Jump to content

Machine Zone

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kenosplit (talk | contribs) at 21:54, 4 April 2016 (I updated the description of the company.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Machine Zone
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryVideo game development, Internet software
PredecessorAddmired[1]
Founder
  • Gabriel Leydon
  • Mike Sherrill
  • Halbert Nakagawa
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California
Area served
Worldwide
Products
Number of employees
550 (2015)[2]
Websitewww.mz.com

Machine Zone, Inc. (MZ) is a privately held software and gaming company based in Palo Alto, California. Since its founding in 2008, MZ's focus has been on developing products that allow billions of users to connect in real time, including by building massively multiplayer online games that could simultaneously, seamlessly, and efficiently handle the concurrent gameplay and interactions of users around the world in dozens of languages. MZ's Realtime technology is the engine that drives MZ's flagship products, including Game of War: Fire Age, a freemium mobile MMO strategy video game that was one of the top-grossing apps in 2014 and 2015, and Mobile Strike, a freemium mobile modern warfare MMO strategy video game that has been a top-grossing apps since it premiered in late 2015. More recently, MZ has begun offering its Realtime technology to others through its RTplatform, the first true real time cloud platform for mobile, web, and enterprise that allows the simultaneous and efficient exchange of data between billions of endpoints worldwide.

Business history

The company, which was originally called Addmired, was founded in 2008 by Gabriel Leydon (currently the CEO of MZ), with partners Mike Sherrill and current Chief Technology Officer Halbert Nakagawa.[1][3] It was among the participants in Y Combinator's Winter 2008 Accelerator program for startups.[4]

The company got its start making AddHer and AddHim,[4] a pair of MySpace widgets that TechCrunch called "a Hot or Not-esque social network plugin."[5] Addmired later successfully pivoted into the free-to-play game space, releasing 13 games between 2009 and 2012, including the iOS games Original Gangstaz, iMob and iMob 2, and Global War Riot.[1][5][6]

In 2012, Addmired changed its name to Machine Zone after raising $8 million dollars in funding from Menlo Ventures.[1]

Machine Zone released Game of War: Fire Age in July 2013, and approximately $40 million was spent on marketing the game in 2014.[7] Along with advertisements in digital and social media, highly produced television commercials featuring model Kate Upton were created. The ads highlighted Upton's sex appeal as she led battles in fantasy settings loosely comparable to those in Game of Thrones. The spots were introduced in the United States during an NFL Thursday Night Football game and continued to be aired prominently during Super Bowl XLIX and other sporting events.[8][9] In June 2015, TMZ reported that Upton was to be replaced by singer Mariah Carey as the face of the campaign.[10] On September 14, 2015, the first commercial with Mariah Carey was revealed.[11]

In August 2015, a former employee was arrested and charged with stealing proprietary data that included "player spending habits broken down by time, location, age and other characteristics" which showed, for example, which of Game of War's "in-game items generate the most revenue and where in the game players often quit."[12] According to the Wall Street Journal, the monetary value of the data derived from the fact that "about 3% of mobile-game players buy virtual goodies, such as extra turns and special powers. Most spend only a few dollars a month, while a tiny fraction known as whales – a name derived from casinos – plunk down $50 or more a month."[12]

As of late 2015, Machine Zone had more than 550 employees around the world,[2] with headquarters in Palo Alto, California and operations in San Diego, Las Vegas, Germany, Japan and Russia.[3]

Machine Zone rebranded itself as MZ in 2016, at the time of its announcement of RTplatform, an upcoming product based on MZ's gaming platform, described by MZ as "capable of the simultaneous exchange of data between millions of endpoints worldwide with unparalleled speed and efficiency in real time."[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d De Vere, Kathleen (March 27, 2012). "Addmired nets $8 million Series B, changes name to Machine Zone". Social Times. AdWeek. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (October 16, 2015). "An interview with Gabe Leydon, Machine Zone's man on the Iron Throne". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b Rubenstein Associates (October 23, 2015). "Machine Zone CEO and Co-Founder Gabriel Leydon Named by Goldman Sachs as One of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs of 2015". Business Wire (press release). Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  4. ^ a b Hendrickson, Mark (March 14, 2008). "Y Combinator Demo Day Roundup for Spring 2008". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b Velazco, Chris (March 27, 2012). "Freemium Game Dev Addmired Rebrands As Machine Zone, Lands $8M From Menlo Ventures". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Machine Zone". CrunchBase. TechCrunch. 2013. {{cite journal}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Tassi, Paul (November 14, 2014). "A $40M Ad Budget Buys 'Game of War: Fire Age' Kate Upton". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  8. ^ Monllos, Kristina (November 13, 2014). "Game of War: Fire Age Launches First Global Campaign, Starring Kate Upton". AdWeek. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  9. ^ Vinh Tien Trinh, Brian (February 1, 2015). "Game of War's Super Bowl Ad Is Pretty Much Kate Upton In 'Game of Thrones'". The Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  10. ^ Cox, Jamieson. "Mariah Carey is replacing Kate Upton as the new public face of Game of War: Fire Age". TheVerge. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  11. ^ "Game of War with Mariah Carey". TMZ. September 14, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Needleman, Sarah E. (August 26, 2015). "Why 'Game of War' User Data Is So Valuable". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-12-25. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "About Us". MZ.com. April 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved April 4, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Machine_Zone&oldid=713585788"