Victorian game developer Firemint's Flight Control has topped 1,000,000 downloads today across the world, making it undoubtedly one of the world's most popular games ever produced for the iPhone.
Minister for Information and Communication Technology John Lenders said the studio's first selfpublished title had caused a world-wide sensation, quickly becoming one of the most popular games in the world according to Apple's "Top Paid Apps" charts, rising to the number one position in 20 countries.
"Games are more than entertainment – they are a large part of Victoria's Information and Communication Technology sector providing jobs for thousands of Victorians," Mr Lenders said. "Flight Control is a simple but fun application now enjoyed by over one million people across the globe.
"Firemint has quickly developed a world-wide reputation as an industry-leading game developer."
Mr Lenders said Firemint's second self-published game Real Racing, launched last week, was already creating a stir in the industry.
"Here's a game made in Melbourne which is at the absolute cutting edge of this technology - there is no other game available that will demonstrate the new high powered hardware of the iPhone 3GS as impressively," Mr Lenders said.
"Firemint's success highlights the calibre of games development talent in Victoria. More than half of Australia's games industry is based in the state and the Victorian Government supports studios to bring their ideas to market. We know that there is a strong pool of ICT talent and innovation in Victoria and by assisting companies such as Firemint reach both a domestic and international audience we are helping them to become a success."
Based in Richmond, Firemint has been developing games since 1999. The studio has created over 30 titles for leading international publishers, and is now using its skills and experience to branch out to designing and releasing original, self-published titles.
Firemint CEO Rob Murray said that the calibre of games development talent in Victoria was part of the advantage.
"A few years ago we employed 10 people and we're now employing over 30 so it's vital we can source people with the high level skills we need," Mr Murray said.
"There's serious talent in Melbourne in our sector and there's a strong culture of continually pushing the boundaries here to succeed in global markets."
Both Firemint games are available for download from Apple's App Store and more information is available at www.firemint.com