John Welch, Brad Edelman and Jason Rubinstein have announced the formation of PlayFirst, a
publisher dedicated to a new model of online game publishing. The company has already received five million dollars in first round funding from Mayfield and Trinity Ventures.
The online game industry is still at its dawn, said John Welch, PlayFirst's co-founder and CEO. Our management team is bringing a new model of publishing to what we see as an emerging market: popular games. With strong capital, expertise, technology and a focus on this market, PlayFirst plans to bring the best gameplay to all online consumer entertainment platforms - starting with internet downloads.
The three founders bring a wealth of experience to the new company. Welch is one of the architects of the new games business, having most recently built Shockwave.com into one of the top five games portals in the world. The technology and design innovations of Brad Edelman, PlayFirst's Chief Technology Officer, have resulted in the creation of some of the widest-used internet-related applications, including Macromedia's Flash Player, Shockwave Player, Breeze Live, Adobe PageMill and more. Jason Rubinstein, the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, joins the company from Ubisoft, where he helped establish the company as a top player in all facets of online games; Jason is an industry veteran in the online games, entertainment and technology businesses.
PlayFirst will be a provider of simple but challenging games that become staples of daily gaming life. We're going beyond the hardcore gamer, Welch said. We want to reach families, women, and new audiences with games that are easy to play and fun.
The downloadable games market represents a significant opportunity, said Schelley Olhava, Program Manager, IDC. We expect purchased downloadable game revenue to exceed USD 760 million in 2007 in the United States.
PlayFirst will publish popular games targeted at the mass market through all online consumer platforms. As internet penetration has grown to 90 million users in the U.S. alone, including 30 million broadband customers, the internet has become a viable distribution outlet for games. PlayFirst produces games targeted at previously untapped
demographics including women, kids and ethnically diverse audiences. The company was founded in 2004 by veterans of internet portals, traditional games publishers and technology firms and received venture funding from Mayfield and Trinity Ventures. The company expects to launch its first games online in late 2004 through entertainment portals and other direct-to-consumer outlets.