News Articles

Premier's Entrepreneurship Awards

Two hundred of PEI's leaders in the technology industry gathered recently to celebrate the many success stories in the IT industry over the past year. The evening was hosted by the Innovation and Technology Association of PEI (ITAP) from 7:00 - 9:30 pm in Memorial Hall, Confederation Centre of the Arts. MLA Valerie Docherty brought greetings from the Premier and the Government of PEI, and presented the two Premier's Entrepreneurship Awards. Mitch Cormier, of CBC Radio's 'Island Morning', was the MC for the awards dinner.
"Tonight was a celebration of the many successes we've seen in our Industry over the past year. As one of the four key industries identified by the Provincial Government in its economic development plan, we are seeing strong support from all levels of Government, from private industry, and from the community. The results have been showcased here tonight.' said Peter Lawlor, ITAP President. "The great stories we heard tonight indicate to me that the IT industry in Prince Edward Island has never been stronger, and the large number of young, up-and-coming organizations that were nominated also proves that the industry has a very bright future. What is also very encouraging is the fact that a large portion of these companies' revenues are coming from well beyond the borders of this Province. This is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry."
John Rowe, ITAP Vice President, presented the ITAP Lifetime Achievement Award to Ed Lawlor. "It was a great privilege to present Mr. Ed Lawlor with his ITAP Lifetime Achievement Award this evening. I have known Ed through the industry for many years, however, I did not realize the depth of his personal and public endeavours. Whether it be his commitment to family,entrepreneurialism, his Deltaware team, or the many, many organizations who have benefited from his involvement, Ed is a role model to me and all who know him."

SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 25, 2011 – Making Fun, Inc., the social game publishing division of News Corp. Digital Media Group, today announced its intention to commission independent game studios to develop innovative, high-quality social games. The company’s initial target platform is social network web sites, expanding to smartphones, tablets and beyond.

As the first full-service publisher in the social games category, Making Fun provides independent developers with a wide range of services including capital, technology and industry expertise to create, operate and market social games across digital platforms. The “full service” model at Making Fun goes far beyond simple distribution, providing developers with capital for both initial and ongoing product development as well as a partner committed to live operations, customer support, marketing and franchise development. Making Fun is actively seeking to build new relationships with experienced, passionate development teams to grow concepts into franchises.

Making Fun is helmed by industry veterans, including GM John Welch and CTO Lee Crawford.

“As gaming platforms mature, Publishers emerge to assist talented developers who lack sufficient funds to bring their dreams to full fruition,” said Welch. “Explosive growth in the social games space has attracted substantial game development talent, raising the costs to effectively compete. Making Fun provides funding and other essential services to enable our partners to focus their energy on making great games.”

A pioneer of digital entertainment publishing and distribution, Welch will guide Making Fun as it creates and markets games across connected platforms. Previously, Welch served as co-founder and CEO of the first full-service publisher focused on the casual download game space, PlayFirst, famous for its best-selling Diner Dash franchise. CTO Lee Crawford is a veteran technologist with 20 years of deep domain expertise across online gaming, consumer Internet and electronic commerce. Previously, he served as co-founder and CEO of Twofish, a leading virtual economy infrastructure provider acquired by Live Gamer, Inc.

Making Fun has three publishing deals already in place, with title launches slated for this summer. The company is actively seeking additional developer partners.

For more information on Making Fun, please visit: www.makingfun.com.

About Making Fun, Inc.
Making Fun, a division of News Corporation, commissions independent game studios to develop innovative, high-quality social games. As the first full-service publisher in the social games category, Making Fun provides independent developers with a wide range of services including capital, technology and industry expertise to create, operate and market games for digital platforms including social network websites, smartphones and tablets. Based in San Francisco, Calif., Making Fun is helmed by industry veterans John Welch and Lee Crawford and is actively seeking additional developer partners. More information is available at  http://www.makingfun.com

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BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Glu Mobile Inc. (Nasdaq: GLUU), a leading global publisher of social games for smartphone and tablet devices, announced today at Mobile World Congress two games developed specifically for the Android(TM) 3.0, Honeycomb, platform and optimized on the NVidia(R) Tegra(TM) 2 mobile super chip: Gun Bros and Glyder 2.

Glu produces industry-leading social mobile gaming experiences for next-generation Android tablets. Glu plans to debut both titles on Honeycomb-based tablets this week at Mobile World Congress and will provide demos of Gun Bros in the Android booth.

"Glu leads in delivering dynamic game play and advanced feature sets on our social mobile titles," said Giancarlo Mori, chief creative officer at Glu. "We are privileged to support both Android and NVIDIA's innovative offerings and to be demonstrating enhanced and innovative versions of Glu games at Mobile World Congress."

Glu's original titles, Gun Bros and Glyder 2, are the company's first games developed to maximize the capabilities offered by the combination the Tegra 2 chip and the Android 3.0, Honeycomb, platform.

In addition to sharp graphics and fast game play, Gun Bros and Glyder 2 feature:

Gun Bros - More realistic shading, ambient lighting, environmental effects and Open GL 3D graphics bring the Gun Bros world to life like never before.

Glyder 2 - Tegra 2 powered, breathtaking 3D graphics and innovative accelerometer powered controls pull the player into the high-flying world of Glyder.

Glu is a leader in developing and publishing Android games with more than 25 titles already available on Android Market(TM). As one of the first mobile game publishers that will implement In App Purchases (IAPs) into its Android games, Glu continues to drive new revenue and customer acquisition through strategic development and promotional partnerships.

Glu's Gun Bros will be on display at the Android booth (Hall: 8, Stand 8C25) during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

About Glu Mobile

Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) is a leading global publisher of social games for smartphone and tablet devices. Glu's unique technology platform enables its titles to be accessible to a broad audience of consumers all over the world - supporting iOS, Android, Palm, Windows Phone 7 devices and beyond. Glu is focused on bringing the best in social, freemium, cross-platform mobile gaming experiences to the mass market. Founded in 2001, Glu is headquartered in San Francisco and has major offices in Brazil, China, Russia and the UK. Glu is focused on creating compelling original IP and also partners with leading entertainment brands including Activision, Atari, Caesar's and Fox. Consumers can find high-quality, fresh entertainment created exclusively for their mobile devices wherever they see the 'g' character logo or at http://www.glu.com/. For live updates, please follow Glu via Twitter atwww.twitter.com/glumobile or become a Glu fan at Facebook.com/glumobile.

GUN BROS, GLU, GLU MOBILE and the 'g' character logo are trademarks of Glu Mobile Inc.

Android and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc.

SOURCE Glu Mobile Inc.

Two hundred of PEI's leaders in the technology industry gathered recently to celebrate the many success stories in the IT industry over the past year. The evening was hosted by the Innovation and Technology Association of PEI (ITAP) from 7:00 - 9:30 pm in Memorial Hall, Confederation Centre of the Arts. MLA Valerie Docherty brought greetings from the Premier and the Government of PEI, and presented the two Premier's Entrepreneurship Awards. Mitch Cormier, of CBC Radio's 'Island Morning', was the MC for the awards dinner.

"Tonight was a celebration of the many successes we've seen in our Industry over the past year. As one of the four key industries identified by the Provincial Government in its economic development plan, we are seeing strong support from all levels of Government, from private industry, and from the community. The results have been showcased here tonight.' said Peter Lawlor, ITAP President. "The great stories we heard tonight indicate to me that the IT industry in Prince Edward Island has never been stronger, and the large number of young, up-and-coming organizations that were nominated also proves that the industry has a very bright future. What is also very encouraging is the fact that a large portion of these companies' revenues are coming from well beyond the borders of this Province. This is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the industry."

John Rowe, ITAP Vice President, presented the ITAP Lifetime Achievement Award to Ed Lawlor. "It was a great privilege to present Mr. Ed Lawlor with his ITAP Lifetime Achievement Award this evening. I have known Ed through the industry for many years, however, I did not realize the depth of his personal and public endeavours. Whether it be his commitment to family,entrepreneurialism, his Deltaware team, or the many, many organizations who have benefited from his involvement, Ed is a role model to me and all who know him."

Award Nominess & Winners

Premier's Entrepreneurship Award (1-14 Employees):
Winner - Telos International
Nominees - Higher Design & Baseline Business Geographics

Premier's Entrepreneurship Award (15+ Employees):
Winner - ScreenScape Networks Inc.
Nominees - Bight Games, Bell Aliant, & Timeless Technologies

Exceptional New Product or Service:
Winner - ScreenScape Networks Inc.
Nominees - Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN), Bright Flock Consulting, & Top Line Software

Technology Application of the Year:
Winner - Baseline Business Geographics
Nominees - Timeless Technologies & Top Line Software

Employee of the Year (1-14 Employees):
Winner - Jeremy Brown of Fresh Media
Nominees - Josh Smith of Higher Design & James Karle of Telos International

Employee of the Year (15+ Employees):
Winner - Annie Gates of Cogsdale Corporation
Nominees - Ian Morse of ScreenScape Networks Inc., Dwayne MacDougall of DeltaWare Systems, Lincoln Maskey of Timeless Medical Systems, & Shawn Banks of Swift Radius

ITAP Member Business of the Year:
Winner - DeltaWare Systems
Nominees - Bell Aliant & Vision Quest

Lifetime Achievement Award:
Ed Lawlor

Sponsors of the 2010 ITAP Gala Dinner were:

Gold Sponsor: Innovation PEI

Silver Sponsors: Cogsdale Corporation & DeltaWare Systems

Bronze Sponsors: Bell Aliant, Canadian Police Knowledge Network, Holland College, Other Ocean Interactive, ScreenScape Networks Inc., Scotiabank, SwiftRadius, Timeless Technologies, UPEI, & Vision Quest.

Source: ITAP www.itap.ca

You go for a walk around time, play at the arcade, see a movie and talk to your friends.

No, your not in downtown Charlottetown, you’re spending a day in the virtual city of Manatee Bay in the computer game developed by a Charlottetown company.

Sean Yeomans, president of Telos Entertainment, came up with the idea to make a interactive social networking game. The final product is “City of Sinners and Saints”.

Yeomans’ reason for making this sort of game was simple.

“To try and differentiate ourselves,” he said. “You look at other games and they have a high level of violent or sexual content.”

“The game slows people to create their own character and travel around doing activities and talking to people in a very light, happy atmosphere,” Yeomans says.

“The idea was to create our own world where people could come and go without investing a lot of time.”

The game is set to be completed in June and will be based off the Internet where it can be downloaded for a price. The production team will be updating game over time.

“We keep the content fresh.”

The game as made by a 23-person production team working out of the Atlantic Technology Centre.

Yeomans like having his company in Charlottetown.

“The advantage of being a small company on PEI is that you’re flexible.”

Taylor McCarron played the game as part of a test screening at the Atlantic Technology Centre. She likes all the different activities and the fact a person can chat with people.

“It’s kinda cool. It’s pretty original. It’s like a walk around MSN, I guess.”

Yeomans has worked on video games in the past and likes this idea because of its comedic, light-hearted approach.

“I just wanted some comic things to lighten my life up a little,” Yeomans said.

Telos International hosted a beta test of its new online virtual world, Manatee Bay, part of the City of Sinners & Saints series, at the Atlantic Technology Centre in Charlottetown in April. Telos invited a group of 14 testers to enter the 3D world and give feedback as they prepared for the upcoming worldwide launch.

Manatee Bay is a light-hearted, comedic, cartoon world where visitors can create their own avatar and socialize with their friends, play casual games, go on quests and attend events at venues in the city. You can walk through the park, go dancing, adopt a virtual pet and send animotes (animated cartoons) to people you meet in the city.

This visually-rich world was fully designed in Prince Edward Island and features original music and animation by many Island contributors. Sketch 22 writers were also involved.

The Telos management team says that Manatee Bay breaks new ground as a hybrid game incorporating elements from networks (such as Facebook), chat rooms, gaming, and 3D role playing with user generated content.

Telos has been developing this world for the past two years, and look forward to launching the world at the beginning of June. It was featured recently at the Game Developers’ Conference in San Francisco this past March.

Source: The Buzz, June 2009

The high score for participants in the Game Force Boot Camp could be something more concrete than mere bragging rights.

Video game developer Telos in offering to hire the top two participants for summer work in its game development studio at the Atlantic Technology Centre.

Company president Sean Yeomans made the impromptu offer after listening to government announce the program that will let Island teens try their hand at game design.

“I just thought an idea would be to take the two students that won and offer them a position for the summer, give them some on the ground work,” he said.

Yeomans said the winners could be picked by a competition within the boot camp or failing that he’d be willing to pick them based on the games they develop.

“We thought it would be a very interesting environment for students to get experience in the process,” he told reporters.

“I just thought of it today as an idea. We’re going to work it through and think of a way to do it.”

Yeomans said he was excited by the government’s commitment to exposing young Islanders to game development and said some of his future colleagues will very likely get their start in the evening boot camps.

He said game development can be a fast-paced business, but the time required to produce his products means that Telos has to look a long way down the road.

“These kids could be working for my company five years from now, on a game I develop two years from now,” he said.

Development Minister Mike Currie said he expected to see many more Islanders joining the video game industry in the near future.

He said that the interest from the Island four current video game developers is evidence of the value of the investment the government made in the ATC, where a variety of technology firms now employ 350 people with annual payrolls of about $16 million.

For 10 years, this creative software development and management company has provided expertise to film, computer animation and software development projects. The company originated in Halifax, and moved to Charlottetown four years ago. For the past six years, Telos has been developing video games. “Telos locally contracts out some of its work, such as the music for its games, and nine staff members work in the office,” says Alana. “We have two games in development, and we are looking for animators and programmers.”

Programmers need knowledge of C++ and Torque programming languages. A strong knowledge of math is important also.

Animators need training in animation or video game modeling and experience with 3D Max and Photoshop.

“People working in this field need to be willing to work overtime to meet deadlines,” says Alana. “Our staff is very dedicated, and they love what they do, so its easy for them to put in the extra time.”

For more information about Telos Entertainment, visit www.telosentertainment.com or email info@telosentertainment.com

For more information about training in animation, check the website for the Department of Applied Arts and Animation, New Brunswick Community College at www.miramichi.nbcc.nb.ca/aaa.asp

Adam Perry can’t wait to get to work on making play for others.

“Like, I wake up and go ‘yeeeheee, time to go make some magic,” said the 25-year-old resident of Stratford.

Perry’s workplace is a small studio in the Atlantic Technology Centre (ATC) in Charlottetown. He is a graphic artist for Telos Productions Inc., on of five companies on PEI working solely in the video game industry.

Perry is quick to point out that this industry, with a global market of about $30 billion, is not just fun and games. On the Island, it’s a serious – and growing- business.

“Making a video game is no easy task and I think that could be a huge misconception that ‘oh, it’s very fun,’” he said.

“Yeah, we play games, but we have to. We have to stay on top of the industry. We have to know what is out there. So we play a lot of games but we work hard at making our own games, too.”

Telos president Sean Yeomans shifted three years ago to video game creation and production after spending years on film and media projects.

He expects to more than double his current staff of 12 when two video projects – Shadow of the Panopticon and City of Sinners and Saints – advance to the production stage.

The other Island-based video game businesses, which, like Telos, all work out of the ATC, are planning to expand their workforces as well. The handful of companies cover the full spectrum of video game development, with firms that develop for PCs, gaming consoles and mobile platforms such as cell phones.

Specialized companies that support the industry, such as animation studios and game testing labs, are also popping up in the province’s capital.

Longtail Studios, an award-winning developer of games and entertainment operating out of offices in New York City and Quebec City, recently set up shop in the Atlantic Technology Centre.

Spokesman Jeffrey Peters said the company is looking to hire 25 people in the first year of operation here, then add up to 30 new employees each year thereafter.

At least 60 are currently making their living in this industry in PEI, said John Eden, president of Interactive Media Alliance, an advocate group for the province’s fledgling video game industry as well as other interactive media industries.

Eden said the workforce is forecast to double in less than a year with foreseeable growth to 500 people in just five years.

The challenge will be to find and attract talented workers to ply their trade as producer, programmer, and artist.

Source: The Guardian, January 12, 2008

Telos Productions takes first step towards developing non-violent game for industry giant, with work likely starting in 2009.

An Island-based computer games company has taken the first crucial set in producing a game for one of the giants of the gaming world.

Nintendo has given developer status to Telos Productions Inc. of the Atlantic Technology Centre.

“First you need to be official developers, and then you need to come up with a concept that they approve of which is the next stage, and then thirdly of course what you then is try and find financing,” says Telos Productions president Sean Yeomans.

With Nintendo behind a company, it is easier to find either government or private financing, says Yeomans.

“It may allow us in a couple of years to increase our budget substantially, which means hiring more people.”

When the company acquires financing to develop a prototype, the game is then published for the Nintendo platform through a Nintendo-licensed distributor.

Yeomans said although the company has been given developer status, it will probably be 2009 before it starts work on a project for Nintendo because of other projects currently in the works.

Telos Productions is currently developing an online social game called City of Sinners and Saints. It is a game where players establish relationships between characters and almost build mini-games within the game, Yeomans said.

“You can be more saintly or more devilish, it’s a very gentle kind of game though it’s not a hard core kind of game.”

The beta release or demo for the game will be online in about six months, Yeomans said.

The company also has a publishing deal with a company called Lighthouse Interactive for a PC game called Shadow of the Panopticon.

The game will be either a first-person or third-person futuristic adventure game to be marketed in June 2008, said Yeomans.

This will mean increasing the company’s staff by two.

When the company starts work on a game for Nintendo, it will be a non-violent game, said Yeomans.

“It’s mostly North America that’s obsessed with shooting each other, the world market is more interested in interesting inventive game plays that have more to do with technical skills and ability.”

Nintendo is also steering away from the violence-oriented games, Yeomans said.

In a news release, Mike Currie, PEI’s Development and Technology Minister, says the quality of work and commitment of the company’s management and employees was instrumental in Telos Productions being granted developer status with Nintendo.

“Our government has targeted video game development as an emerging sector of our economy, and this announcement by Telos Productions is another example of the endless potential for job opportunities here on Prince Edward Island,” Currie said.

Telos Productions currently employs nine people.

Source: The Guardian, January 24, 2007

CHARLOTTETOWN- A Charlottetown-based video company is heading to Los Angeles in May. Telos Productions Inc., based in the Atlantic Technology Centre, has only started making games this year. And already the company’s planning to take a demo to what organizers call the world’s premiere trade event for the interactive entertainment industry.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) conference in L.A. runs from May 9-11 and attracts big name production companies who will hopefully be interested in Telos’ game, The Solution.

Telos CEO Sean Yeomans wouldn’t reveal too much about The Solution before its launch, but a news release from the PEI Department of Development and Technology described the game as “set in a distant future where the force of paranoia and a fear of economic ruin translates into a dangerously controlling, manipulative political movement.”

Ben Woodhead is the technical director for the game. He designs the environments, movement of characters and the playability of the game.

“I give the game a feeling for what I want the gamer to experience.”

Arden Belfry is the artist for the game and he works with Woodhead to make the game as realistic as possible.

“The story and the look really have to match.”

Woodhead and Belfry work together to maintain continuity between the game characters, the lighting, the environment reactions and appearance and a link between the story line, the looks and the feel of the game.

“We play off each other. It’s a give and take,” said Belfry.

Woodhead also operates Mindgames, another Island game development company, but says “Telos is a great company to work with.”

Belfry agrees.

“Its an exciting experience, being part of a small company. You get your own creative input.”

Telos, which started up in 1998, has produced several television shows, including the educational programs, Voices in Time, which aired on CLT and Aftermath, which aired on ABTN.

Yeomans said that Telos is just getting started with game development. The company is already working on another game concept.

Source: The Journal Pioneer, January 13, 2006

Telos Productions Inc., a television, multi-media, animation and film production company, has begun work on a new view game production.

Telos is located in the Atlantic Technology Centre in Charlottetown.

Telos is currently developing The Solution, a video game set in the distant future where the force of paranoia and a fear of economic ruin translates into a dangerously controlling, manipulative political movement.

The project is in the development stage and will allow the completion of the game story and structure, market research, animated game demos and character creation. The company currently employs five people.

Sean Yeomans, CEO of Telos, said he is excited about the growth and opportunity for his company in the ATC.

“I am proud of the fact that we have been able to crew this production with 100 per cent local talent,” he said.

“I am impressed with the overall collegiality of the industry. There is something grassroots about the way people work together here and find it very refreshing.”

Mike Currie, PEI’s minister of development and technology, has welcomed the firm to the Atlantic Technology Centre (ATC).

“When we constructed the ATC, we were confident that it would help attract new opportunities to our province and the addition of Telos is real complement to the growing animation and gaming cluster of companies in this state-of-the-art facility,” Currie said.

He said the growing opportunities at the ATC are exciting for the youth of Prince Edward Island.

“When you visit the ATC, you quickly notice the large number of young Islanders that are working because the opportunities in exciting fields like animation and graphic design are now available here in Prince Edward Island,” the minister said. “Telos is a great fit for our province, for the Atlantic Technology Centre, and we wish them success in the future.”

The Atlantic Technology Centre is home to 25 companies and over 325 full-time employees.

Source: The Guardian, January 7, 2006