BERGEN, Norway, November 18, 2015—Geoffrey Zatkin, EEDAR co-founder, and Demetri Detsaridis, former GM of Zynga New York, have teamed up with four other industry veterans to launch Snow Cannon Games, a new independent video game publisher committed to helping underserved developers reach broader audiences and publish financially successful titles. Joining Zatkin and Detsaridis in this venture are James Portnow, writer for Extra Credits; Espen Askvik, accomplished Norwegian entrepreneur; Linn Søvig, founder of Norway’s largest game development conference; and Emmy Jonassen, founder of indiegamegirl.com. The company introduced its team, discussed its mission and fielded developer questions in a live event.
While many topics were covered during Snow Cannon Games’ launch event, the theme of the evening was discoverability and what it takes for an indie studio to be successful in today’s ultra competitive market.
“Releasing a good game is no longer enough,” said Geoffrey Zatkin, co-founder of EEDAR, the leading provider of video game research. “To be successful, developers need good marketing and other business skills—a fact proven by the tens of thousands of games we have analyzed at EEDAR. Unfortunately, these skills are not core competencies for most indies, which is why so many great indie games fail.”
“The people who comprise our team not only have the necessary skills to successfully launch games, but proven track records of doing it,” said Espen Askvik, CEO of Snow Cannon Games. “From design to monetization to marketing and sales, our team has worked on hundreds of titles across platforms and genre. We’re excited to put this experience toward games we believe deserve loads of attention and success.”
During its launch event, Snow Cannon Games also revealed the first title it would publish: Shadow Puppeteer, an award-winning, local co-op adventure coming to Wii U™ in late 2015/early 2016. In Shadow Puppeteer, players assume the roles of a boy and his shadow, separated from one another by the evil shadow puppeteer. Players must work together to manipulate light, solving puzzles that bring them closer to finding this villain and freeing other shadows he has stolen.
For those who missed Snow Cannon Games’ live launch, a video recording of the event can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STD4sffVLo.
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ASSETS
Official Launch Video
– View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jOdu52fPhY
– Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f3o97yj1if4lm3h/Snow%20Cannon%20Games%20Launch%20Video.mp4?dl=0
Recording of Live Launch Event
– View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STD4sffVLo
Team Photos & Company Logo
– View: http://imgur.com/a/Lo2mE
– Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vmcn2pyiejora97/Snow%20Cannon%20Games%20Team%20Photos%20%26%20Logo.zip?dl=0
Social Media
– Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/snowcannongames
– Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/snowcannongames
Website
– Company Site: https://www.snowcannongames.com
About Snow Cannon Games
Snow Cannon Games is not your average independent video game publisher: our choice clients are those whose work does not necessarily conform to mainstream interests, yet oozes with creativity and fun factor. We are committed to helping these underserved voices reach broader audiences and publish financially successful titles—a commitment made possible by the extensive experience and network of our stellar team of industry veterans. Learn more at snowcannongames.com.
Press Contact
Emmy Jonassen
CMO, Snow Cannon Games
emmy@snowcannongames.com