Zynga inks distribution deal with Game of Thrones Ascent developer Disruptor Beam
Zynga announced that it has established a partnership with Boston-based social game developer Disruptor Beam to bring the studio's popular Facebook game Game of Thrones Ascent to its player base at Zynga.com.
Since its open beta launch in February, Game of Thrones Ascent has attracted more than 500,000 players to its strategy-focused take on the world of Westeros. As part of the agreement, Zynga will handle distribution of the game on Facebook and its own web portal, and will work closely with Disruptor Beam through its Zynga Partners program.
Starting with HBO's third season of Game of Thrones, additional Ascent content will be released after each new episode airs, resulting in what Disruptor Beam CEO Jon Radoff calls "a unique transmedia experience that is not currently seen in any other social game."
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Zynga partners with HBO and Disruptor Beam to bring
Game of Thrones Ascent to Zynga players
By Rob Dyer, VP of Partner Publishing, Zynga
Every once in while we get the chance to work with an exciting team as part of the Zynga Partners program – joining forces with a developer whose vision for making social games a true entertainment experience matches Zynga's.
For me, that happened recently when we signed a third-party publishing deal for Game of Thrones Ascent from Disruptor Beam. The game, based on the epic hit series from HBO, was highly sought after in the publishing space and has seen huge interest from players over the past couple of months. Disruptor Beam has done an outstanding job with the game's design – creating an engaging and authentic experience that appeals to midcore and casual players alike, and reflects the incredible world of Game of Thrones, created by George R.R. Martin and brought to life by HBO.
It's a great partnership for everyone involved and I couldn't be more excited to introduce this game to Zynga's players. With that, I want to hand this post over to Jon Radoff, CEO and Founder of Disruptor Beam, who can share a bit more about the game and partnership in his own words.
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Since its founding in 2010, our goal at Disruptor Beam has been to disrupt the world of social games; to provide immersive gameplay experiences based around the worlds and stories that players love most. To that end, our team has been toiling away on the development of Game of Thrones Ascent – making it an entertainment experience that changes the way players view social games.
We launched Game of Thrones Ascent into open beta on Facebook on February 21, and since then we've seen half-a-million installs of the game in less than two months – with many players coming back again-and-again to immerse themselves in the world of Westeros. But, as with any social game developer, a primary goal is to continue to iterate on the game with new mechanics and features, while continuing to grow the player base. For those reasons, we are extremely excited to partner with Zynga, exposing Game of Thrones Ascent to Zynga's millions of players on Zynga.com and Facebook, while working side-by-side with the Zynga Partners team to continue to make this game a true extension of HBO's renowned series Game of Thrones.
One thing that I've learned in my years of starting and building companies is that gaming companies cannot always be solely responsible for 100 percent of their "hits." Partnerships are integral to the success of any game company and any game, so we are thrilled to now be working with the amazing team at Zynga to move into the next phase for Game of Thrones Ascent!
Now, if you haven't had a chance to check out Game of Thrones Ascent, here's what you should know. We've stayed authentic and true to the literary works of George R.R. Martin, as well as the HBO series. We've worked directly with HBO for over a year to ensure that our game accurately reflects the world of Westeros. Blending immersive story lines and strategic play, the game allows players to lead the life of a noble during a time of upheaval – a scene familiar to fans of the books and TV series. You'll swear allegiance to one of the Great Houses, select your lineage, secure your holdings, develop your lands and reputation, and assign sworn swords to quests – while forging alliances with new friends. And, to stay even more true to the series, we've been releasing new content each week following new episodes from Season 3, allowing players to live out some of the experiences they witness on TV – a unique Transmedia experience that is not currently seen in any other social game.
Hope to see you in Westeros on Facebook, and Zynga.com soon!
- Jon Radoff
