From Casual Connect Seattle, Topics Entertainment, the largest privately owned multimedia publishing company in the U.S., and digital entertainment services company RealNetworks®, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK), today announced an agreement naming Topics the exclusive distributor of packaged new release RealArcade® games to retail stores throughout North America.
RealArcade has a massive library of top-selling titles and key casual game brands spanning the online, portable and mobile phone games markets. Previously, packaged RealArcade games were published by various companies and sold without branding. This new partnership between Real and Topics Entertainment will extend the popular RealArcade brand to retail.
"Working with Topics Entertainment will bring the RealArcade name to an expanded audience and our games will be immediately recognized by those who are already fans of our brand" said Matt Turetzky, vice president of content and non-PC platforms for the Games Division of RealNetworks.
As a leader in publishing, development and distribution of casual games — the fastest growing category of PC games — Real chose Topics Entertainment for its publishing experience and ability to deliver products with distinctive packaging that announce the RealArcade presence.
"We couldn’t be happier about this partnership" said Topics Entertainment president Greg James. "It’s the perfect opportunity to leverage RealArcade’s dominant position in casual games at retail outlets and to continue expanding the game division of our company"
Among the most popular genres of casual games are time management, hidden object and classic board and card games. Included in the first round of releases to retail stores are the following four titles:
- "UNO® Undercover™" a new twist on Mattel’s classic card game that includes an original storyline featuring Felicia Blue, a retired spy who achieved childhood fame as an UNO® prodigy. Casual gamers will help Felicia sleuth her way through a uniquely themed world of UNO®, consisting of international spies and smugglers.
- "Sally’s Salon" a time-management game set in a beauty shop, where players help Sally spread her salon savvy from her hometown shopping mall to the glittering lights of Hollywood as she beautifies everyone from little old ladies to punk rockers in ten unique salon locations.
- "Cate West: The Vanishing Files" a mysterious hidden object game tasking players with solving a series of unexplained cases. Cate, a celebrated novelist and insightful visionary, needs help connecting the crimes, finding clues, compiling evidence and naming the culprit in more than 75 levels of picture puzzle fun.
- "Little Shop of Treasures" another hidden object game and the first of an original series developed by Real’s GameHouse Studios, takes place in the charming town of Huntington. Players help shop owners find more than 1,200 unique and cleverly hidden items for their customers, aiming to earn enough cash to open a shop of their own.
Source: RealNetworks
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