Yoyo Games in deal with key German studio

DUNDEE’S Yo Yo Games yesterday secured a cross-continent licensing partnership with top German development studio Handy games, writes Graham Huband, business editor.

The tie-up was revealed on the day the firm released Gamemaker: Studio, the latest version of its 2D development software, which allows games to be created with a single code base before being automatically converted to work on multiple formats including Android, IOS, Windows and OSX.

Handy Games are using Abertay University based yoyo’s new software after participating in its beta testing phase and pushing ahead with the development of an innovative new role playing game using the software package.

“We h ave k n ow n about Gamemaker for years, but once we heard about a cross platform Gamemaker product, we knew we needed to be involved right away,” said Markus Kassulke, chief executive officer of Handygames.

“Our experience with the beta convinced us the tool was extremely efficient and powerful. We also met with the team at Yoyo Games to discuss Gamemaker: Studio and the future product vision and we very much like where it is headed.”

Yoyo Games chief executive Sandy Duncan — a former senior Microsoft executive — said he was delighted by the new link.

“Yoyo Games is proud to have Handygames on board using Gamemaker: Studio for cross- platform games creation,” he said.

“In just a short matter of time we expect to start seeing innovative and successful new titles on worldwide app stores, on Facebook and across the web, all created with Gamemaker: Studio.”