zGames, MadRuse Games and Eppy Games Take top Honors and Prizes, Will See Commercial Release on App Store
LOS ANGELES – August 2, 2012 – Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and developers of interactive entertainment, today revealed the winners of the Pong® Indie Developer Challenge. The winning developers, who competed against other independent game developers for the chance to remake Atari’s iconic Pong, were chosen by a judging panel in conjunction with community voting. Final ranking is as follows:
- 1st place ($50,000): zGames
- 2nd place ($37,500): MadRuse Games
- 3rd place ($15,000): Eppy Games
The three winners also win a three-year revenue-sharing agreement, which includes having their qualifying game published on the App Store by Atari with marketing and promotional support. Further details regarding the qualifying commercial release of the winning submissions will be announced at a later date. To view information about the participating developers and their games, along with video trailers, please visit: www.atari.com/pongdeveloperchallenge/finalists.
“The Pong Indie Developer Challenge presented an opportunity to introduce the talented work of independent developers to the Atari community, and their creativity was met with great enthusiasm,” said Giancarlo Mori, EVP of Product Development at Atari. “This enthusiasm, along with the success of our recent mobile releases like Centipede®: Origins, is a further testament to the ability of our widely-recognized brands to engage both hardcore and mainstream audiences. We’ll continue this momentum with the forthcoming releases of qualifying winning Pong titles from this challenge.”
In the first phase of the contest, Atari received nearly 90 submissions from independent developers looking to remake Pong. After a comprehensive review, seven finalists were chosen for consideration by a celebrity judging panel made up of Nolan Bushnell, one of the original founders of Atari, Dave Castelnuovo of Bolt Creative (Pocket God), David Whatley of Critical Thought Games (geoDefense), and Mike Schramm of TUAW. In addition, the Atari community weighed in on the final ranking, with over 200,000 total votes logged for the various finalists. Ultimately, the winners announced today represent the top choices from Atari, the Atari community and the judging panel.
For full details regarding Pong Indie Developer Challenge, please visit: www.atari.com/pongdeveloperchallenge.
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About ATARI, SA
Atari (www.atari.com) is a multi-platform, global interactive entertainment and licensing company. The original innovator of video gaming, founded in 1972, Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including world renowned brands like Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Pong®, Test Drive®, Backyard Sports®, and Rollercoaster Tycoon®. Atari capitalizes on these powerful properties by delivering compelling games online (i.e. browser, Facebook® and digital download), on smartphones and tablets and other connected devices. Atari also develops and distributes interactive entertainment for video game consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. As a licensor, Atari extends its brand and franchises into other media, merchandising and publishing categories.
Atari has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Lyon.
© 2012 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved.
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