Plarium
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Social/Mobile games |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Avi Shalel Gabi Shalel Illya Turpiashvili Haim Turpiashvili Ivan Vorobeychyk Michael Morgovsky Yaron Hakimi |
Number of employees | 1,000 (2016) |
| Website | www.plarium.com |
Plarium is a mobile, social, and web-based game developer, known for massively multiplayer online (MMOs) games, including Sparta: War of Empires, Soldiers, Inc., Total Domination: Reborn, Stormfall: Age of War, Total Domination: Nuclear Strategy. Founded in 2009, Plarium is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel with 8 studios across Europe and the United States. Since its founding in 2009, Plarium has reached a global user base of over 180 million players.[1] The company’s social games are available on networks, including Facebook, Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki and Mail.Ru, and its mobile games are available on iOS and Android devices.
Plarium has previously employed BAFTA award winner, Jesper Kyd, known for his work on the video games such as Assassin’s Creed and Borderlands, to compose the music for their own games.[2]
In November 2012, Plarium released Stormfall: Age of War, one of the fastest growing social games on Facebook.[3] In 2013, Facebook recognized Soldiers, Inc. as one of the top social games of the year.[4]
History
Plarium was founded in 2009 and started out by developing games for the eastern European casual gaming market, such as Farmandia on the Russian social network VKontakte. In 2011, Plarium began developing Massively Multiplayer Online strategy games, and in February of that year the company released Total Domination, reaching 20 million users.[5]
Notable Games
Total Domination: Nuclear Strategy
Launched in July 2011, this futuristic war MMO strategy game is set after Earth’s destruction in a wasteland where players compete against one another to overtake territories.
Pirates: Tides of Fortune
Players start as a prisoner washed up on the shore of a deserted island and are tasked with creating a fleet of buccaneers in the fictional Tortuga. Pirates: Tides of Fortune has over 20 million players. The game was released in February 2012.
Stormfall: Age of War
The medieval fantasy themed MMO strategy game is set in a fictional real of Stormfall, which has fallen to rival warlords. Facebook’s Director of Game Partnerships Sean Ryan called it a “beautiful-looking game” when it launched in November 2012.[6]
Total Domination: Reborn
An iOS version of Total Domination: Nuclear Strategy was released in June 2013. It was also released for Android over a year later in December 2014.[7]
Soldiers, Inc.
This military-based MMO strategy game takes place in the fictional Republic of Zandia in the near future, where players build their own armies to obtain the most resources from competing countries. The game launched on Facebook in August 2013. On November 10, 2015 Plarium partnered with 20th Century Fox to create Soldiers Inc. The Alien vs. Predator, [8] an Alien vs. Predator campaign within their game Soldiers Inc.
Sparta: War of Empires
Set in Greece in the 5th century BC, Sparta: War of Empires is a Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy game during the middle of war with Xerxes and the Persian army. King Leonidas is the player’s mentor while they build their army against other opponents. This game launched on Facebook in March 2014.
Stormfall: Rise of Balur
An iOS and Android version of Stormfall: Age of War was released in Janaury 2015.
Nords: Heroes of the North
Plarium released Nords: Heroes of the North on Facebook on May 19, 2015. It was later released on both iOS and Android on December 8, 2015, becoming their first cross-platform game.
Vikings: War of Clans
Plarium released Viking: War of Clans in August 2015 for Android and iOS, and was later released on the Amazon Appstore on December 15, 2015. The game is inspired by the historical Vikings era of 750 to 1050 A.D.
Reception
Plarium’s Stormfall: Age of War was considered “top games” charts during its 2012 launch, and one of the fastest growing Facebook apps by monthly active users.[9]
In 2013, Facebook recognized Soldiers, Inc. as one of the best new social games of the year.[10] VentureBeat mentioned Plarium in March of 2014 as one of the standalone gaming companies prioritizing social games on the Facebook platform. Plarium players are currently averaging three sessions a day on Facebook.[11]
In August 1, 2014 Plarium was named one of Europe’s most promising startups by Wired UK journalist Madhumita Venkataramanan, speculating that the company will be Israel’s next billion-dollar company if it goes public in 2015.[12]
Facebook’s Director of Platform Partnerships, Julien Codorinou mentioned Plarium as one of the top global gaming companies on the Facebook platform.[13]
Plarium Games
| Farmandia | 2010 | |
| Total Domination: Nuclear Strategy | 2011 | Browser |
| Pirates: Tides of Fortune | 2012 | Browser |
| Stormfall: Age of War | 2012 | Browser |
| Total Domination Reborn | 2013 | iOS and Android |
| Soldiers Inc. | 2013 | iOS and Android |
| Sparta: War of Empires | 2014 | Browser |
| Stormfall: Rise of Balur | 2015 | iOS and Android |
| Nords: Heroes of the North | 2015 | Browser, iOS and Android |
| Vikings: War of Clans | 2015 | iOS and Android |
External links
Sources
- ^ "Plarium expands to London". gamesindustry.biz. January 16, 2016.
- ^ "Jesper Kyd: Music Serves the Same Purpose Regardless of the Platform". GameSauce.org. July 18, 2014.
- ^ "Tech roundup / Plarium gaming company scores a Top 20 Facebook hit". Haaretz.com. March 15, 2013.
- ^ "Facebook Games of the Year 2013". Facebook.com. December 9, 2013.
- ^ "Russia-focused online games developer eyes new markets". Reuters.com. July 11, 2012.
- ^ "Israel's Plarium debuts graphically rich hardcore Stormfall game on Facebook (exclusive)". VentureBeat. October 31, 2013.
- ^ "Strategy Games". TopAppCharts.com. October 30, 2014.
- ^ "'Alien vs. Predator' Coming to Facebook Game". Variety.com. September 14, 2015.
- ^ "CityVille 2, Subway Surfers, Stormfall, Snapchat, Twitter and more on this week's top 20 Facebook apps growing by MAU". Inside Facebook. November 26, 2012.
- ^ "Facebook names its top games of 2013". VentureBeat. October 9, 2013.
- ^ "Why one studio is still plugging away on new Facebook games". VentureBeat. March 13, 2014.
- ^ "Europe's hottest startups 2014: Tel Aviv". Wired.co.uk. August 1, 2014.
- ^ "With Hostilities Over, DLD Kicks Off in Tel Aviv". Wired.co.uk. September 16, 2014.