indiePub

indiePub Entertainment, Inc.
FormerlyZoo Entertainment
(2007–2012)
Company typePublic
Expert Market: IPUB
IndustryVideo games
Founded2007
DefunctNovember 2013[1]
FateDissolved
HeadquartersCincinnati, Ohio
ProductsGames for video game consoles and digital distribution
RevenueIncrease US$$63 million
Decrease US$$14.5 million
Decrease US$$14 million
Number of employees
15
SubsidiariesZoo Games, Inc.
Zoo Publishing, Inc.
indiePub
indiePub Games
indiePub Mobile

indiePub Entertainment, Inc. (formerly Zoo Entertainment, Inc.) was a publisher of video games based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

History

[edit]

Zoo Games was a wholly owned subsidiary of Zoo Entertainment originally known as DFTW Merger Sub, Inc. In March 2007, DFTW merged with Green Screen Interactive Software, LLC to become Green Screen Interactive Software.[2] Following the merger, Green Screen acquired SuperVillain Studios in June 2007, Destination Software in December 2007 and Zoo Digital Publishing in April 2008. In August 2008, Green Screen was renamed Zoo Games, Inc., and Destination Software was renamed Zoo Publishing, Inc., with Zoo Publishing becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Zoo Games.[2] SuperVillain Studios was sold back to the original owners in September 2008 and six months following the acquisition of Zoo Digital Publishing it was sold back to the original owners in order for the company to refocus on their Zoo Publishing operations.[2]

On May 7, 2009 it was announced by Zoo Publishing that the company had acquired the rights from New World IP to publish and distribute Empire Interactive's entire catalog which includes titles such as Big Mutha Truckers and Flatout Head On.[3] The rights were acquired from New World IP who had recently purchased Empire's intellectual property as the company went into administration.[3] In June 2009, Zoo Games created a wholly owned subsidiary, Zoo Entertainment Europe Ltd., in order to move into the European market however, operations were discontinued in December 2009.

September 28, 2011, indiePub announced that it was a year into development of an indies-only game and application (apps) distribution or publishing platform.[4] Developers will be able to create a "Pub" (online storefront) to sell their games and apps. The following week (October 7, 2011) indiePub revealed that it would give indie developers 75% of the revenues from their games sold through the service and that it would support games and other apps made for PC (Windows), Macintosh (OS X), Linux and Android devices (phones and tablets).[5] iOS games, can be linked from a Pub. It will also use distributed sales tools which have not yet been detailed.

May 15, 2012, Zoo Entertainment, Inc., officially became indiePub Entertainment, Inc.

indiePub closed in 2013.

indiePub Games

[edit]

Zoo Publishing is also the sponsor of indiePub Games, a community of independent video game developers. Zoo originally launched indiePub as 2Bee Games in 2009 but changed to indiePub in 2010 and periodically holds indie game development competitions with cash prizes for the best games.

Mid 2010, indiePub held its 3rd Independent Game Developers' Competition when indiePub launched.[6] (The first two developer competitions were under 2Bee Games). Winners were announced October 8, 2010, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Online in Austin, Texas (USA). The winners were:[7]

  • Grand Prize: Dustforce! by Hitbox Team developers Woodley Nye, Matthew Bush and Alexander Dostal in Brisbane, Australia.
  • Technical Excellence: Hazard: The Journey of Life by Alexander Bruce.
  • Best Art: The Dream Machine created by Cockroach Inc. developers Anders Gustafsson and Erik Zaring from Denmark and Sweden.
  • Best Audio: Coma by Thomas Brush.
  • Best Design: Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix and Her Nightmare by Bad Pilcrow.
  • Staff Pick: Catapult for Hire by developer Tyrone Henrie of PixelMega.

Mid to late 2010, indiePub held a Mobile Game Competition.[8] The winners were announced December 15, 2011:[9]

  • Grand Prize: SteamBirds for Android (Spry Fox and Radial Games)
  • Art: PLEXXR for iOS (Tactile Media)
  • Audio: Spark It Up for iOS(sumiguchi)
  • Design: SKWER for iOS (Alebrije Studios)
  • Technical Excellence: Hero Mages for Android (D20Studios)

Early 2011 indiePub held an indie game developer competition called the Independent Propeller Awards and featured $150,000 in prizes, an award sponsored by Unity Technologies and an award sponsored by Intel AppUp developer program.[10] Winners were announced on March 13, 2011, at the ScreenBurn Arcade, the gaming portion of the 2011 South by Southwest event in Austin, Texas (USA). The winners were:[11]

  • Grand Prize: GLiD (Glid) by Spiderling Game Studios
  • Best Art: The Uncanny Fish Hunt by Uncanny Games
  • Best Audio: Skinny by Thomas Brush
  • Best Design: Chewy by Happy Candy Co.
  • Technical Excellence: Creo by Turtle Sandbox
  • Intel Innovation Award: Deep Sea by Robin Arnott of WRAUGHK Audio Design
  • Unity Development Award: Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers by Black Pants Game Studio

Late in 2011 indiePub started their fifth indie game developer competition called the 2012 Independent Propeller Awards and featured $50,000 in prizes.[12] Winners were announced on April 18, 2012.

The winners were:[13]

  • Grand Prize: Deity by DigiPen's Double++ (Ryan Chew, Caroline Sugianto, Michael Travaglione, Christopher Mingus, Ying Liu, Matt Frederick, Aariel Hall and Ryan Hickman)
  • Best Art: The Bridge by Ty Taylor and Mario Castaneda
  • Best Audio: The Red Solstice by IronWard (Hrvoje Horvatek, Daniel Mandić, Marko Pintera, Vjeko Koščević, Danijel Ribić and Marko Kovačić with audio by Andy Mack, Cory Richards, Žarko Dragojević and Dominik Zorić)
  • Best Design: FYI by Digital Dreams (Geert Nellen, Thijmen Bink and Roy van de Mortel)
  • Technical Excellence: Nitronic Rush by DigiPen's Team Nitronic (Kyle Holdwick, Andy Kibler, Chris Barrett, Andrew "Angrew" Nollan, Jason Nollan, Laura Borgen, Eddie Peters, Ariel Gitomer, Nathan Aldrich, Jordan Hemenway and M.J. "The Quiggles" Quigley)
  • Mobile Game: CreaVures by MuseGames (Howard Tsao and Conrad Kreyling)

In 2013, indiePub Games closed with all the subsidiaries of indiePub.

indiePub Mobile

[edit]

February 1, 2011, Zoo Entertainment, Inc., announced that it launched indiePub Mobile[14] to develop mobile games for iOS and Android. EA Mobile's former Development Director, Rob Cassidy, was named indiePub Mobile Director. Initially announced mobile games were: Fractal, Blocks: The Devilish Delivery Game (renamed Kona's Crate), Paper Venture, Totem Destroyer Deluxe (HD) and Cargo Delivery. According to the company, this was the first time an indie game publisher has expanded with a designated mobile division.[14]

In 2013, indiePub Mobile closed with all the subsidiaries of indiePub.

Games

[edit]

This is a list of games published under the Zoo Games label and, further below, under indiePub. For the games published by Destination Software before it was acquired; see List of Destination Software games.

Released (Zoo Publishing)

[edit]

2008

2009

2010

2011

Released (indiePub & indiePub Mobile & indiePub Entertainment)

[edit]

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

  • Vessel (March 12, 2014) PlayStation Network

Announced - Cancelled games

  • Storm (2013) iOS
  • Catapult for Hire (video game) (2013) Windows
  • Bad Bots (2013) iOS, Android
  • Stunt Flyer 3D (Unknown) 3DS

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Welcome to indiePub Games". www.indiepubgames.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Zoo Entertainment, Inc". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 2010-03-31. Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  3. ^ a b Graft, Kris (2009-05-07). "Zoo Publishing Picks Up Empire Slate". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  4. ^ "indiePub announces new indies-only publishing platform, Beta signup" Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, indiePub, September 28, 2011. Retrieved October 7. 2011.
  5. ^ "indiePub announces revenue share, launch-day platforms for upcoming publishing service" Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine, indiePub, October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7. 2011.
  6. ^ "Welcome to indiePub Games". Archived from the original on 2010-12-27. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  7. ^ Zoo. "Video game News". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Welcome to indiePub Games". Archived from the original on 2011-10-04. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  9. ^ Zoo. "Video game News". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  10. ^ Zoo. "Video game News". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  11. ^ Zoo. "Video game News". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  12. ^ "IndiePub announces 2012 Independent Propeller Awards - indiePub Games". Archived from the original on 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  13. ^ "IndiePub announces winners of the 2012 Independent Propeller Awards - indiePub Games". Archived from the original on 2013-07-12. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  14. ^ a b Zoo. "Video game News". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
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