Neil Young has been one of EA's executive big-hitters, overseeing console/PC games including The Sims 2 and Spore. However, he's now left the publisher for his own startup, Ngmoco, which will focus on iPhone games.
VentureBeat has an interview with Young, in which he claims the iPhone could reignite the "stagnant" mobile games industry (a view reflected by many publishers who've been speaking to PG.biz about the iPhone in recent weeks).
"This is the moment," he says. "This next 24 months an industry will get revitalized and re-energized. You have to look at this opportunity on the iPhone and ask yourself, 'What would a company like Nintendo do?'"
Ngmoco is hiring producers, and network and platform engineers, but also seemingly has ambitions to publish games from third-party developers, judging by its (currently) bare-bones website.
It's interesting that Young decided to further his iPhone ambitions outside EA, rather than within EA Mobile, which is making iPhone games (including one based on Spore).
VentureBeat suggests that Young hasn't cut his ties to EA entirely though, remaining as an advisor.
Developers, producers and publishing execs in the mobile games industry are excited about iPhone, and the App Store will offer direct distribution for iPhone games without necessarily requiring the backing of a large publisher.
With those two facts in mind, Ngmoco surely won't be the last startup to spring from a major games firm.
News
Contributing Editor
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)
Related Articles
Interview
Jul 17th, 2015
Flashback Friday: Neil Young on how ngmoco and Freeverse will dominate the iPhone free2play market
Top Stories
News
May 31st, 2024
Week in Views - Squad Busters goes global, broken app stores, and Hill Climb Racing gets the LEGO treatment
News
May 31st, 2024
Mobile Movers: All the latest appointments and job moves from around the industry
Events
Indie Game Fest & Indie Campus 2024 | Europe | May 31st |
Indie Craft K-Game Festival 2024 | Europe | May 31st |
BostonFig Online 2024 | Jun 1st | |
GameSummit Summer 2024 | Jun 1st | |
Gotland Game Conference 2024 | Nordic | Jun 3rd |
Games Mental Health Summit 2024 | Europe | Jun 3rd |
Dev Play Conference 2024 | Europe | Jun 3rd |
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |