Kobojo’s Highly Anticipated Mobile JRPG Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey to Launch as a Premium Title in U.S. and Europe 

PARIS – Aug. 11, 2015 – Independent game developer Kobojo has revealed that its upcoming Japanese role-playing game (JRPG), Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey will officially launch as a premium mobile game on iOS platforms in the U.S. and Europe later this year. The game is in production at Kobojo’s Dundee, Scotland studio with the aid of Kazushige Nojima (writer of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X) and Hitoshi Sakimoto (composer of Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy XII).

Combining some of the best elements of classic JRPGs, this innovative new role-playing game seamlessly combines an engaging adventure and intense battle sequences with freeform exploration, item crafting and a unique storyline – all presented with gorgeous, hand-drawn 2D art and accompanied by a comprehensive soundtrack. At launch, Zodiac will be available as a premium app purchase from the App Store, offering multiple areas to explore, numerous dungeons, hours of quests and side-quests, and in-depth cinematic sequences and epic boss encounters. The game will be supplemented following launch with episodic updates that unfold the story of Orcanon, add new areas to explore, release additional unlockable character classes and powers to discover, and interesting new characters to meet and exciting new challenges to reveal the secrets of this new mysterious world.

“The heart and soul of Zodiac has always been to bring players a classic JRPG experience regardless of platform – the kind of experience that JRPG fans enjoy, and sadly, that no longer seem as common as they once were,” said Kobojo CEO Mario Rizzo. “Listening to the great feedback we received after showing the game at GDC and E3, we’ve made the unprecedented decision to shift gears from Kobojo’s usual free-to-play format to make Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey a premium game for Western audiences. We’re excited to announce that the launch of game will offer an original Nojima-san storyline and the thrilling gameplay that we’ve all been hoping to see from a new JRPG product in a standalone, one-time premium game purchase, with episodic content updates to continue the epic saga of Orcanon.”

Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey will launch later this year on Android and will launch on PC and Sony platforms shortly afterwards. Exact pricing information will be released closer to launch. 

About Kobojo

Kobojo develops engaging, online RPG titles that are designed for touch devices. The company is passionate about developing high-quality multiplayer game mechanics and is known for its extraordinary hand-drawn 2D graphics. It has created and is currently managing the highly successful mobile RPG Mutants: Genetic Gladiators. Kobojo is a private company, founded in 2008, with headquarters in Paris, France and a new development studio in Dundee, Scotland.

Cloud-Based Project Management Platform, Streamframe, is Now Available Worldwide

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – August 11, 2015 – Streamline Media Group announced today that its new proprietary cloud-based project management platform specifically designed for video game development, Streamframe, is now commercially available to users globally. During its testing phase Streamframe has already served an integral part for thousands of developers creating games worldwide. For more information and to start using Streamframe, visit: www.streamframe.com 

“The complexity of game development has moved beyond spreadsheets and one-dimensional systems”, said Alexander Fernandez, CEO of Streamline Media Group. “Teams today need a unified development platform that brings together art, code, production and administration into one place so that they can have a holistic view of their project and its effect upon the organization. Streamframe does just that while also tracking all the individual changes taking place during the course of development. For the first time teams are able to get a general overview and immediately deep dive into the state of play.” 

Streamframe builds projects quickly through a sophisticated framework that incorporates tracking of resources, time and finances. Teams collaborate, manage clients, feedback and workflows all through a socially powered interface. Clients stay informed on every aspect of a project whenever they want by simply logging into Streamframe’s Client access to view project status. The ability to implement any necessary changes to development quickly and seamlessly leads to a massive reduction in turnaround times. While most project management tools are static, Streamframe is highly responsive and allows on-the-fly adjustments to free creativity and prevent lags in project timelines.  

 To register and learn more about Steamframe visit: www.streamframe.com

ABOUT STREAMLINE MEDIA GROUP

Streamline Media Group, Inc., is an award winning group comprised of media, entertainment and technology experts. Working through its daughter companies, Streamline Studios and Streamframe, Streamline Media Group leverages high-end production expertise, proprietary technology and the economies of scale of Southeast Asia to devise uncommon solutions that drive its clients’ business forward. For more information, please visit www.streamline-mediagroup.com  

ABOUT STREAMLINE STUDIOS

Streamline Studios is the largest  independent game developer and content outsourcing studio in Malaysia. A subsidiary of Streamline Media Group, Inc., Streamline Studios combines its proprietary technology, Streamframe, with veteran lead teams and economies of scale of Malaysia to bring its clients’ visions to reality. With more than 200 productions completed, including Bioshock Infinite, Gears of War and Pillars of Eternity, Streamline Studios is the go-to studio for discerning publishers and developers that require no-nonsense creative execution. Streamline Studios, with Streamframe, have experienced over 340% growth in the last 12 months and as Malaysia’s largest game developer it is currently recruiting talent from all over the globe. For more information, please visit www.streamline-studios.com. 

ABOUT STREAMFRAME

Streamframe is the first cloud-based project management platform engineered by game developers for game developers. It recombines production, project and client management into an entirely new social-powered platform that is powerful and easy to use. Currently in preview-release and utilized by thousands of developers worldwide, Streamframe organizes development chaos, bringing a flexible, fluid tool to the complex production streams of game development and allowing teams both the freedom to create and keep a clear focus on the bottom line. For more information, please visit www.streamframe.com. 

OVERLORD™: FELLOWSHIP OF EVIL INFORMATION FILM DISCUSSES THE BENEFITS OF EVILING ALONE OR EVILING WITH FRIENDS

UK – August 10, 2015 – The dastardly development minions at Codemasters today unleashed the latest video for Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, their digital only, angelically-priced, devilishly fun Action RPG which is coming to PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC soon. Fans of evil doings can watch the trailer in action now at www.overlordthegame.com.

Whilst eviling alone is fun, the second in their series of training videos from The Minionstry of Information also teaches Netherghūls-in-training the value of working together. Bringing a friend (or at least someone you can tolerate for a while) along to help with the carnage can really help lift the levels of nefarious nastiness.

But in Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, your friends can also be your biggest enemies. Co-operation becomes “co-opetition” as Netherghūls compete to be more evil throughout the game and traps offer opportunities for mischief.

“Whilst you are welcome to indulge in some solo mayhem and destruction, sometimes you need a friend to back you up,” said Gnarl, evil Minion Master. “And when I say friend, I mean enemy who hasn’t killed you yet.”

“Fellowship of Evil has been designed to be equally fun playing solo or with your friends in co-op,” said Carl Johnson, Chief Design Minion, Codemasters. “Whether you’re at your happiest causing chaos alone with a horde of minions at your heels or together with some equally evil companions, there’s always plenty of deviousness to be done. Remember, evil never plays by the rules!”

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil is a dark and twisted Action RPG filled with the series’ signature black humor. Penned by award-winning original Overlord scriptwriter Rhianna Pratchett, Overlord: Fellowship of Evil delivers an epic new quest featuring four Netherghūls – undead servants of the dark arts, resurrected in the absence of a true Overlord, to bring evil back to a world overrun by the forces of good.

Assisting gamers once again are the mighty, maniacal and occasionally moronic minions, ready to unleash their charmingly chaotic brand of destruction and led by Gnarl, their wise old master, voiced, as before, by actor Marc Silk.

Players will embark on a brand new Overlord adventure filled with fun combat and twisted fantasy tales in single-player or with up to three friends in local and online single-screen co-op. Overlord: Fellowship of Evil invites players to dive into an Action RPG where it’s good to be bad, but it’s GREAT to be evil.

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil invades digital stores on consoles and Steam for Windows PC in 2015. Follow the Codemasters minions’ progress towards world domination on the Codemasters Blog and on social media on Twitter and Facebook.

To plunder the press treasures, including the devilish new trailer, head to  www.codemasterspress.com.

ABOUT CODEMASTERS

Codemasters, the award winning video game developer and publisher, has a 25-year heritage. With titles distributed globally, Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of driving and racing entertainment games including DiRT, GRID and the official BAFTA award-winning FORMULA 1 series of videogames. In March 2010, Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL), a part of India’s Reliance ADA group, acquired a 60 percent shareholding in the company, alongside existing investor, Balderton Capital, the leading European venture capital firm. For more information on Codemasters’ product portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com. Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/codemasters.

ABOUT RHIANNA PRATCHETT

Rhianna Pratchett is an award-winning scriptwriter for videogames, comics, film and TV. Rhianna has regularly been named one of the top 100 most influential women in the games industry by various publications, including Edge, MCV and Develop, and won the Women in Games Hall of Fame award in 2013. She has talked about wrestling the wild beasts of narrative for numerous panels, documentaries and lectures. For more information, visit www.rhiannapratchett.com

ABOUT MARC SILK

Marc Silk’s voice is heard around the world in Cartoons, Films, TV Shows, Commercials, Theme Parks & Games, including F1 Race Stars, and the Overlord games, as the voice of Gnarl and a stack of wild Minions! For more information, visit www.marcsilk.com Twitter: @marcsilk

© 2015 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”® and the Codemasters logo® are registered trademarks owned by Codemasters. “Overlord” and “Overlord: Fellowship of Evil”™ is a trademark of Codemasters. All other trademarks or copyrights are the property of their respective owners and are used under license. Developed and published by Codemasters. Created with Unity. ©Unity Technologies. Audio powered by Fabric.

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners.

ANNOUNCING THE VAINGLORY INTERNATIONAL PREMIER LEAGUE (IPL), OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH GIANT INTERACTIVE IN CHINA, AND $26M RAISED IN FUNDING

We’ve had a busy July over at the Lair. We’ve been delighted to see the rapid growth of Vainglory — both in player numbers and viewer numbers. We were thrilled to see the first broadcasts from the Vainglory World Invitationals with OGN, and the awesome reception for our new spectator system. And we’ve been overwhelmed by the continued support and help from our players around the world.

Today, we’re announcing three major news items that all mark important steps forward on our journey of growing the global Vainglory community and Super Evil Megacorp as a company.

1. Announcing the Vainglory International Premier League

Following on from the overwhelming success of the Vainglory World Invitationals in Korea, we’re today announcing a strategic partnership with OGN around the Vainglory International Premier League (IPL) starting August 16. The Vainglory IPL will be an elite competition featuring the best teams in the world, including teams from Korea, Europe, North America and China competing for a $70,000 prize pool. Cast by superstar casters including Christopher “Montecristo” Mykles and Brendan Valdes, this first season will be a six-week league, broadcast twice a week live on prime-time TV in Korea and streamed to millions around the globe. Confirmed international teams include Team Unknown (EU), Team Gankstars (North America) and Team Hunters (China), who are all moving to Korea to take part in the inaugural Vainglory IPL season together with the top Korean teams. Broadcast times will be announced soon.

OGN invented eSports as we know it today with StarCraft more than 10 years ago. We’re thrilled that they’re once again breaking new ground by throwing their full weight behind Vainglory and touch-screen eSports. OGN brings the same passion and craftsmanship for the eSports experience as we do at Super Evil. We’re very fortunate to get to work with their unique talent to create a competition and a broadcast format that we can share with the whole global Vainglory audience. In addition to the Vainglory IPL, we will continue to support local community-run leagues, tournaments and events all over the world. And while waiting for the Vainglory IPL to start, remember to tune into the epic Vainglory World Invitational Final between Team Invincible Armada (Korea) and Team Divine Brothers (Japan) on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 11:30 PM PDT / 08:30 CET Friday on the following official OGN Twitch channels:

• English-language broadcast: http://www.twitch.tv/ognglobal
• Korean-language broadcast: http://www.twitch.tv/ogn
• Japanese-lanaguge broadcast: http://ch.nicovideo.jp/e-sports-square/live
• Chinese-language broadcast: twitch.tv/ogncn

2. Announcing our China partnership with Giant Interactive

Our Chinese player community has grown rapidly — despite the game not being available there yet and not having a dedicated server in China. (Sorry for the 250ms+ lag!) We are very excited to announce that we are soon launching Vainglory in China with our partner Giant Interactive. Giant is one of the most respected core PC gaming companies in China, and we will work with them closely over the coming months to optimize the experience for Vainglory players in China. Vainglory (虚荣 in China) will have synchronized updates with other regions and will launch in a major way on iOS and Android later this year. We can’t wait to welcome the most populous country in the world to the Halcyon Fold!

3. Announcing the $26M round of investment into Super Evil Megacorp

We’re today also announcing a new $26M round of funding to help us continue to build incredible core gaming experiences on touch screens, and to pursue our dream of evolving Vainglory into what we hope will be the world’s first mass-market esport. While the $26M number is pretty cool, fundraising is actually mostly not about the money, contrary to what people think. Fundraising is about choosing amazing partners to help you grow as a company. We couldn’t be more excited about the new expanded international team around Super Evil.

In addition to our incredibly supportive existing investor team from Signia Ventures, General Catalyst, Raine Ventures, Initial Capital and CrossCut, this new round is led by Index Ventures (Supercell, Skype and others) and backed by Yuri Milner, Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital (early investor in Facebook and one of the most experienced American venture capitalists investing in China) and Korea Investment Partners (the largest and most highly regarded venture capital firm in Korea). Together, we now have a truly global team that gives us both the resources and the connections and expertise to grow our international reach to new heights.

HERE’S WHAT SOME OF OUR NEW PARTNERS ARE SAYING:

“We have had phenomenal success previously backing excellent teams making innovative mobile and tablet games. SEMC clearly fulfill these criteria and are taking a bold and pioneering approach within the category. Index Ventures is delighted to have been chosen to support them on this journey.” — Ben Holmes, Index Ventures.

“Nine months ago, Vainglory was a bold experiment to perfect the MOBA genre for touch screens. Today it is emerging as a global competitive platform, with its own star athletes, a league broadcast on TV in Korea, and millions of players around the world playing the game for over an hour each day. Super Evil is proving that the future of esports is mobile, and that Vainglory is poised to become the next frontier.” — Adam Valkin, Managing Director at General Catalyst Partners

And finally – DOUBLE GLORY!!

We are still at the beginning of this journey, and our days are spent perfecting our upcoming updates instead of daydreaming about the future. But today is an important milestone not just for us but for touch screen eSports as a whole. And we’d all love to take the opportunity to extend a huge “thank you” to all the players, broadcasters and YouTubers for helping us get this far!

To celebrate and say thank you we’re announcing TWO ADDITIONAL DOUBLE GLORY WEEKENDS – namely August 14-16 and August 21-23!

We can’t wait to show you all what we have planned and to keep working with all of you to  build out the Vainglory community, one match at a time.

GLHF all!

Kristian “EdTheShred” Segerstrale