Press Releases
Independent Game Developer Blue Fang Games Reports Strong Growth for 2006
New virtual animal development projects focused on next generation consoles
WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 21 — Blue Fang Games(TM), the world’s premiere developer of games focused on the animal kingdom, announced today that it has marked another banner year in 2006 for its business with a revenue increase of more than 30% over 2005. Blue Fang Games also infused investment funding and new game talent into its award winning development team to begin development projects focused on the animal kingdom for next generation gaming consoles. These new development projects will expand Blue Fang’s portfolio beyond the “Zoo Tycoon(TM)” PC franchise which has been the company’s exclusive focus.
In January 2006, Blue Fang publicly announced its company mission “to create compelling, emotionally engaging games focused on the animal kingdom that set the benchmark for broad-based family entertainment”. By focusing its development efforts, Blue Fang is leveraging the extensive development experience and expertise it continues to garner through the “Zoo Tycoon” franchise to become the preeminent developer of virtual animal games for the mass consumer.
During the year, Blue Fang Games added industry leading talent to its development team. Joining the team as senior designer is game industry legend Steve Meretzky who crafted such best-selling classics as “Planetfall”, “Sorcerer”, “Zork Zero”, “Leather Goddesses of Phobos”, and the interactive fiction version of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (co-written with Douglas Adams). The company also added Bill Schofield as Director of Software Engineering, an expert in agile game development, who has a leadership role in expanding Blue Fang’s technical capabilities across a broad set of platforms, including both next generation consoles and PC games.
In July of 2006, Blue Fang received investment funding from Massachusetts Capital Resource Company. The funding is being used to expand Blue Fang’s game development efforts beyond its best-selling “Zoo Tycoon” Franchise, support growth of its development team, and enable Blue Fang to become a preeminent provider of mass market game titles across a broad range of platforms.
“The combination of strong financials, new talent acquisition and external funding has enabled Blue Fang to invest in our people, processes, technology and intellectual property,” said Hank Howie, president, Blue Fang Games. “We’re obviously on the right track, as our efforts continue to be well received by publishers and investors alike. Personally, I’m chomping at the bit to unveil this work to the industry as a whole and to our loyal fan base. For now, however, we are unable to discuss these projects in more detail. All in good time.”
Blue Fang Games’ popular Games for Windows(R) franchise “Zoo Tycoon”, published by Microsoft, has continued to be a success, with franchise unit sales up over 40% in 2006 compared to 2005. In 2006, the company introduced four new “Zoo Tycoon 2″ titles – “Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure”, “Zoo Tycoon 2: Marine Mania”, “Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Collection” and “Zoo Tycoon 2: Dino Danger Pack”. “Zoo Tycoon 2″ becomes the third “Zoo Tycoon” game to sell over one million units, joining the original “Zoo Tycoon” and “Zoo Tycoon: Complete Collection”. Blue Fang renewed its “Zoo Tycoon” development contract with Microsoft during the year and continues to support this top- selling franchise.
