LucasArts and IGN/GameSpy have signed a multi-title, multi-platform technology licensing agreement to facilitate online gameplay for titles developed by LucasArts' internal and third-party teams. Titles already scheduled to have technology embedded include: STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT PC, STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT PS2 and STAR WARS: REPUBLIC COMMANDO PC. IGN/GameSpy will supply LucasArts four distinct Software Development Kits (SDKs) toolkits that integrate with the company's games to provide matchmaking, community, administrative and networking functionality. In addition, IGN/GameSpy will offer LucasArts consulting and beta testing services.
"Partnering with IGN/GameSpy allows LucasArts to offer game fans the most enjoyable online gaming experience," said Mark Barbolak, corporate counsel for LucasArts. "We're very pleased to be working with IGN/GameSpy and are confident the technology the company is embedding in our games will further improve our dynamic product portfolio."
"Over the last several years, IGN/GameSpy has become the leader in the online middleware space with a fully outsourced solution invaluable to the top game publishers and developers," said Mark Jung, ceo, IGN/GameSpy. "We provide publishers and developers with the tools and back-end services they need for their online multiplayer games, so they can concentrate on what they're good at -- making great games. We're looking forward to working closely with LucasArts' talented development teams to create innovative titles that increase the enjoyment of game play for consumers. Our relationship and day-to-day collaboration will offer IGN/GameSpy the opportunity to push the envelope even further."
IGN/GameSpy has spent more than five years developing and fine-tuning its SDK toolkits, while honing the high-performance back-end infrastructure that the games using IGN/GameSpy SDKs connect to. The goal has been to allow IGN/GameSpy customers to move away from building, running and maintaining their own costly online service infrastructure without sacrificing any desired functionality or performance.
LucasArts (www.lucasarts.com), a Lucasfilm Ltd. company, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software worldwide for video game console systems and PC. Based in Marin County, California, LucasArts was created in 1982 by George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multi-faceted entertainment company.
IGN/GameSpy provides leading Internet's destinations for gaming, entertainment and community for teens and 18-34 year-old males. The company's properties include IGN.com, GameSpy.com, FilePlanet.com, GameSpyArcade.com, Team Xbox.com, GameStats.com, more than 70 community sites and a vast array of online forums. IGN/GameSpy is also a leading provider of technology for online gameplay in videogames and has the largest game-related subscriber base on the Web. The privately held company has its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
