Big Fish CEO Paul Thelen: ‘I’m an idea guy and that can be dangerous as a CEO’

Big Fish Games CEO Paul Thelen at Casual Connect

Big Fish founder Paul Thelen didn’t think he’d become a technology CEO. But after an illness brought his life into sharp focus, Thelen decided to quit his job at RealNetworks and start Big Fish. The 11-year-old company now employs 700, and is making a big push into mobile and cloud-based gaming. In 2011, it posted… Read More…

A gamer’s dream: ‘The Art of Video Games’ exhibit debuts Friday at the EMP (PHOTOS)

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If you’ve ever wanted to jump in a time machine and relive the 40-year history of video games, well, Seattle’s EMP museum is the place to do it. Opening this Friday is a kickass exhibit called The Art of Video Games. From the Atari VCS to Myst to the Nintendo Wii, the exhibit takes you through… Read More…

Double Down pulls in $128M in revenue (as real online gambling inches toward reality in NJ)

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One of the companies that may be best positioned for the approval of online gambling is Double Down Interactive, the fast-growing Seattle upstart that was gobbled up by Las Vegas-based International Game Technology for as much as $500 million last year. Double Down has already generated more than $128 million in revenue in the past… Read More…

RealNetworks swings to a profit, but Glaser says there’s ‘considerable work to do’

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RealNetworks has been beaten and battered over the past year, losing nearly a third of its value and watching a number of executives depart. But founder Rob Glaser, who stepped into the interim CEO role last July, got a bit of good news here today as the Seattle company announced that it posted a profit… Read More…

Smilebox founder Andrew Wright hangs angel investor shingle, bankrolls consumer Internet startups

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Let’s face it: Seattle needs more angels — the folks who can write checks to support the next-generation of entrepreneurial talent in the region. And the best way to get more of these angels is for experienced entrepreneurs — those who’ve already met with some financial success in past endeavors — to commit some of… Read More…

Calling all zombologists: Plants vs. Zombies trading cards now available

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For those who just can’t get enough Plants vs. Zombies, today PopCap debuted new trading cards that will help fans become expert zombologists. The full retail box, priced at $79.20, comes with 60 total cards, including scratch-n-sniff, tattoo and sticker cards, as well as a press sheet. Also included is either a signature card or… Read More…

T-Mobile taps ex-Microsoft exec as marketing chief to build ‘America’s un-carrier’

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Michael Sievert, a former marketing executive at AT&T, Clearwire and Microsoft, has been named chief marketing officer at T-Mobile USA. He starts on the job Monday, filling the shoes of longtime marketing exec Cole Brodman who left the company in May. Sievert most recently held the CEO title at Discovery Bay Games, a Seattle game… Read More…

Poor earnings leads to Glu layoffs at Kirkland studio

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A lowered fourth quarter guidance has sent the stock of San Francisco-based game publisher Glu south and resulted in layoffs at its Kirkland office. On the company’s Nov. 2 conference call, Glu announced that it would hold total R&D investment flat between 2012 and 2013. As a result, the company restructured and the president of… Read More…

A Steve Jobs flash mob; iPad fans react to Windows 8; and October’s other top posts

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Whoa, what a month. Was it us, or did the technology industry simply explode with activity in October? Every day it seemed as if there was another groundbreaking announcement. The tablet wars heated up as Microsoft introduced its Surface, and Apple rolled out the iPad Mini to mixed reviews and mockery from Amazon. On the startup… Read More…

Valve designer Greg Coomer: How getting rid of bosses makes for better games

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Valve is well known for groundbreaking games such as Half-Life, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. But the 16-year-old Bellevue game maker also is renowned for its counterintuitive corporate culture, one in which bosses don’t exist and employees are encouraged to take big risks without consult. It sounds a bit like anarchy. But it works for Valve, which has grown… Read More…

Meteor scores $18M, looks to attract 10 million players for online shooter game Hawken

Meteor Entertainment's first title, Hawken, is set to debut on 12/12/12.

Mark Long has been around the video game business for nearly two decades. So, when the gaming vet first set eyes on a YouTube preview of Hawken more than a year ago, he knew almost immediately that the multiplayer online shooter game was destined to be a massive hit. Now, it’s Long’s job to make it… Read More…

Casual Disconnect: Seattle losing big games conference

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Casual games are almost as much a part of Seattle’s fabric as coffee and airplanes. But now, it appears one of the bedrock institutions of the industry is pulling up roots like a sunflower fleeing an approaching zombie. Sources tell GeekWire that the big Casual Connect gaming conference will no longer be held in Seattle…. Read More…

Q&A: Double Down’s Cooper DuBois on wearing many hats at a startup

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Cooper DuBois wants you to step out of your real world and come into his for a few minutes a day. How’s he going to do it? He and his team at Seattle’s Double Down Interactive are creating fun, social gaming environments where everyone can take a spin around a casino and share the fun… Read More…

Game experts debate: Is Microsoft Kinect a passing fad or here to stay?

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The gaming panel today at the WTIA’s TechNW conference featured some well-known names from the industry talking about a wide variety of trends and technologies: Bungie‘s Pete Parsons, veteran game designer Jordan Weisman, and Big Fish Games CEO Paul Thelen, moderated by former Microsoft games chief Ed Fries. One audience question toward the end, from Kevin… Read More…

Barack Obama meets Madden NFL: Political ads find a home in video games

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Don’t be surprised next time you see Barack Obama’s face pop up after your last game of online Battleship — the president is appearing in video games yet again. As part of an overall upswing in political video game ads, NPR reported that Obama’s advertisements will be featured in Madden NFL 13, Pogo.com, mobile Tetris and… Read More…

Casual gaming vets raise cash for UpTap, focusing on a new class of tablet-based games

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Daniel Bernstein is back in the startup game. The Seattle area entrepreneur, best known for founding Sandlot Games, has formed a new company by the name of UpTap that’s focusing on tablet-based games, GeekWire has learned. The 2-month-old company just landed a seed round of $645,000 from Seattle angel investors, cash that the young upstart… Read More…

PopCap pulls plug on Dublin office, cutting 96 jobs

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PopCap Games is cutting back even further, announcing today that it closed its offices in Dublin, Ireland. Ninety-six employees are losing their jobs as a result of the closure, which should not come as a surprise. At the time of last month’s announcement, the maker of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled said it was considering shutting down the Ireland… Read More…

Sword of Fargoal 2 wants to add to retro dungeon-crawling with Kickstarter

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Jeff McCord is a well-known name within the retro gaming crowd. Over 25 years ago, he created one of the most challenging “Roguelike” dungeon-crawlers for the Commodore 64, called Sword of Fargoal. Since then, he’s managed to remake the original title for iOS-based devices, as well as obtain “Best Retro Game (iPad division)” within the 2010… Read More…

Game designer Monte Cook raises over $345k for tabletop game Numenera

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Seattle-based game designer Monte Cook is a familiar name to many fans of traditional roleplaying games, having worked on titles such as Dungeons & Dragons (3rd Edition) and the d20 edition of Call of Cthulhu. Cook’s latest project — Numenera — is a science fantasy tabletop roleplaying game currently on Kickstarter, where it has raised over $345,000. That… Read More…

Report: Social casino game revenues on the rise

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With the arrival of social casino games, no longer must you drive to the local casino to try your luck at hitting 21 or rolling craps. It’s as easy as going on the Internet to gamble, and the numbers now show that the market for social casino games is growing exponentially. A study from research firm… Read More…