Whether it's the Knicks and the Lakers, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the L.A. Dodgers or Biggie and Tupac, there's always been a rivalry between New York and California. But when it comes to videogames, NY might as well be bringing a knife to a gunfight. Sure, we've got Take-Two, or as we like to call it, The House That Rockstar Built. There's Vicarious Visions, those masters of handheld development. Kaos Studios, which worked on Battlefield for EA and just did Frontlines: Fuel of War for THQ, is also located in our fair state, as are smaller developers like Gamelab, which brought us Diner Dash.
But compared to Northern California (Electronic Arts, Lucasarts, Sega and Namco's U.S. HQs, etc.), which even stole 2K Games from us, and Southern California (Activision, THQ, Warner Bros Interactive, Disney Interactive, Brash Entertainment and more) and, well, it's clear where NYC's interactive inferiority complex comes from. So when we got wind that a brand new publisher was debuting not only in our adoptive state, but a mere subway ride away from Level Up's midtown HQ, we pulled out all the stops to bring you this news--and an exclusive interview with the company's CEO--first.
The publisher in question is GreenScreen Interactive. "It was initially founded by Ryan Brant, Mark Seremet and Susan Cummings," CEO Ron Chaimowitz told us yesterday during an exclusive interview at his SoHo offices. "Mark and Ryan were founders of take-Two Interactive, and Susan was at Take-Two and actually worked with Ryan to build the 2K label very successfully from zero to $400 million over four years." Chaimowitz is himself no slouch, having co-founded GT Interactive Software in 1993 and published such well-known titles as Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem and Unreal.
As part of today's announcement, GreenScreen said that it had acquired two independent casual games publishers--New Jersey-based Destination Software (creators of M&M's Kart Racing) and U.K.-based Zoo Digital Publishing (makers of the Premier Manager series)--which it has merged under the single brand. Zoo Games. The company has more shoes to drop, but for now, casual games is all it's prepared to discuss.
Upon learning of Ryan Brant's involvement in the company, our ears perked up, given that the former Take-Two CEO had previously pled guilty to criminal charges over backdating stock options during his tenure and paid a sizable fine. We asked Chaimowitz if Brant's founding role had given him any pause before deciding to join the new company as CEO. "Did I have concerns? Yes." Chaimowitz replied. "Did I think it was a major obstacle? No. I think that what Ryan brings is a tremendous creative and strategic vision for product. The areas that will Ryan will focus on will be in those areas. He will not--and he's not allowed to-to be on the board. He's not an officer of the company. We'll deal with any particular issues that come up from an SEC perspective as we go forward, but we're fairly confident that they will be non-issues given the role that he'll play in the company."
Check back with us over the next few days for a fuller exclusive interview with Chaimowitz and GreenScreen's creative director Lee Cummings, the latter of whom worked as a designer on several Rockstar games, including Grand Theft Auto IV. For the full text of the press release, see below.
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NEW VIDEOGAME PUBLISHING GROUP GREENSCREEN INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE APPOINTS
RON CHAIMOWITZ AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF TWO INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS AND FORMATION OF NEW CASUAL GAMES LABEL ZOO GAMES
NEW YORK, NY, April 23, 2008 - GreenScreen Interactive Software, a new global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software, today announced the appointment of respected industry veteran Ron Chaimowitz as Chief Executive Officer. The Company also announced the completed acquisitions of two independent publishers, Destination Software, Inc. and ZOO Digital Publishing.
ZOO Digital Publishing and Destination Software, Inc. will form the core of new casual game label Zoo Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of GreenScreen Interactive Software Inc. Continuing to focus on the emerging mass-market sector, Zoo Games will create original and licensed products for the whole family.
"The acquisition of these two publishers provides us with several advantages, including world-class management, infrastructure, distribution, high-profile licenses and an exciting lineup of products for the burgeoning mass-market sector," said Ron Chaimowitz, CEO of GreenScreen. "I'm looking forward to working with the seasoned industry team at GreenScreen as well as our new partners at Zoo Games to build something truly special."
Headquartered in Sicklerville, NJ, Destination Software, Inc. is a prominent publisher of family-friendly games for WiiTM, Nintendo DSTM, Game Boy® Advance, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and is expanding its offerings in 2008 to include games for play on PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PC systems.
Adds Susan Kain, Founder and CEO of Destination Software: "The explosive expansion of the casual games market makes it one of the fastest-growing segments of the interactive entertainment industry. With a focused strategy designed to impact the sector, added depth of experience, expertise and creativity that results from the integration into the GreenScreen family, this new partnership will undoubtedly deliver superior gaming experiences that are the cornerstone of building a first-class publishing house."
Based in Sheffield UK, ZOO Digital Publishing is one of the UK's leading video game publishers and the creators of the best-selling Premier Manager series. The company has a demonstrated expertise in publishing video games with mass-market appeal for a variety of platforms, including Xbox®, PlayStation 2 system, Nintendo DS® and Game Boy Advance® and PC.
"We are pleased to align ourselves with GreenScreen Interactive Software, and are excited at the opportunities generated by a global organization," says Ian Stewart, Chairman of ZOO Digital. "We look forward to expanding our presence beyond the European marketplace, and working hand in hand with a group of successful and dynamic industry professionals to further develop the company's product portfolio."
About GreenScreen Interactive Software
Based in New York City, GreenScreen Interactive Software is a global publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® and Xbox® video game and entertainment systems from Microsoft, WiiTM, Nintendo GameCubeTM, Nintendo DS® and Game Boy® Advance.
About Destination Software, Inc.
Destination Software Inc. is a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. Headquartered in Sicklerville, N.J., Destination Software Inc. sells and distributes products worldwide through offices in North America. More information regarding Destination Software Inc. and DSI products may be found at http://www.dsigames.com/.
About ZOO Digital Publishing
Based in Sheffield UK, ZOO Digital Publishing is one of the UK's leading computer game publishers. More information regarding ZOO Digital Publishing can be found at http://www.zoodigitalpublishing.com/
All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.
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