Company:Playsaurus

From HandWiki
Playsaurus
Founded2011
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
USA
Websiteplaysaurus.com

Playsaurus is an American developer-publisher based in Los Angeles that is known for idle and incremental games.[1][2] Founded in 2011, it debuted with the Browser-RPG Cloudstone, broke out globally with Clicker Heroes,[3][4] and now operates a hybrid model, developing its own games such as Poker Quest[5] and MrMine[6] while publishing external projects including the Steam editions of Cookie Clicker and Sixty-Four.[7][8]

History

Playsaurus’ first release, Cloudstone (open beta 2011, full launch 2012), mixed action-RPG mechanics with social-network distribution and laid the groundwork for the studio’s fantasy art assets, later reused in Clicker Heroes.[9] Clicker Heroes (2014 browser, 2015 Steam) popularised the idle-clicker genre and became one of Steam’s most-played F2P titles.[10] In 2017 the firm publicly rejected micro-transactions for its paid sequel, citing ethical concerns about “whales” and addiction.[10][11]

The studio faced a high-profile patent-infringement suit in 2018 over virtual currency but vowed to fight, calling the claimant a “patent troll”.[12] A year later Apple temporarily removed the mobile version of Clicker Heroes after a third-party trademark filing, spotlighting store-front vulnerabilities for indies.[13]

Publishing & notable projects

In September 2021, Playsaurus launched PC version of Cookie Clicker, listed as the game’s Steam publisher.[14] In 2024 the company released solo-developer Oleg Danilov’s Sixty-Four, a minimalist factory sim praised by Ars Technica for its “dark extractive journey” and previewed by Bleeding Cool ahead of launch.[7][8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Clicker Heroes studio abandons upcoming sequel's free-to-play model for "ethical reasons"" (in en). 2017-11-20. https://www.eurogamer.net/clicker-heroes-studio-abandons-upcoming-sequels-free-to-play-model-for-ethical-reasons. 
  2. ↑ "Clicker Heroes developer's new approach to monetization is nothing like EA's" (in en). 2017-11-21. https://www.androidauthority.com/clicker-heroes-2-free-to-play-ethics-816427/. 
  3. ↑ "Clicker Heroes devs say they're" (in en-US). 2018-03-06. https://www.pcgamesn.com/clicker-heroes/clicker-heroes-playsaurus-patent-trolls. 
  4. ↑ "Clicker Heroes 2" (in en). https://www.ign.com/games/clicker-heroes-2. 
  5. ↑ Capron, Julien (2021-07-20). "Poker Quest disponible en accès anticipé sur Steam" (in fr-FR). https://actua.blog/poker-quest-un-deckbuilder-qui-sappuie-sur-les-jeux-de-carte-traditionnels-disponible-en-acces-anticipe-sur-steam/. 
  6. ↑ "The longest video games ever: From least to most hours". 2024-04-21. https://tynmagazine.com/the-longest-video-games-ever-from-least-to-most-hours/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Purdy, Kevin (2024-03-10). "Sixty Four is a beautiful system design toy that reveals something rather dark" (in en). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/03/sixty-four-is-an-idle-clicker-a-factory-sim-and-a-dark-extractive-journey/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Minimalist Sim Strat Game Sixty Four Announces March Release Date" (in en). 2024-02-02. https://bleedingcool.com/games/minimalist-sim-strat-game-sixty-four-announces-march-release-date/. 
  9. ↑ Johnson, Leif (2012-07-30). "Cloudstone Review" (in en-GB). https://www.gamezebo.com/reviews/cloudstone-review/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Clicker Game Ditches Microtransactions, Becomes Steam Best Seller" (in en). 2018-07-19. https://kotaku.com/clicker-game-ditches-microtransactions-becomes-steam-b-1827703881. 
  11. ↑ "Clicker Heroes 2 ditches free-to-play model because dev doesn't want to "make money off players in denial of their addiction"" (in en). 2017-11-21. https://www.vg247.com/clicker-heroes-2-ditches-free-to-play-model-because-dev-doesnt-want-to-make-money-off-players-in-denial-of-their-addiction. 
  12. ↑ "Playsaurus targeted by "patent trolls" over Clicker Heroes virtual currency" (in en). 2018-03-06. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/playsaurus-targeted-by-patent-trolls-over-clicker-heroes-virtual-currency. 
  13. ↑ "Clicker Heroes 2 drops free to play model over developer's ethical concerns" (in en). PC Gamer. 2017-11-20. https://www.pcgamer.com/clicker-heroes-2-drops-free-to-play-model-over-developers-ethical-concerns/. 
  14. ↑ "Publisher · Playsaurus" (in en). https://steamdb.info/publisher/Playsaurus/. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.



Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Company:Playsaurus&oldid=4022545"