Big Fish Games
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founder | Paul Thelen  |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, United States |
Number of employees | 700 (2013) |
| Parent | Aristocrat Leisure |
| Website | bigfishgames |
Big Fish Games is a casual gaming company based in Seattle, with a regional office in Oakland, California, owned by Aristocrat Leisure. It is a developer and distributor of casual games for computers and mobile devices. It has been accused of knowingly deceiving customers into signing up for monthly purchases without informed consent.[1]
History
The company was founded in 2002.[2] In 2009, it announced the opening of their new European headquarters in Cork, Ireland.
In August 2013, the company announced the closing of its cloud-based games service, Vancouver studio and Cork offices.[3]
In 2014, the company was acquired by Churchill Downs Inc. in a deal valued at up to $885 million.[4][5]
In 2018, Churchill Downs sold Big Fish to Australian slots manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure for $990 million.[6]
In September of 2018, Big Fish cut 15% of its workforce[7]
In September of 2020, Big Fish cut nearly 50% of its workforce[8]
Big Fish Studios
Big Fish Games has a number of studios split between the Seattle office and Oakland office that develop games: Self Aware Games, Triton Studios, Epic Ventures and ARC Studios.
Games developed by the various Big Fish studios include:
- Drawn series: Dark Flight, The Painted Tower, Trail of Shadows
- Fairway Solitaire HD
- Hidden Expedition series
- Mystery Case Files series
Online games
The company entered browser gaming with its acquisition of the game website Ion Thunder in 2007; the service was re-branded as Atlantis following the acquisition.[citation needed] The service, which was later revamped as Big Sea Games in 2009, was shut down in 2010 as part of the company's shift from traditional online games to social games on Facebook and mobile apps.[9] It has also spawned an independent online community to discuss all things Big Fish related [10]
References
- ^ Duryee, Tricia (August 6, 2014). "Lawsuit accuses Big Fish of baiting customers into signing up for 'free' game memberships that really aren't". GeekWire.
- ^ "About Big Fish". Big Fish Games. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- ^ Cook, John (August 21, 2013). "Full memo: Big Fish CEO announces job cuts, cancellation of cloud games business and closure of Ireland and BC facilities". GeekWire. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- ^ Wingfield, Nick (November 12, 2014). "Churchill Downs to buy Big Fish Games for up to $885 million". New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ "Churchill finishes purchase of Big Fish Games". The Blood-Horse. December 16, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ "Seattle-based Big Fish Games being sold for $990M to Australian firm". Seattle Times. November 29, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ "Internal memo: Big Fish Games cutting 15% of its workforce, including key executives". Geekwire. September 25, 2018.
- ^ "Seattle-based Big Fish Games lays off 250 people". Geekwire. September 1, 2020.
- ^ "Big Sea Games fans swim to other ponds". Gamezebo. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "Big Fish PC Gaming Community". big fish gaming. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
External links
- 2002 establishments in Washington (state)
- American companies established in 2002
- Casual games
- Companies based in Seattle
- Mobile game companies
- Video game companies established in 2002
- Video game companies of the United States
- Video game development companies
- 2014 mergers and acquisitions
- 2018 mergers and acquisitions
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies