Platogo Blog

Hi! My name is Nuno Marques and I'm the new member of the Platogo family (second from the right). I'm going to talk a bit about myself and how I got here in Vienna. I'm originally from Portugal, of a small city, north of Lisbon, called Leiria.

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Upon many requests from developers and gamers we decided to loosen the publish restrictions for games on Platogo. Previously, games had to have a level-editor which excluded a good deal of great games that wouldn't fit into the scheme of level-creation.

Now we accept ALL games (that are family-friendly and have a high score integration). Tataa!
The first games making use of this are already online. Check out the unique & very refreshing coign of vantage by our friends at bobblebrook and the very addicting L.A.2 by well-known indie developer Kenta Cho.

Stay tuned! There's more great stuff that we'll announce soon. (maybe around the GDC *hint*)

Last monday we had the chance to meet with the biggest & most important names in the online gaming business right now: Zynga, Mochi Media & HeyZap. We're great fans of all these companies so actually meeting them in person was exciting & awesome.

Mochi Media

Jameson Hsu & Justin Wong took some time off their busy schedule to welcome us in their cosy office. Their space is really nice - lots of cool little gadgets all around the place. Music was playing in the background which I never heard before (identified by Midomi to be the band Passion Pit). The song Little Secrets has grown to be among my very favorites - I'm listening to it on Spotify while I type these lines.

For well deserved breaks Mochi provides comfy couches placed in front of a huge TV with various consoles attached, also including a full rock band kit. Nice. I'm looking forward to their Flash Gaming Summit which is taking place on March 8th. Like the website says: The conference will bring together leaders in the Flash game space to share industry insights and strategies on successful game design, development and monetization.

Zynga

Next up was Zynga which is like the epicenter of social gaming at the moment. They are continuously growing, now employing about 800 people and still looking for more. Bret Terrill gave us a "quick" tour around the different offices. Quick is being put in quotes as their place is really huge! They even have an own Zen Room where employees can get acupunctures and massages. Great way to motivate their people - I know I'd enjoy a foot rub every now and then.

While wandering through their departments I think I caught a short glimpse of a top-secret project of theirs. However, after signing their NDA contract & everything, I sure won't break the news. I'm confident this will be another sure-fire hit though.

HeyZap

Jude Gomila, the co-founder of HeyZap, met up with us at Brainwash Cafe since they are just moving into their new office. He's a bright guy who thinks fast and talks just as fast. They have lots of ideas for the future of HeyZap and I can't wait to see where they're heading. Definitely an company to keep an eye (or two) on.

San Francisco has been an awesome experience. Prior to our trip we'd never thought that we'd have the chance to meet with so many interesting and well-known people. Think about it: these three companies are among the most relevant in the whole industry right now. And we were lucky to meet them all.