Outplay Entertainment, a startup games publisher focusing on high-quality games for social and mobile platforms, launched today and announced that it is recruiting staff for its new UK headquarters.

Founded by games industry veterans Douglas Hare & Richard Hare (The Collective, Foundation 9 Entertainment), Outplay's primary focus is on providing consumers with high-quality, engaging, and, above all, fun experiences that can be accessed and played across the ecosystem of rapidly expanding social networks - such as Facebook - and the new generation of powerful, connected mobile platforms, exemplified by Apple's iPhone.

Outplay will be headquartered in Dundee, Scotland, one of the world's hotspots of gaming talent and creativity.

The company has been backed by Pentech Ventures, a leading venture fund in the digital media market, and the Scottish Investment Bank’s Co-investment Fund, providing Outplay with the resources and capital required for rapid expansion and the global reach required to meet the needs of this new generation of gamers.

Douglas Hare, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Outplay, said, "The global games market is changing in a very fundamental but extremely positive way.  Over a very short period of time the number of people playing games has exploded and many of those players are demanding that gaming fits into the rest of their lives, whether that means on their mobile devices or as part of their favourite social network.”

“Gaming is reaching players all over the world, regardless of the hardware they use, or when and where they want to play. Outplay was founded to cater to this rapidly expanding global audience by taking lessons learned by the games industry over the last three decades and applying them to these new connected, interactive experiences as more and more people around the world discover the joys of gaming."

Richard Hare, co-founder and President of Outplay, agreed, "There are significant advantages to creating and publishing on social network and mobile platforms.
 Shorter, more focused development cycles help constrain the upfront investment required.  The ability to then rapidly update the games based on measurable
consumer response helps us attract and retain players by enhancing and updating the games' features.  By investing in the right skills and focusing our
publishing efforts on these new platforms and opportunities, Outplay is poised to become a significant player in the global games market.

Eddie Anderson, the founding partner of Pentech Ventures, added, "The recent growth and evolution of the global gaming market opens up a wealth of new possibilities and creates compelling new opportunities for games companies which understand the various new markets, business models, territories and routes to market.  In Douglas and Richard, Outplay Entertainment has an outstanding management team with which to address these new markets and who can combine the creativity and passion demanded within the entertainment sector, with the business insight to reach these new audiences and maximise the company's reach as the sector continues to expand."

Andrew Sloane, Head of the Scottish Investment Bank’s Co-investment Fund, said: “Digital technologies are now changing the way the games industry both creates content and makes it available. Scotland is at the forefront of this change, with new companies like Outplay Entertainment creating the next generation of success stories.  We are delighted to support this exciting new venture through the Scottish Co-Investment Fund alongside our longstanding partner Pentech Ventures.  We look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength in this fast-moving emerging new market.”

http://www.outplayentertainment.com/