Pushing Boundaries: The Top Companies in the Gaming Industry
Top Gaming Industry Top Companies
Top gaming industry companies are constantly pushing the boundaries of the latest technologies, creating innovative consoles and launching popular video game franchises. But they’re also juggling all kinds of revenue streams – from mobile games to blockbuster hits like Fortnite.
Naughty Dog started in a garage and is now one of the biggest American gaming companies thanks to watershed series like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter. But their main moneymaker is the PlayStation console line.
Electronic Arts
EA develops and publishes video game software for electronic consoles, mobile devices, personal computers, and internet-connected consoles. Its games cover genres such as sports, racing, firs-person shooter, role-playing and simulation. Its software products are sold through digital distribution channels, mass-market retailers, and electronics specialty stores and computer software specialty stores.
The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California. It was founded by William M. “Trip” Hawkins, a former marketing director at Apple Computer; and two of his fellow Apple employees, Bing Gordon and Tom Mott, both MBA graduates from Stanford University.
From the start, EA has been different from better-known video game manufacturers such as Sega and Nintendo, which produce only hardware for their own video game players. Unlike these companies, Electronic Arts designs its own software for various manufacturers’ video game hardware systems. The company is also unique in that it promotes its game designers by giving them photo credits on some of its game packages and full-page magazine ads.
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog is a top gaming company that has been around for a long time. The company is well-known for its beautiful graphics and high-quality gameplay. The company also creates games that have a deep story and interesting characters. The Naughty Dog team is passionate about what they do, and they work hard to make the best possible games.
Crash Bandicoot was Naughty Dog’s first big success, and it showed that they were a force to be reckoned with in the gaming world. This 3D mascot platformer was very popular and set a standard that few have been able to match since.
The last release was Uncharted 4. This was the most visually stunning game Naughty Dog has ever made, and it showcased what the PS4 is capable of. The game kept the classic gameplay from previous Uncharted games and improved on it in several ways. It also added some new elements, including a grappling hook and a multiplayer mode.
Zynga
Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Mafia Wars, pioneered social gaming when it was founded in 2007 with the belief that play would become one of the core activities of the Internet. Its strategy was to create games that are simple, accessible, and social.
In 2008, the company got its first venture capital investment from Union Square Ventures. In 2009, another major VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, kicked in $29 million.
At its peak, Zynga raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital and went on an acquisition binge, buying 11 companies between 2010 and 2011. Its games became massive hits, its stock price soared, and it made the list of top gaming companies.
Then it started to fall apart. The company’s revenues were declining, its stock was dropping, and it had a bad reputation in the industry. It had become a poster child for the Facebook social gaming boom that some traditional developers and gamers found derivative, exploitive, or even evil.
Capcom
Founded in 1979, Capcom has created many multi-million franchises like Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Their game series like Devil May Cry, Dead Rising and Ace Attorney also sold millions of games worldwide.
The company’s name is an abbreviation of CAPsule COMputer, and was chosen to reflect the belief that video games would become mainstream entertainment, surpassing moviegoers’ viewing habits and even rivaling those of personal computers. Throughout its history, the company overcame financial challenges and management crises to create and maintain some of the best-known video games in the world.
In 2004 Capcom recognized the potential of a new gaming market — mobile gaming, especially on cellular telephones. They adapted their existing titles for the small screen, and launched Capcom Mobile. In addition, they established a studio, Clover Studio, to develop video games for mobile devices. They have also established Capcom Eurosoft in the U.K and Capcom Entertainment France SAS in Germany to handle distribution of their mobile games.