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London, United Kingdom, 02/24/2009 – Kerb Games will specialise in developing next-generation, persistent browser-based online games that move players from the traditional hardcore online gaming environment to networked and community-oriented, social-media aware settings. This business focus will allow Kerb Games to position itself at the heart of the future online games market, which is being dubbed ‘Games 3.0’, and places a growing emphasis on user-generated content. It will also develop games for new and emerging platforms such as the iPhone.
Jim McNiven will lead the company as chief executive officer and will be responsible for strategic development and marketing. He will also continue to lead the Kerb agency as managing director. David Lau-Kee, as non-executive director, will provide business guidance and support the company’s growth into the mainstream games industry.
Kerb Games will focus on the growing demand for community-engaged experiences to which men and women from a much wider age range are increasingly dedicating online time. For example, in one sector of the broad Games 3.0 environment - casual gaming – the growth rate is 20 per cent annually and worth well in excess of £1.6 billion, according to the Casual Games Association.
The new company is working on a number of games slated for release in the next year that will tap the creativity of this growing games community by opening up the playing environments to user-generated content.
Jim McNiven founded digital engagement agency Kerb in 1996 and the company has been a pioneer of viral gaming. Kerb's Flash games have been played by in excess of 350 million users worldwide. Its clients include Sony PlayStation, Microsoft, Samsung and Channel 4.
Jim McNiven, CEO of Kerb Games, comments: “We are developing Kerb Games alongside the Kerb agency to harness the creative skills and knowledge we have amassed over the past decade. Kerb has an unrivalled reputation for creating some of the best advertising games in the market. But it has also been at the forefront in the creation of persistent browser based MMORPGs.
“We currently run ‘Project Rockstar’, a game with a vibrant community of almost 200,000 music lovers managing over one million virtual bands. The game has exceeded 26 million page views in the space of a month and has a busy forum that regularly results in a single post getting thousands of replies.”
David Lau-Kee comments: “The games industry has for too long relied on either accident and circumstance or imported IPs and outrageous marketing spends to generate its hits – user engagement is either random or paid-for. At Kerb games, we’re applying years of experience of web analytics, viral marketing and web community development to truly engage with our audience – our games are ground-up designed for the web-connected, Games 3.0 generation.”
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