Interview

Big Data startup Icejam on why mobile games should utilize Connected Reality

Founder and CEO Stuart Duncan talks Connected Reality

Big Data startup Icejam on why mobile games should utilize Connected Reality

Pocket Gamer Connects will be heading to Vancouver for the first time ever on 28-29 June.

Tickets are still available.

So, to give you a hint at what you can expect, we're shining the spotlight onto our speakers to provide a deeper look at the personalities who will be taking the stage.

  • Stuart Duncan, formerly of EA Mobile, is Founder and CEO of Charlottetown-based developer Icejam. He is due to speak at PGC Vancouver on the intersection between Big Data and F2P games.

PocketGamer.biz: Tell us about your company's role in the mobile games industry.

Stuart Duncan: Icejam is about to change the way people play games on their mobile devices by injecting real-life dynamics into games and delivering new experiences for players.

We're growing rapidly and already leverages extensive industry expertise. Currently, we're focusing our efforts on the new Connected Reality engine, and the first game which will showcase its potential.

Icejam is the first game studio entirely focused on better games through Connected Reality.

icejam is the first game studio entirely focused on better games through Connected Reality.
Stuart Duncan

We are a dedicated team of mobile game veterans who have shipped multiple top-grossing games, and share the belief that the business and art form of mobile games can, and needs to, support new ideas.

How has 2016 been going for you since that $2.1m seed round in January?

Through 2016 to date, Icejam has expanded the team by over 60% with a new location established in Toronto, Ontario.

We look forward to adding to our talented team as we prepare to bring our first game to market, and debuting our Connected Reality engine.

Can you explain the concept of Playable Data/Connected Reality, and how it will impact upon the experiences you're currently developing?

The concept of Connected Reality is that with all that freely available data we have access to in our daily lives, there is a real opportunity to connect our games to the dynamism of real world forces and deliver new gaming experiences.

We are building mobile gaming experiences that are informed and driven by the world around you, changing how you experience the game every time you play it.

Please briefly summarise what you plan to discuss in your PGC Vancouver talk, and what you hope attendees can take from it. Do you think others should be doing more with Big Data?

At PGC Vancouver we'll talk you through where the idea for Connected Reality originated, and what we're doing to make it happen.

We'll walk you through some of the potential that CR has to turn typical, static games into dynamic and highly personal gaming experiences full of life.

Where ideas happen at icejam

Attendees should take away the notion that big ideas are required to mix up the top ten; that we are still in the wild west, or at least very much at the beginning of our story.

Of course there is room for other studios to use big data not just to measure their users, but to use external data feeds to actually create big parts of the game experience.

The best thing they can do though, is try something new that really considers the medium. That’s where the billion-dollar game will come from.

You can find out more about all the speakers at Pocket Gamer Connects Vancouver here.

Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.