New game studio fiveonenine formally opens in Durham

If nothing else, management at new game studio Fiveonenine are confident.

“We will be one of the top five social gaming companies (both social web and social mobile) by the end of 2012,” the company declares on its website.

Fiveonenine formally opened its doors this week at The American Tobacco Historic District in Durham. It’s a joint venture of Capitol Broadcasting (the parent of WRAL Tech Wire and WRAL.com) and media company E.W. Scripps.

Its first game is due out shortly, and several are already in development.

The aim is high.

“Unlike our competitors, fiveonenine is not wedded to a specific social network,” the studio declares. “We are focusing on social content with games for social web (Facebook, Google +, VZnet, NaszaKlasa, etc) and social mobile (iOS and Android).”

Games will be timely and entertaining, says veteran games industry executive Lloyd Melnick, who leads fiveonenine.

“We will be launching titles that are inherently more engaging than what is currently on the market by building gaming situations that are relevant to today’s headlines instead of contrived environments,” he says. “Featuring content that is both entertaining and pertinent is the key to building a large, dedicated community of casual and social gamers.”

The first game, “Political Rampage,” is due out in the near future. It is developed for the Mac iOS and Android operating systems.

“The title will feature over-the-top caricatures of popular political figures such as President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin facing off in a humorous match-three format,” fiveonenine says.

Match three involves manipulating objects in groups of three to make this disappear.

Other planned titles are: