Middleware: BigWorld Opens New European Office, Licenses Tech To Cybertime
MMO distributor and middleware developer BigWorld opened an European office, seeking to establish a "direct local presence" in the market.
Though the Australia-based company did not reveal where the office is based, BigWorld named Mike Allenson, its newly appointed business development manager for Europe and Russia, as the new office's head.
Previously, Allenson served as a business development director at Moscow publisher NIval Interactive, where he worked on releasing titles such as Heroes of Might and Magic V for Ubisoft.
BigWorld recently announced in July that it expanded its presence to the Japanese and South Korean markets, bringing in a new business development director and a new account executive for the areas.
Says Allenson: “BigWorld Technology’s growth as a best-of-class MMO middleware has been astounding. I’m both glad and honored to be joining a company that is building the best possible MMO tech coupled with an intense focus on customer support. I’m looking forward to translating and extending our successes in Asia and the U.S. here to the European and Russian markets.”
BigWorld also announced a new deal with Russian-based developer Cybertime System for upcoming virtual world Cyber Town. The studio specializes in creating virtual cities in real-time environments.
Cyber Town aims to recreate entire city infrastructures, including buildings, streets, shopping centres, banks, and offices. Players can create avatars and living spaces to socialize with friends, participate in quests and games, interact with real-world businesses, and handle online banking and utility payments.
The developer plans to recreate Yeketerinburg and Moscow in Cyber Town first before tackling international cities such as London, Tokyo, and New York.
Cybertime System director Wladislav Nitzak comments: “Looking at the explosive growth of virtual worlds and broadband internet both here in Russia and around the world, we wanted to create a new space where people could both socialize and communicate with each other in familiar settings as well as gain the added value of being able to interact with local businesses on a whole new level."
He continues: "We want to move from strictly placing ads to an online-services model that benefits everyone. Partnering with BigWorld is instrumental in helping us to achieve our technological and business goals in the best and most cost efficient manner."
