Matahari Studios: Art Outsourcing Becoming Increasingly Specialized
Fredericton, NB Canada - August 20, 2007 - Matahari Studios, an Australian company with studios located in Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, Philippines, has secured industry leader FOG Studios to exclusively represent its art outsourcing services. Matahari Studios is part of the Leisure and Allied Industries (LAI) group of companies, which was formed in 1958, and the art outsourcing studios have been serving clients like Electronic Arts, Atari and Sony Online Entertainment since 1999.
Damien Wieman, CEO of Matahari Studios Indonesia states "We choose FOG after research into many different representatives around the world. The FOG team has impressed us with their pro-active behavior and their honest, straightforward way of doing business. We firmly believe FOG studios philosophy of going the extra mile for both our studios and our customers will serve us well in the coming years."
FOG CEO Ed Dille says, "The outsourcing market is hotter than ever, but the days of the generalists are coming to a close. It's not unlike what has happened in medicine, construction or even in automotive repair. For many years the family doctor took care of 90% or more of one's medical care, the handyman could handle most home repairs and likewise the backyard mechanic could repair most anything that went wrong with your vehicle, but over time as both technical requirements and the body of knowledge related to each discipline increased, the demand for specialists did as well."
"We are seeing the same progression in interactive game development," Dille continued. "Whereas even a couple of years ago, it was still common practice for full game development studios to offset some of their down time and expense between development projects by taking on art and animation outsourcing, it's become nearly impossible to do this competitively now. Publishers aren't just looking for warm talented bodies to churn out some assets at a reasonable price, or even just working with studios who don't do full game development to make sure their art pipeline doesn't get disrupted when a "better project" comes along, they are in fact getting quite granular in their selection process. Experience in outputting for particular middleware such as Unreal 3, in using particular utilities like Z-brush, even in working within certain development methodologies like SCRUM, are becoming unique selling points that outsource providers must use to differentiate the niche were they can bring the greatest expertise and potential value to bear. This doesn't mean they can't also compete for projects outside that niche, but their greatest avenues of repeat business will come from playing to the stereotype rather than trying to break it."
"Take our new client Matahari Studios," Dille continued, "they are a very capable team on many fronts, but if someone came to me with a driving game that they needed support on, I would say Matahari is your team, no questions, hands down. Having worked with EA on the Need for Speed series, their vehicle creation skills are top notch and the customer is going to get the best value for their dollar via reduced turn around time and a mature production process for this type of modeling. Developers have been specializing in one or two genres for a while now, so too must art and animation studios and other service providers as well in order to rise to the top of a crowded field."
About Matahari Studios
Matahari Studios is with a core business in the creation of high quality game art assets. We are part of the Leisure and Allied Industries (LAI) group of companies, which was formed in 1958. Since the studio's inception in 1999, we have developed an excellent track record by enabling our customers to meet their goals and deadlines.
Matahari Studios can assist you with your computer art and animation requirements.We can easily integrate into your development pipeline, including Next-Gen and we offer superior value. Matahari Studios' mission is to provide AAA computer art and animation services to its clients on-time and at a reasonable cost.
Matahari Studios offers a talented production team under experienced management. We specialize in 3D art production with expertise in 3D Studio Max, Maya, Photoshop, Mudbox, and Zbrush. We can develop to a variety of art styles, and we have significant AAA and Next-Gen experience. Our client list includes : Electronic Arts, Atari, Sony Online Entertainment, Aristocrat, Buzz Monkey Software, LAI Games among others.
About FOG Studios
FOG Studios has been responsible for the creation of over $3 Billion dollars of revenues for its clients and customers via the placement of over 5,600 interactive titles into the international marketplace since 1979. The world's first and most successful interactive representation agency, FOG exclusively represents independent videogame development studios, brand and intellectual property owners, and service providers to the interactive entertainment industry from around the world. FOG creates opportunity for its exclusive list of clients on all platforms from cellular phones to next generation console games by packaging intellectual property rights with the developers and resources necessary to bring them to market. FOG helps publishers and other potential distributors of the products to make fully informed decisions expeditiously and with confidence based on the longstanding proven track record of success we have uniquely achieved. Noteworthy gaming franchises created in FOG's history include, but are not limited to: ESPN, Command & Conquer, Test Drive, Kings Quest, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Castlevania and Warlords. FOG has placed titles with all of the top 10 publishers as well as countless other smaller publishers. FOG's roster of over 550 clients have included, among others: United Media, BMI, Ubisoft, Atari, Sierra, Westwood Studios, Sega, Paramount, Viacom, Robert Maxwell, Koei, FROM Software, Platinum Studios, ESPN, CBS Sportsline, the US Army Rangers, the Foreign Legion, Jenga, Wham-O, Arthur C. Clark, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, The Three Stooges (Estate), Paramount, Warner Brothers, Marvel, America On-Line, Yahoo, Ebay, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily Circus, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more information please visit www.fogstudios.com or call 506-459-5604.