John Welch, Brad Edelman and Jason
Rubinstein have announced the formation of PlayFirst, a
publisher dedicated to a new
model of online game publishing. The company has already received five million dollars in
first round funding from Mayfield and Trinity Ventures.
The online game industry is
still at its dawn, said John Welch, PlayFirst's co-founder and CEO. Our management team is
bringing a new model of publishing to what we see as an emerging market: popular games. With
strong capital, expertise, technology and a focus on this market, PlayFirst plans to bring
the best gameplay to all online consumer entertainment platforms - starting with internet
downloads.
The three founders bring a wealth of experience to the new company. Welch
is one of the architects of the new games business, having most recently built Shockwave.com
into one of the top five games portals in the world. The technology and design innovations
of Brad Edelman, PlayFirst's Chief Technology Officer, have resulted in the creation of
some of the widest-used internet-related applications, including Macromedia's Flash Player,
Shockwave Player, Breeze Live, Adobe PageMill and more. Jason Rubinstein, the Vice President
of Marketing and Business Development, joins the company from Ubisoft, where he helped
establish the company as a top player in all facets of online games; Jason is an industry
veteran in the online games, entertainment and technology businesses.
PlayFirst will
be a provider of simple but challenging games that become staples of daily gaming life.
We're going beyond the hardcore gamer, Welch said. We want to reach families, women, and
new audiences with games that are easy to play and fun.
The downloadable games market
represents a significant opportunity, said Schelley Olhava, Program Manager, IDC. We expect
purchased downloadable game revenue to exceed USD 760 million in 2007 in the United
States.
PlayFirst will publish popular games targeted at the mass market through all
online consumer platforms. As internet penetration has grown to 90 million users in the U.S.
alone, including 30 million broadband customers, the internet has become a viable
distribution outlet for games. PlayFirst produces games targeted at previously
untapped
demographics including women, kids and ethnically diverse audiences. The company
was founded in 2004 by veterans of internet portals, traditional games publishers and
technology firms and received venture funding from Mayfield and Trinity Ventures. The
company expects to launch its first games online in late 2004 through entertainment portals
and other direct-to-consumer outlets.
