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Sulake

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Sulake
Company typePrivate
IndustryTeen social networking
Founded2000
FounderSampo Karjalainen
Aapo Kyrölä
HeadquartersHelsinki, Finland
Area served
11 Countries [1]
ProductsHabbo
Lost Monkey (2011–)
Niko (2012–)
VMK (2005–08)
Mini Friday (2006–10)
IRC-Galleria (2007–11)
Bobba Bar (2009–11)
78.700.000 U$ (2011)
Number of employees
160 (est. Jun 2012)
Websitewww.sulake.com

Sulake (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsulɑke], is a Finnish social entertainment company focused on online social places and games. Sulake is a social entertainment company focused on online social places and games. The goal is to inspire playful interaction and self-expression in people by creating easy to use social online services. Currently, these services include social game and online community Habbo Hotel. The Habbo online community has customers in 150 countries and 5 million teenagers visit the different communities every month.

Sulake was established in 2000 and it has increased its annual revenues each year. The main shareholders in Sulake include Taivas Group, Elisa Group, followed by Movida Group (in Japan), the company's founders Sampo Karjalainen and Aapo Kyrölä, Sulake's CEO Paul LaFontaine and other personnel. In June 2012, Sulake had offices in 5 countries. Headquarters is situated in Helsinki, Finland. Currently the company has over 160 employees worldwide.[citation needed]

Habbo

Sulake operate Habbo Hotel which is the world’s largest social game and online community for teenagers. Localized Habbo communities all around the world are visited by millions of teenagers every week. Habbo Hotel can be accessed via the local Habbo sites, and through the world’s largest social networking site Facebook, where all 11 of Habbo Hotel's language versions are also available. Through Facebook Connect, Habbo users around the world can easily find their Facebook friends in the virtual world and share their in-world experiences.

Bobba Bar

Bobba Bar was launched in the Nokia OVI store and iTunes on November 2009 as a free application for Nokia smart phones and iOS users. Bobba Bar was formerly known simply as Bobba, but the name was changed to reflect the social-hangout themes of the application.

Niko

Niko is an adventure game for iOS and Android mobile devices, combining inventive sling shot actions and amazing platform level designs. Niko is a character which must go through the dangerous Otherworld in hopes of rescuing his captured friends. As the player helps Niko dodge traps, flip over monsters, and collect achievements, the player is taken through the Otherworld, which holds unlockable features.[citation needed]

Lost Monkey

Lost Monkey is a mobile game application available for iOS and Android devices. The game follows a mischievous monkey that has entered a broken teleport in Habbo Hotel and ended up alone and stranded on a tropical island. Players must take care of the monkey, entertaining it with mini-games and helping it survive so that it can return to Habbo Hotel. On completion of the game, players can keep the exclusive virtual monkey as a pet in Habbo Hotel.[citation needed]

Financial record

In March 2011, Sulake reported a record financial year. Revenue was up more than 20 percent over 2009, resulting in sales of €56.2 million ($78.7 million).[2] Sulake’s EBITDA in 2010 totaled €5.4 million ($7.6 million, 9.5 percent of revenue) and thus significantly improved from the previous year (€0.6 or $0.8 million). Net profit was €1.6 million ($2.3 million). Sulake has also been playing an active role in assisting the police in investigations connected to the theft of online furniture.[3]

Closure of international offices

In February 2012, it was announced that Sulake will be consolidating some of its manual processes and local operations.[4] In showing the door to 25% of their workforce, Sulake will also close all of their 11 country offices according to the report by Finnish publication Dome.fi.[5]

Allegations

In June 2012, Sulake received negative press for ongoing sexual behavior allegations. Channel 4 news identified that Sulake was allowing users to post pornographic and violent messages - despite the fact that Habbo is targeted at young teenagers. On 13 June 2012, one of the main shareholders, 3i, which held 16 per cent of shares, declared it was pulling out of Sulake shares alongside other investors including Balderton. [6]

Awards

Foreign (non-Finnish) Awards:

Habbo ES – Chavales Awards, “Best Private Initiative”, May 2010
Habbo ES – ‘Best Website of the Last 20 Years’, State Secretary of Communications and Information Society, November 2009
Habbo UK – Number one in the Media and Entertainment category, in the Revolution Awards, March 2009
Habbo UK – Most Innovative Launch Campaign 2009, in The Media Guardian Innovation Awards, March 2009
Habbo - Netherlands – Best community site of 2008 in Website of the Year Awards. December 2008
Habbo – Australia – Best Food and Grocery and Best One Off Media Innovation in Media Federation Awards. October 2008.
Habbo Hotel - Germany - Best Community site of 2007 in Website of the Year Awards by MetrixLabs. December 2007.
Habbo Hotel - Australia - Best Youth Site in the Australian Net Guide Web Awards. March 2007.
Habbo Hotel - Germany - Best Entertainment site of 2006 and Most Popular Entertainment site of 2006 in Website of the Year Awards by MetrixLabs. December 2006.
Habbo Hotel - Italy - Best Community Website of 2006, in Website of the Year Awards by MetrixLabs. December 2006.
Habbo Hotel - Grand Prix, main award, Prix Möbius Nordica 2006.
Habbowood - Best Entertainment Integrated Ad campaign, Internet Advertising Competition (IAC), Web Marketing Association. March 2006.
Habbo Hotel - France - Best Online Game in the category "Jeu en ligne" in Prix Les Adélouzes® 2006. March 2006.
Habbo Hotel - France - Silver in the Interagir section, "Clics d'or" Interactive competition, May 2006.
Habbo Hotel - Australia - Site of the Year and Best Kids Site in the Australian Net Guide Web Awards 2005. March 2006.
Habbo Hotel - Canada - Silver in The 2005 Media Innovation Awards in Canada for Habbo Hotel/Sprite advertising campaign.
Habbo Hotel - Spain - The Best Entertainment Web Site in Spain, AUI (Spanish internet users association), Mundo Internet 2005 Congress, 2005
Sulake - Ranked in 8th place in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) program. November 2005.
Sulake - Best E-Commerce Company, SIME'05 (Scandinavian Interactive Media Event) Stockholm, November 2005.
Habbo Hotel - Best Entertainment Site, SIME'05 (Scandinavian Interactive Media Event) Stockholm, November 2005.
Habbo Hotel - Golden Nica in Net Excellence (one of the main awards), Prix Ars Electronica 2003 in Linz, Austria.
Habbo Hotel - Best e-entertainment content producer in the World Summit Award (WSA) event in Geneva December 2003.
Elämä On Parasta Huumetta ry (Life tastes better without drugs): InfoBus/ Habbo Hotel - Best in Education, Prix Möbius Nordica 2003, given the possibility to participate in Prix Möbius awards in Athens in 2003.
Lumisota (Snow war game for mobile operator Radiolinja) - SIME 2000 (Scandinavian Interactive Media Event): Most fun and innovative application. Hotelli Kultakala - One Show Interactive New York: Silver Pencil, 2000

Finnish Awards:

Habbo FI – Web Service of the Year, Voice.fi Web Awards 2009, January 2010
IRC-Galleria – Web Service of the Year, Voice.fi Web Awards 2009, January 2010
Sampo Karjalainen & Aapo Kyrölä, the creators of Habbo Hotel – Nokia Foundation Award, November 2008.
Sulake & IRC-Galleria, Best media idea, Bronze Effie in the Effie Awards. October 2008.
Sampo Karjalainen & Aapo Kyrölä, the creators of Habbo Hotel – Finnish Engineering Award 2006.
Habbowood, Best viral campaign, Grand One national competition for online media. March 2006
Sampo Karjalainen & Aapo Kyrölä, the creators of Habbo Hotel - Finland Prize for pictural art, for a promising breakthrough from the Ministry of Education.
Habbo Book - Silver in publishing graphics in Vuoden Huiput 2004, the annual competition of The Association of professional graphic designers in Finland
Sulake - INNOFINLAND Provincial 1st prize, 2004, Helsinki
Mountain Dew Campaign / Habbo Hotel - Bronze Pixel, RE: THE BIG ONE 2003
Sulake - Best Early Stage Company, Software Industry Award 2003
Coke Studios - Golden Pixel: Best Rich Media, Silver Pixel: Best B-to-C -service, RE: THE BIG ONE 2003
Mountain Dew Campaign / Habbo Hotel - Award, Vuoden Huiput 2003, the annual competition of The Association of professional graphic designers in Finland
Mountain Dew Campaign / Habbo Hotel - Bronze Pixel, RE:THE BIG ONE 2003
Sulake - main award (Platinium Pixel) of the competition, Golden pixel:Best B2C, Golden Pixel: Best in Rich Media, Silver Pixel: Best Design RE:spekt THE BIG ONE 2002 / Helsinki
Elämä On Parasta Huumetta ry (Life tastes better without drugs): INFO Bus / Habbo Hotel - Bronze award in Education and motivation, Media & Message 2002
Elämä On Parasta Huumetta ry: HUBU / Habbo Hotel - Golden Pixel: Best Cross Media & Best Web Campaing, RE: THE BIG ONE 2002
Hotelli Kultakala - The most fun and innovative web application, M&M (National marketing and advertising trade magazine) Grand Prix 2000

References

  1. ^ "Sulake: Habbo". Sulake Corporation Oy.
  2. ^ http://www.sulake.com/press/releases/2011-03-31-Habbo_Hotels_Parent_Company_Reports_Record_Year.html
  3. ^ http://sulake.com/blog/entries/2010-06-02-Virtual_thieves_caught_in_Habbo_Hotel_Finland.html
  4. ^ http://www.sulake.com/blog/entries/2012-02-16-Sulake_Consolidation.html
  5. ^ http://dome.fi/pelit/ajankohtaista/suomalainen-sulake-vetaytyy-maailmalta-irtisanoo-tuntuvasti
  6. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9330572/Habbo-Hotel-investor-pulls-out-over-pornographic-content-claims.html


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