Brisbane Social Gaming Team with Veteran Talent, Becomes A RockYou® Studio
Brisbane based social games developer, 3 Blokes Studios, have been acquired by Californian based social gaming company, RockYou, and will be set to operate from now on as a RockYou studio. 3 Blokes Studios are known for their various social games including Virtual Villagers, Hospital Town, and Galactic Trader, as well as being fronted by some of Australia's most respected games developers, John Passfield (co-founder of Krome Studios) and George Fidler (The Creative Assembly, Brisbane).
(Press Release)
RockYou, a leading social gaming company, today announced the acquisition of social game developer 3 Blokes. Based in Brisbane, Australia, 3 Blokes will operate independently as a RockYou studio and develop strategy and combat-driven Facebook games. RockYou is expanding its studio system to support top independent developers around the world as it continues to grow their social game portfolio.
“Being a RockYou Studio enables us to maintain our independence and innovate freely as we work to redefine the concept of a social game.”
Founded in 2006, 3 Blokes has developed four social games for the Facebook platform, including their most recent title, Galactic Trader, a space trading and combat game with 200,000 monthly active users. Led by VP and GM George Fidler, an industry veteran of over 20 years, the team has extensive game design and production experience across top publishers, including EA, THQ, Sega and Activision. George Fidler served as GM and COO of EA’s Asia Pacific Studio for 11 years before leaving to set up and run Creative Assembly’s Brisbane studio, where he worked on titles such as Rome: Total War and Medieval II: Total War. John Passfield, formerly CEO of 3 Blokes and now VP of Creative for the studio, was previously Creative Director at Pandemic’s Australia studio and co-founded Krome Studios. Passfield is credited on Destroy All Humans! 2 and was co-creator of the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger series, which sold over two million copies. Co-founder of 3 Blokes, Marko Grgic, will lead the engineering efforts as Senior Director of Technology for the studio.
“We’re incredibly excited to welcome 3 Blokes into the RockYou family, and have been deeply impressed by their wealth of expertise in both traditional and social gaming,” said Jonathan Knight, RockYou’s SVP of Games. “Their unique design sensibilities are a bridge between the casual and competitive gaming landscapes on Facebook. We’re looking forward to supporting them on our collective mission to deliver the world’s very best social games.”
“We were drawn to RockYou’s commitment to design-driven teams, and to bringing great games to the broadest Facebook market possible,” said George Fidler, VP and GM of 3 Blokes, a RockYou Studio. “Being a RockYou Studio enables us to maintain our independence and innovate freely as we work to redefine the concept of a social game.”
For more information on titles by 3 Blokes, visit http://www.facebook.com/3blokes.
For more information about RockYou, visit www.rockyou.com.
About RockYou
RockYou® is committed to defining the future of social gaming, creating products intended to serve players, advertisers, and developers alike. The company has dedicated itself to the development of high-quality games, including the award-nominated Gourmet Ranch™ and the celebrated Zoo World™ franchise. With advertising products that offer brands more meaningful interactions with players, RockYou creates an unmatched value-per-engagement for both brands and users. RockYou's partnerships with world-class talent are part of their steadfast commitment to working with the next generation of social game developers.
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, RockYou is funded by Sequoia Capital, Partech International, Lightspeed Venture Partners, DCM and Softbank. More information at www.rockyou.com.
About 3 Blokes, a RockYou Studio
3 Blokes, a RockYou Studio, is a social game development studio based in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 2006, they have created top casual social games for Facebook, including Virtual Villagers, Hospital Town, Brainversity, and Magical Forest. Their most recent game, Galactic Trader, is a space trading and combat game for core gamers on the Facebook platform with 200,000 monthly active users. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/3blokes.