D2C Games was founded by creative game legend Scott Orr and technical guru Bart Besseling. Mr. Orr is widely recognized as the driving force behind John Madden Football, NHL Hockey and a number of other Electronic Arts hit video game franchises, as well as being the founder of leading mobile game publisher Sorrent (now called Glu Mobile). Mr. Besseling's technical contributions span a long list of successful titles including James Bond, Medal of Honor, and The Lord of the Rings. Together Orr and Besseling have outlined a winning creative and technical roadmap for upcoming game properties and strategic partnerships based on the company's distinctive publishing model.
D2C Games is well positioned to benefit from the explosive growth of the gaming market through exclusive partnerships to create and publish highly entertaining titles on multiple gaming platforms. According to DFC Intelligence, the casual games segment (retail price $20 or less) generated $700 million in revenue in 2005 and is projected to grow to over $2.5 billion over the next five years.
The direct to customer distribution model creates a significant business opportunity for content owners and publishers. A study by London-based research firm screendigest shows that in western countries alone (excluding Asia), growth of direct distribution market of PC games and console add-on content is likely to reach over US $400 million by 2010.
"Not everyone has two or three hours a day to play highly complex and expensive video games. D2C is committed to taking the casual game segment in a new direction by making games that are easy to pick up and play, tuned to maximize the fun factor, and socially connect players together both in game play and user driven content," said Scott Orr, CEO of D2C Games.
"Our team's combined experience and proven track record of creating market-leading hit franchises, along with D2C's proprietary Hydrant Technology, are a key advantage in enabling us to develop titles that will appeal to both casual and hard-core gamers," said Bart Besseling, CTO of D2C Games.
D2C Games is working with independent comic book and screen writers, game development studios as well as its own internal studio, Bigdog Games, to create and publish casual social sports games and episodic entertainment content. D2C's lineup emphasizes social networking and user-generated content. Game titles will be developed for a variety of next-gen console and handheld platforms as well as 3G mobile devices and personal computers.
Upcoming releases from D2C include the highly anticipated "Chalkboard Sports" series of RTS sports games as well as a multi-format collaboration called "Strange Cases" with acclaimed comic book writer Steve Niles ("30 Days of Night", "City of Others", "The Cryptics")". "Strange Cases" takes readers and players into the dark underworld of monster hunters. It will be available in printed form and digital download formats called D2Comics this fall and roll out as an episodic game in 2008.
"Working with D2C Games and Bigdog Games has been a genuinely creative collaboration," said Steve Niles. "I've had the ability to really take my vision and literally translate it to the precise interactive version. D2C has supported and trusted me to push the concept from beginning to end, which is a rarity in the gaming industry. This partnership is sure to continue to push out cool episodic titles."