51.5 F
Laguna Hills
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

Upping Its Game

Santa Ana video game publisher Little Orbit LLC aims to double business this year with an aggressive rollout plan that kicks off this week with the release of an adventure game based on a DreamWorks blockbuster.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2,” set to debut days before the movie of the same name opens June 13, is the second title among eight that Little Orbit plans to release this year as it vies to become a bigger player in the lucrative gaming industry.

“2014 is a huge year for Little Orbit,” said cofounder and Chief Executive Matt Scott.

A hot start with Dragon 2, licensed from DreamWorks Animation LLC in El Segundo, would help the company move toward its $50 million revenue target this year. That would double the $25 million revenue in 2013, when it released three games, the most since converting from a game developer to a publisher four years ago.

The game, scheduled for release on all major gaming platforms, features high-flying, fire-breathing action in which players choose among a variety of riders and dragons to hone their skills through dragon flight school, tournaments, mini-challenges and training exercises on the Viking Isle of Berk.

Like the movie, it features characters that have aged since the 2010 release of the “How to Train Your Dragon” movie, which raked in nearly $495 million at the box office.

Licensing Deals

The game highlights Little Orbit’s strategy to license brands from the world’s best-known entertainment and toy companies. It’s struck licensing deals with El Segundo-based Mattel Inc. to publish one Barbie game and develop two others, and to publish two games spun from another successful doll franchise, Monsters High, which has been made into several Nickelodeon specials and two animated movies.

Earlier this year, it released its first mobile game, “Falling Skies Planetary Warfare,” a free-to-play strategy game that picks up between seasons three and four of TNT’s “Falling Skies.” The game, based on the classic aliens-versus-humans saga, evolves with the plot lines of the show, immersing fans deeper in the brand created by DreamWorks television and executive producer Steven Spielberg.

It partnered with Disney Interactive, the Glendale-based content unit of Walt Disney Co., for two upcoming releases. “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” based on Disney’s highly anticipated feature film of the same name, will be launched in November in North America, Europe and Australia on Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS and DS.

The sequel, shot in 3-D, hits theaters July 18.

“Violetta,” based on the tween telenovela from the Disney Channel, will be released this summer in South America and Europe on the Wii, 3DS and DS. 

“Violetta is massive over there, but it’s unknown in the U.S.,” Scott said of the Argentine musical in the mold of “Hannah Montana” meets “Glee.”

Later this year, the company plans to release “Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom,” a spinoff of the popular Cartoon Network show, and “Cartoon Network: Backlot Party,” where players get an adventure-filled, behind-the-scenes look at the studio.

Little Orbit said it evaluates every characteristic about a brand before it signs a licensing agreement. That’s why Scott can rattle off brand facts all day: A Barbie figure is sold every three seconds, and Monster High is the most popular doll in France and Spain.

“We evaluate everything and narrow it down to the ones we think we can add value,” he said. “It’s a very specific vision. Every one of these is hand-picked.”

Under its agreements, the licensor also receives royalties for every unit Little Orbit sells, so they have a stake in the overall success of a game. That’s why the publisher’s partners pony up big dollars for marketing campaigns for a game, tie the release to movie or product launches or TV shows, and bring in other stakeholders to leverage branding, such as Redbox or Target (see related story, page 1).

Orbit’s History

Many of the relationships were forged more than a decade ago when Scott launched Manifest Games LLC in 2003 in Rancho Santa Margarita.

The studio started out doing advergames and other projects centered on product placement, engagement and customer retention for the likes of Microsoft and Taco Bell.

The company handled game design and development duties on several DreamWorks projects, including “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar 2” and “Monsters vs. Aliens.”

Its legacy traces back to the early days of the video game industry in Orange County before the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 and squashed the dreams of many local programmers and entrepreneurs.

The company’s first hires were from Interplay Entertainment Corp., an Irvine video game maker that had more than 200 workers and $100 million in annual sales at its peak before collapsing after the stock market crash.

It moved into console games in 2008 with “Busy Scissors,” a hair-styling game for the Wii that was nearly left on the cutting room floor but ultimately changed the trajectory of the company.

A year later, Manifest merged with Hijinx Studios, doubling the size of the company and changing its name to Game Machine Studios.

Game Machine struck a deal with Bruno Mascolo, the cofounder of TIGI hair products and Toni & Guy Salons, to fund “Busy Scissors” and use the company’s Bed Head brand in it. Game Machine brought on Konami Corp. in Japan as publisher and planned for a holiday 2010 release.

That March, Scott headed to New York to drum up publicity for the game, receiving a call from Mascolo as he left an interview at Allure magazine near Times Square.

TIGI’s products business was going to be sold to Unilever for $411 million.

Scott called the conglomerate’s London headquarters, but the company refused to sign off on featuring the Bed Head brand. It wanted to use Suave products in the game instead.

Scott shot down the idea during a heated 30-minute exchange with Unilever marketing executives.

“It’s like a $2 shampoo,” he said. “There is nothing sexy about Suave.”

During the conversation, he noticed Redken’s headquarters across the street. He called the company and managed to get a meeting with its marketing director to demo the new game, saying he was looking for promotional partners for product placement in it.

Within three weeks, a deal was signed with Redken, prompting Konami to back out as publisher.

Game Machine stepped in as publisher, changing its name to Little Orbit to reflect the new business model.

The company now has more than 100 employees in Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, the U.K. and North Carolina, where it acquired Vicious Cycle Software Inc. this year. It also acquired a small team of designers this year in its buy of Papaya Studios in Irvine.

Little Orbit is planning to expand into Asia and into emerging countries in Latin America for distribution.

Scott said, “We’re investing in our infrastructure down there to do our own distribution.”

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-