Easy Tiger launch
New download-only publisher launched by former Kuju man Joel Benton; aims to be "more like a record label".
Embargo Date: December 3rd 2009. 8am GMT
3rd December 2009
Easy Tiger, a new digital download-only publisher has been launched by industry Business Development veteran Joel Benton to successfully bring games to market on all digital platforms - XBLA, PSN, PC (both download and social games), iPhone, WiiWare, DSi and PSP and to allow Developers to keep their own IP. Joel’s has a successful track record managing Business Development for all Kuju Entertainment’s studios as well as working with Digital Development Management’s international stable of AAA game creators.
Likening itself to a record label for musicians, Easy Tiger will finance and execute any or all of the supporting activities outside of game development, leaving developers free to focus on making their games.
Joel Benton comments, “Quite naturally, developers want to build value in IP they ultimately own and engage in a dialogue directly with their audience and they are investing their own money in creating games for console download platforms to do that. However Developers are struggling to do all the non-game activities that publishers normally undertake – specifically marketing. Without a publisher in place they can't even get onto all the platforms. Unlike typical publishers, whose retail sales bias keeps them from fully understanding the download space, Easy Tiger wants to be invisible to the consumer. The developers are the stars and it's high time they claimed their place in the spotlight.”
Easy Tiger reverses the traditional publisher/developer business model by offering studios a way to build value in their own intellectual property and keep the majority of the royalties while a skilled team supports their marketing and promotion.
Joel Benton continued, “For smaller teams we can provide production support across QA and localisation but for the majority of developers, it’s our experience in marketing and our willingness to do anything we can to promote and support them and their work that’s so appealing. It’s not all about us. Consumers want to buy games and connect with the creatives that made them not the suits that fund them. Unlike traditional publishers, Easy Tiger provides that infrastructure. Our infrastructure has no retail sales and marketing baggage and supports a model for the new, digitally distributed age where the developer, not the publisher, is king”
Easy Tiger works in association with PlayReplay, the digital download game-specific marketing and promotions agency run by Oli Birch that has recently been responsible for helping Doublesix Games’ Burn Zombie Burn reach 100 000+ sales on PSN.
ENDS
About Easy Tiger
Easy Tiger is a new kind of digital videogame publisher focussed entirely on connecting game Developers to their consumer audience via the digital distribution channels. Easy Tiger’s mission is to foster a mutually beneficial environment that supports and promotes game development talent as well as the games they create.
For more information please contact Joel Benton joel.benton@easytigermedia.com or call +44 7973 718094
www.easytigermedia.com
About Joel Benton
Following a successful careen in sales, marketing and marketing services, Joel joined Brighton PS2 developer Wide Games as Business Development Director. Wide Games was taken over by Kuju Entertainment where Joel became responsible for signing advance/royalty deals for all their studios. Amongst other successes, Joel rebranded the Brighton studio as Zoe Mode and helped it grow to being the world’s leading independent developer of music and party games and helped Headstrong, Kuju’s London studio to reinforce its position as Europe’s leading Wii developer. After a year working with leading Agents Digital Development Management, Joel began working closely with independent studio owners on future strategy which led to being perfectly positioned to understand both sides of the developer/publisher relationship.