[shal]Rockstar[/shal] founders Jamie King and Gary Foreman are ready to revolutionize game development with their New York-based studio, 4mm Games. The two plan to use [shal]4mm Games[/shal] as a way to release and test-market titles through mobile platforms, such as the [shal]iPhone[/shal], before moving successful ventures onto larger platforms such as the [shal]Wii[/shal], [shal]Xbox 360[/shal], and [shal]PlayStation 3[/shal].
It’s a bold strategy that takes noticeable inspiration from how [shal]thatgamecompany[/shal]’s debut title, [shal]flOw[/shal], came to fruition on [shal]PlayStation Network[/shal]. The title was originally a free PC game, and subsequently became a successful PS3 remake. However, this was simply a stepping stone for [shal]Jenova Chen[/shal]’s company to get noticed; this on the other hand is a business model.
It’s a great way to combat software piracy, in addition to building a fanbase prior to investing in the larger re-releases. Nicholas Perrett, CEO of 4mm, noted:
“It is an utterly unprecedented time in the history of videogames, as the Web and new business models disrupt the existing value chain.”
Two titles are being developed at the fledgling studio, with the first scheduled to release during this calendar year. 4mm isn’t interested in partnering up with a single publisher to release its titles, and may not even need publishers to do so considering its titles will be digitally distributed.
[Source]
