Game publisher and developer, Playlogic International, announced its take over of 49 per cent of Engine Software B.V. shares. They furthermore signed a 2.5-year deal to co-operate with Engine Software in the production of 3 to 4 GameBoy Advance-titles per year. Both content from existing Playlogic-games and new concepts. The first GBA game to be published is Xyanide, Playlogic's Xbox Live title.
During the 2.5-year agreement, Playlogic and Engine Software plan to develop new projects as well as convert existing Playlogic titles. Playlogic's shoot-'em-up Xyanide will be the first of these conversions. Release for this project is scheduled for Q4 2003 - shortly after Xyanide's Xbox release.
All funding for these projects will come from Playlogic and development will take place at Engine Software. Playlogic International shall retain the intellectual rights to all titles. For Playlogic, the option to prolong their working relationship after the initial 2.5 years is included in the contract.
The production for the GameBoy Advance platform means Playlogic will now be publishing titles on five different platforms: GameBoy Advance, PS2, Xbox, PC and Mobile. Willem M. Smit, CEO of Playlogic International: Engine Software is an experienced handheld game developer whose knowledge and experience is very important to us. Together with the deal Playlogic signed with Overloaded Pocket Media B.V. for mobile games, this deal is illustrative for Playlogic International becoming a worldwide multi-platform publisher. We are always looking for new initiatives and content.
The growth of the handheld market
The handheld market is currently going through a tremendous boom phase, and many new products, such as Sony's PSP and the Nokia N-Gage, are jumping on the bandwagon. And with even more projects such as TTPCom's B'ngo and the possible worldwide release of Game Park's GP32 on the horizon, this industry is far from its peak.
Figures show that the handheld market in North America has grown into a USD 1.7 billion industry. The current and clear leader of this industry is Nintendo with its GameBoy Advance. Since its release in June 2001, the GameBoy Advance has sold over 5 million units in the US alone, and 6.5 million in Europe. Since its inception in 1989, Nintendo's Game Boy line has become the most successful and storied video game system, selling through more than 150 million units and more than one-half billion games worldwide.
