IOMO

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IOMO was a pioneering European mobile game developer and publisher. IOMO was founded by John Chasey and Glenn Broadway in 2000. Initially a developer, the company was very successful in the early stages of the mobile game industry and also began to publish many of their own titles.

Contents

[edit] 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 J2ME titles, in May 2003 IOMO acquired mobile game studio Covert Operations for an undiclosed 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]

This success culminated when on 1 December 2004 it was announced that InfoSpace had acquired IOMO for approximately $15 million in cash. [5]

In January 2005 an N-Gage version of the classic Snakes, developed by IOMO was launched.

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. [6]

On 6 August 2007 IOMO was closed and staff from IOMO formed a new mobile game developer, FinBlade. [7]

[edit] Awards

  • 2003 BAFTA Nomination - Scooby Doo [8]
  • 2003 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile Studio [9]
  • 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005[10]
  • 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Colin McRae Rally 2005[11]
  • 2004 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile/Handheld Studio [12]
  • 2006 Edinburgh International Entertainment Festival Edge Mobile Award - Dirty Sanchez [13]

[edit] J2ME Games

  • 007: Hoverchase published by Vodafone
  • Activision Anthology published by Infospace
  • Aquastax published by Infospace
  • Colin McRae Rally 2005 published by Digital Bridges
  • DBI 3D Golf published by Digital Bridges
  • Dirty Sanchez published by Infospace
  • Finding Nemo published by Airborne/Disney
  • FPR Superbikes published by Infospace
  • Golf Club published by IOMO
  • Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Puzzle Paradox published by Eidos
  • Le Mans 2006 published by Infospace
  • Monopoly published by iFone
  • Now Quiz published by Infospace
  • Outrun published by Nokia
  • 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
  • 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: 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
  • Treasure Planet published by Airborne/Disney
  • Trickshot Pool published by Infospace
  • Urban Freestyle Soccer published by Acclaim

[edit] SMS Games

  • TxtDating published by Digital Bridges

[edit] Symbian Games

  • Snakes published by Nokia

[edit] WAP Games

  • Blinker Thinker published by Nokia
  • Infiltrator published by Nokia
  • Runway published by Nokia
  • Thief: Constantine's Sword published by Digital Bridges/Eidos New Media
  • The Love Game published by Aspiro
  • Thunderbirds published by Digital Bridges
  • WAP Fishing published by Nokia
  • WAP Hunter published by Nokia
  • Wapundrum published by Nokia
  • Wentworth Golf published by Digital Bridges

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nokia and Supedo to develop mobile gaming content for WAP enabled phones. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  2. ^ gamesindustry.biz. IOMO buys Covert Operations. The Register. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  3. ^ Five Out Of Ten Ain't Bad. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  4. ^ 1, 2, 4, 6, 9 IOMO's Games Are Doing Fine!. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  5. ^ SEC Info - Infospace Inc - 8-K - For 12/1/04 - EX-99.1. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  6. ^ Updated: Infospace's U.S. Games Division Sold To Twistbox. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  7. ^ Updated: FinBlade opens its doors. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  8. ^ Infospace, Inc. - Current Report. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  9. ^ Infospace, Inc. - Current Report. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  10. ^ Past Winners and Nominees - Video Games - Awards - The BAFTA site. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  11. ^ Past Winners and Nominees - Video Games - Awards - The BAFTA site. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  12. ^ Infospace, Inc. - Current Report. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  13. ^ Dirty Sanchez from InfoSpace wins EIEF Edge Mobile Award // Press Release // GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
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