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Mobile startup Motiga promises real-time mobile multiplayer tech, starting with 'The LeftOvers'

Christopher Grant
Updated ·4 min read

Motiga is a new startup with a clear goal: To build a technology platform that enables small mobile gaming teams to include real-time multiplayer "quickly and with less resources." Motiga's platform is called (backronymed?) the Motiga Infinite Context Engine or MICE. To show off what MICE is capable of, Motiga is co-developing The LeftOvers, which it's billing as a "free-to-play, real-time multiplayer game."

"The fact that The LeftOvers is created by a team of three developers is a testament to the ease of use and robustness of our technology," said Motiga co-founder Rick Lambright. Lambright, along with fellow co-founder Chris Chung, bring a lot of expertise to the outfit. Chung served as Chief Strategy Officer at Trion and before that, spent time at NCsoft and Guild Wars developer ArenaNet. Lambright was Chief Architect at MMO pub Gazillion Entertainment where he worked on the tech for games like Marvel Super Hero Squad Online and LEGO Universe.

Is an easy-to-implement real-time multiplayer solution for mobile gaming possible and, if so, is that model of multiplayer something mobile gamers are interested in? We're not sure, but we're excited to find out.
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Online Games Industry Veterans Form Motiga to Develop and Publish Premium Connected Games for Mobile Devices

Debut Game The LeftOvers Playable At Penny Arcade Expo August 26-28

Bellevue, WA. – August 25, 2011 -- Developing multiplayer games for today's mobile devices is challenging for small development teams. Motiga, a Washington-based startup led by online games industry veterans, have created a high performance, scalable, cloud-based mobile game server technology called the Motiga Infinite Context Engine (MICE) that will enable small teams to develop a broad spectrum of real-time mobile multiplayer games quickly and with less resources.

Motiga's first game using the MICE server technology is a new free-to-play, real-time multiplayer game called The LeftOvers, co-developed with Tinfoil Fez, and will launch this fall on iPhone and iPad. The world exclusive playable debut of The LeftOvers will be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA., August 26-28 in booth #682 (Ayzenberg).

Motiga was founded in August of 2010 by long time veterans of the online game industry: Chris Chung and Rick Lambright.

"Traditionally, creating server infrastructure for a real-time multiplayer game requires a sizable team of highly skilled server developers," said Lambright. "MICE makes it easy to create real-time multiplayer games for mobile devices. The fact that The LeftOvers is created by a team of three developers is a testament to the ease of use and robustness of our technology."

"We've assembled an all-star team at Motiga, with a focus on ushering in the next generation of online multiplayer games across mobile devices," said Chung. "And we won't do it alone. Our new MICE technology will give mobile developers the power to produce cutting-edge multiplayer games in record time."

Prior to founding Motiga with his longtime friend Lambright, Chung was the Chief Strategy Officer of Trion Worlds. Prior to Trion, he spent seven years at global online game giant NCsoft starting as the business manager for ArenaNet and eventually becoming the CEO of NC West where he was responsible for all western business for the company. In 2008, Chung was chosen as one of the most influential people in the game industry by Game Developer Magazine, being named as one of the "Top Deck." He was also named as one of the 20 most influential people in the MMO industry by Beckett Massive Online Gamer Magazine in 2009.

Renowned MMO server architect Rick Lambright was the Chief Architect at Gazillion Entertainment prior to founding Motiga with Chung. At Gazillion, he shepherded the technical teams for the portfolio including Marvel Super Hero Squad Online and LEGO Universe. He has created MMO servers for more than 16 years starting with Castle Infinity in 1995. He then went on to create the networking for Total Annihilation for Cavedog Entertainment and the Boneyards online game system for GT Interactive, and later architected the seamless virtual world server technology for The Matrix Online at Monolith.

The founders of Motiga have assembled a team of industry veterans who held leadership positions at ArenaNet, Game House, Microsoft, Outspark, Ubermind and Big Fish. The team has more than 100 years of online game experience combined and have shipped multi-platinum titles on PC, console and mobile.

Motiga has raised $1.9 MM to date in a convertible note through a number of angel investors including the Korean online game and Internet giant Neowiz, Mark Moore, Nick Lawler and Alesia Pinney.

For more information on The LeftOvers and Motiga, please visit http://www.motiga.com.
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