Updated: FinBlade opens its doors". Archived from the original on 2008-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20080404233912/http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/28432/Finblade-opens-its-doors. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "IOMO takes Asian mobile market by storm". Archived from the original on 2005-10-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20051001214601/http://www.midlet-review.com/index?content=news&id=479.
- ↑ "Infospace, Inc. - Current Report". http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=INFO&docid=3317031. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Infospace, Inc. - Current Report". http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=INFO&docid=3317031. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Video Games - Awards - The BAFTA site". http://www.bafta.org/awards/video-games/nominations/?year=2004. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Past Winners and Nominees - Video Games - Awards - The BAFTA site". http://www.bafta.org/awards/video-games/nominations/?year=2004. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Infospace, Inc. - Current Report". http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=INFO&docid=3317031. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- ↑ "Dirty Sanchez from InfoSpace wins EIEF Edge Mobile Award // Press Release // GamesIndustry.biz". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=19306. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
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