Who are the Giants?

[ChiefRedThunder]

I'm just wondering who are the big casual game companies in our industry.

I know PopCap Games is the industry leader, but who else is there that comes even close to their numbers? Any ideas?

[Desktop Gaming]

I know PopCap Games is the industry leader, but who else is there that comes even close to their numbers? Any ideas?Says who?

What numbers?

[ChiefRedThunder]

Says who?

What numbers?

Well, I'm going based on the number of games they have out, how many employees they have and number of locations around the world. They must be doing pretty damn good when they have 180 employees.

But this is what I'm trying to figure out anyways, who are the top casual game companies.

[barrygamer]

There are some big companies who are involved in all aspects of developing + publishing + distributing of casual content, e.g. Oberon, Playfirst. Popcap have had some massive hits, but I'm not sure their company covers the range or scale of Oberon. Depends on your criteria (not that I have any real data either).

As for top 'portals', the Global Chart posted each week in this forum lists 17 portals used to create the chart, so I guess thats a good guide. Big Fish and Reflexive must be amongst the biggest (just a guess though!).

[Popcorn Boy]

Well, I'm going based on the number of games they have out, how many employees they have and number of locations around the world. They must be doing pretty damn good when they have 180 employees.

But this is what I'm trying to figure out anyways, who are the top casual game companies.

The top casual game companies in terms of publishers? Developers? Portals? Or all of the above?

[Escapee]

According to Alexa traffic ranking ( if you trust it :D ), BFG is on top, follow by Arcadetown and reflexive.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2343621660_4693c0ce79.jpg?v=0

Popcap used to be on top in 2005 ..

[ChiefRedThunder]

The top casual game companies in terms of publishers? Developers? Portals? Or all of the above?

At first I was just going for Developers, but I guess it would be best to figure out the tops for all areas.

[jcottier]

At first I was just going for Developers, but I guess it would be best to figure out the tops for all areas.

Well, the problem is that a lot of portals/publisher are also developping their own games now. So it will be hard to have a clear cut between the 2.

JC

[ChiefRedThunder]

Well, the problem is that a lot of portals/publisher are also developping their own games now. So it will be hard to have a clear cut between the 2.

JC

Could break it down to:

Portals who publish and develop
Companies that develop for release by Portals or there own ways.

Anything I'm missing?

[jpoag]

There are some big companies who are involved in all aspects of developing + publishing + distributing of casual content, e.g. Oberon, Playfirst. Popcap have had some massive hits, but I'm not sure their company covers the range or scale of Oberon. Depends on your criteria (not that I have any real data either).

As for top 'portals', the Global Chart posted each week in this forum lists 17 portals used to create the chart, so I guess thats a good guide. Big Fish and Reflexive must be amongst the biggest (just a guess though!).

Lol, Oberon just shut down their Seattle Studio to outsource to Russia. PopCap picked up some of the Key personnel from the fallout.

However, Popcap hasn't had any new IP come out of their studio for over a year, and the next probable release is Peggle:Nights.

[Popcorn Boy]

Lol, Oberon just shut down their Seattle Studio to outsource to Russia. PopCap picked up some of the Key personnel from the fallout.

However, Popcap hasn't had any new IP come out of their studio for over a year, and the next probable release is Peggle:Nights.

Popcap has had several titles come out over the past couple months, though I am not sure if they were internally developed or if they are publishing them:

Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb and MahJong Escape China are two recent ones.

Oberon and BFG are definitely in the top tier, but don't forget Real. There is not a consensus, but some would say they are #1. Yahoo is a top portal as well.

[jpoag]

Popcap has had several titles come out over the past couple months, though I am not sure if they were internally developed or if they are publishing them:

Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb and MahJong Escape China are two recent ones.

Oberon and BFG are definitely in the top tier, but don't forget Real. There is not a consensus, but some would say they are #1. Yahoo is a top portal as well.

Nope, not internally produced. Although I think technically, they bought the company that developed Amazing Adventures and MahJong Escape. They also bought Mike Boeh's Retro64 and pushed out the game they were working on (Venice).

[svero]

Its a difficult question to answer because there are really different facets to the industry. Some companies make a lot more with retail and on mobile platforms than they do with PC download sales. Top players in the industry for various different reasons (marketing power, retail presence, development etc...)

Id say...

Popcap, Real, Playfirst, BigFish

... Other notable players ...

EA/Pogo, Oberon, Wild Tangent, Iwin, Mumbo Jumbo, Spintop, Sandlot, ArcadeTown, etc..

And there's of course a number of long standing small to mid size dev houses that aren't going anywhere because they consistently produce quality games and don't have huge overhead to deal with. Companies like Arcadelab and Fresh games etc...

- S

[mooktown]

Spintop are under Popcaps umbrella now too which adds significantly to their "numbers" :)

[Scharlo]

Top 3 are Bigfish, Real and Oberon.

Few others people mentioned (Reflexive, Arcadetown, Popcap, Playfirst...) are definitely not in top 3.

[Grey Alien]

Scharlo has it right. BFG have >200 employees and are moving to a new bigger office soon - plus they have German, French and Spanish portals. Real has several "online arms" and the combination is massive. Oberon is an aggregator and puts games on a huge number of sites inc. AOL, Yahoo etc so they have a big reach but give a lower % royalty because they don't receive 100% of the gross for every game sold.