February 17th, 2010 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Game Awards, Platforms: Bada | 5 Comments »
Last night, Samsung and Handmark announced the games that will receive funding for their presence on Samsung’s Baba fund. The biggest winner was Astraware, a studio that split from Handmark only recently.
In total, 30 games from 15 developers have been selected to receive funding. 5 of these mobile games originated from Astraware. Until January 28th, Astraware was part of Handmark. Depending on the title, the developers of them would receive up to $ 250.000 in funding. The individual amounts of funding were not disclosed though. Apart from the funding from Samsung, Handmark will provide development assistance as well as QA, certification and distribution.
“The titles we selected represent a fantastic community of mobile innovators,” Dr. Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Media Solution Centre at Samsung Electronics. “We are excited to bring these top-notch games and applications to our mobile customers, along with many others.”
“We are pleased to support Samsung leveraging our merchandising expertise to select the world’s best mobile applications that deliver fun, valuable experiences for their customers,” said Jason Ford, VP of Development and Distribution at Handmark. “We congratulate the winners on their solid entries.”
The full list of winners: Astraware Solitaire (Astraware), Astraware Sudoku (Astraware), Astraware Boardgames (Astraware), Astraware Casino (Astraware), JetPack Jack (Astraware), Polyhedra XL (Binary Hammer), Weston Westie (Bitrabbit), Aces Texas Hold’em
Sorry, am I reading this correctly… Handmarks own studio is winning investment… and for titles that are about 2 years old? I remember the day when companies running a competition couldn’t enter it themselves 🙂
Oh dear…well that’s a joke isn’t it?
Sorry but when I read this I loled myself, I was not expecting something very unique and special, but this is just a slap to the face to all the good and innovativ developers out there.
How to burn your reputation AND F*** one of your best partners in one night…
The only way Handmark could save itself now is by telling us those games didn’t get as much funding as any other title from the list, but I doubt that!
This is a F*CK*NG shame for the industry. Samsung should stop EVERY cooperation with Handmark at once. 250.000 USD burnt for nothing how innovative Astraware Sudoku, etc! I cannot believe it. Shame on Handmark, shame on Samsung!
@JOKE it might be 5X $250.000!