INDIECADE NOW ACCEPTING GAME SUBMISSIONS FOR INDIECADE FESTIVAL 2014

“The Sundance of the Game Industry” Will Return to
Culver City, CA October 9-12, 2014

LOS ANGELES—March 6, 2014—IndieCade, the premier international festival of independent games, has opened game submissions for this year’s IndieCade Festival, which will return to downtown Culver City, CA October 9-12. Independent creators can now submit their interactive media projects for inclusion in the event as well as for consideration to become one of 35 nominees for recognition at the festival’s “Red Carpet” Awards.

Submissions for games can be made, whether the games are finished or still in development, by visiting the IndieCade site at http://www.indiecade.com/Submissions/. Submissions will close on May 15.

The IndieCade Festival has proven itself as the spotlight location for the best, the brightest, and the most inspired independent games in the world, and annually welcomes some of the most innovative and artistic developers in the industry. Past festivals have included premiered games and award winners that have gone on to change the industry, including Braid, Flower, Alien Hominid, Johann Sebastian’s Joust, Skulls of the Shogun, and Towerfall among others.

IndieCade encourages submissions of all types of works, from video games to tabletop board and card games to experiential inventions. A diverse jury of more than 100 leaders from the video game industry, academia, fine arts, and the indie development scene will select the finalists and assign the top awards. Additionally, some of the best-of-the-best projects will be curated and showcased for the duration of IndieCade Festival for industry luminaries, publishers, investors, media, and the public in attendance.

In addition, every developer who submits a game will be granted access to the all-business “IndieXchange Summit” on October 9, where developers and game companies can network, talk business, and discuss innovations for the future.

“Our mission is focused on promoting indie projects while supporting and fostering the overall independent development community.” said Stephanie Barish, chief executive officer and founder, IndieCade. “The IndieXchange Summit is a great example of how we foster growth for independent game-makers. Through the summit, we invite creators and other industry leaders to challenge conventional and operational thinking, to educate and introduce new methodologies, and to encourage provocative and often controversial discussions through workshops, clinics and panels, technology boot camps and networking opportunities.”

IndieCade has recently added a series of development and technology boot camps to the annual IndieXchange Summit. Game designers are welcome to participate in the summit that includes a day of talks, panels, and networking opportunities. Publishers and institutions eager to find projects to fund, publish or collaborate on are also in attendance, and include companies like PlayStation, Nintendo, and Microsoft, or institutions like the National Endowment of the Arts. For more information about IndieXchange, please visit: http://www.indiecade.com/indiexchange/

IndieCade Festival 2014 passes will be on sale soon to the general public. To stay up-to-date on the latest information about IndieCade, IndieCade Festival and the newly formed non-profit organization, IndieCade Foundation:

Visit our Website: IndieCade.com
Follow us on Twitter: @IndieCade
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndieCade
Information on IndieCade Foundation: indiecade.org

About IndieCade
Applauded as the “Sundance of the videogame industry,” IndieCade supports independent game development globally through a series of international events highlighting the rich, diverse, artistic and culturally significant contributions of indie game developers. IndieCade’s programs are designed to bring visibility to and facilitate the production of new works within the emerging independent game community. Annual events include IndieCade East, IndieCade’s Showcase @ E3, and IndieCade Festival, the largest gathering of independent game creators in the nation. For more information, visit IndieCade.com.

Fourth Age Update Introduces Gunpowder to Stronghold Kingdoms

London, UK – 6^th March 2014 – Firefly Studios has just released a new ‘Fourth Age’ gameplay update for Stronghold Kingdoms, introducing gunpowder and a new defensive weapon in the form of the mighty Bombard. The update, which is now available to download, also adds new a building and several changes to the core gameplay rule set. Full details can be found in the developer’s Fourth Age news post at www.strongholdkingdoms.com:

“With the Age system it has always been our intent to provide each game world with a sense of progression. In previous Ages this meant changing the gameplay rule set to keep Kingdoms fresh for players and evolve the design according to their feedback. With the Fourth Age we have once again introduced new gameplay rules, but for the first time ever the game has also taken a step forward in time.

Today’s update adds the Fourth Age, introducing the MilitarySchool as well as several changes to the core gameplay rule set. Gunpowder has been introduced with Bombards, a new defensive castle structure unlocked through the MilitarySchool. This new weapon fires randomly and therefore lack a certain degree of accuracy, however it makes up for this with the ability to deal splash damage! We’re very excited about this new addition to players’ defensive armoury and are keen to hear feedback on how it can be best used to obliterate their foolish attackers.”

Other changes include an increase in the total number of castles that can be owned by players, faster army speeds, the disbanding of all in-game Factions and more. A full list of gameplay changes can be found in the developer’s Fourth Age post in the official Stronghold Kingdoms forum: http://bit.ly/age4rule

About Stronghold Kingdoms
Stronghold Kingdoms is the medieval online castle game. Join hundreds of thousands of players in a rich world of Lords, Ladies, Bumpkins and Barons as you build your village, research new technology and strive to be the greatest in the land. Construct mighty castles to defend your lands against insolent intruders, develop your economy and trade your way to victory, lead your fellow noblemen to war and control of the Kingdom. Build, besiege, pillage, farm, explore, research, vote, trade and banquet your way to the throne! For more information please visit www.strongholdkingdoms.com or follow @SHKingdoms on Twitter.

About Firefly Studios

Firefly Studios is an independent PC game developer specialising in real-time strategy and MMO titles. Formed in 1999 by Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette, the company has brought to market a number of high profile and commercially successful strategy games, including the Stronghold series with lifetime sales of over six million. Firefly has offices in the UK and US. For more information please visit their website at www.fireflyworlds.com or follow @fireflyworlds on Twitter.

The Walking Dead Will Come To Life In First-Of-Its-Kind Mobile Game Developed By Next Games and AMC

New York, NY and Helsinki, Finland – March 6, 2014 –Next Games and AMC today announced that the Finnish games company is in production of a mobile game based on AMC’s incredibly successful TV series The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is, for the second season in a row, the #1 show on U.S. television among adults 18-49, and incredibly popular around the world. The mobile game will be the first time players see this iconic and enormously popular TV series come to life through gameplay exclusively developed for smartphones and tablet devices.

AMC and Next Games will join forces on the marketing of the title as the game launch coincides with season 5 of The Walking Dead TV series. The project will be global at scale with distribution and marketing across continents in collaboration with the best local partners.

“We chose to team up with Next Games because of their outstanding creative and technical talent, as well as a willingness to re-imagine the unique and compelling world of The Walking Dead, which has built a significant and passionate global fan community,” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “We’re thrilled to be part of this next wave of games innovation and participating in a project that – like the show itself – is in service of the fans.”

“Our take on the undead survival franchise will match the against-all-odds action and moment-to-moment tension of the TV series. We want to find that sweet spot where gameplay and narrative inform and reinforce one another,” said Teemu Huuhtanen, CEO at Next Games. “Like AMC’s The Walking Dead itself, we’re not giving away too many details right out the gate, but I can confidently state it’s unlike anything we’ve seen from The Walking Dead franchise on home or mobile gaming hardware before.”

Founded by design veterans from Rovio, Supercell and Disney, Next Games has assembled a team with a profound love for games and a burning desire to develop lasting global entertainment. The studio is focused on crafting majestic narrative-driven games with engaging free-to-play mechanics.

The companies will announce additional details related to The Walking Dead game in the coming months.

Website: www.NextGames.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/NxtGms

Twitter: @NxtGms, www.twitter.com/NxtGms 

About AMC

Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC brings to its audience something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, and five out of the last six, and boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history and the current #1 show on television among adults 18-49 with The Walking Dead. AMC’s original drama series include Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Hell on Wheels. The network will premiere three new drama series in 2014: TURN, Halt and Catch Fire and the Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul. AMC also explores authentic worlds with bold characters through its slate of unscripted original series including Talking Dead, Comic Book Men, Small Town Security, Freakshow and Game of Arms. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Something More.

About Next Games

Next Games, founded in 2013 by design veterans from Rovio, Supercell and Disney, focuses on crafting gorgeous narrative-driven games with engaging free-to-play mechanics. Next Games has assembled a team with a profound love for games and a burning desire to develop lasting global entertainment. The company is headquartered in Finland, at the heart of mobile games development. www.nextgames.com