Lab Rats Studio, a startup based in Durham, disclosed Tuesday the name of its publishing partner for the first time – and it’s a major one as had been reported.
Chillingo, a division of gaming giant Electronic Arts and publisher of they very popular “Angry Birds” games, will bring Lab Rats’ first game titled M.U.S.E. to market.
“It’s been a Cinderella story for us,” said Lab Rats Chief Executive Officer Rion Holland.
“We could have published the game ourselves and under our own name, but who knows where we would have been,” he added. “With a publisher that has already published such major games like Angry Birds and the fact that they will be able to market and advertise us within their social network is huge.
“We’ll reach the crowd,” he said happily. “Having them working with us is invaluable.”
Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Holland said Chillingo will provide advertising and marketing support while sharing in revenues. Pricing has yet to be determined, he added.
The association with Chillingo will help M.U.S.E. stand out in the mobile space,” he added. “Their success in publishing hit games is a tremendous boost for our company.”
M.U.S.E. is targeted for Apple devices first followed by Android platforms.
Lab Rats, which recently went through the business development incubation process at Joystick Labs, has developed a 3D first-person shooter game that is targeted for mobile devices. The company was formed around a team of four Wake Tech Community College students, three of whom graduated from the school’s videogame design program.
Titled M.U.S.E., the game is set for release this summer. It is designed to be released in episodes.
“M.U.S.E brings console quality gameplay and graphics to mobile platforms,” said Chris Byatte, co-general manager of Chillingo, in a statement. “We are very excited to partner with new studios such as Lab Rats Studio who can bring fresh and unique titles to mobile platforms.”
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