2018 Irish Enterprise Award

EU BUSINESS NEWS / 2018 Irish Enterprise Awards A Contact Details Company: Haunted Planet Studios Contact: Dr Mads Haahr Address: Premier Business Centres, 8 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, Ireland Website: www.hauntedplanet.com Best Augmented Reality Games Development Company 2018 g the newest technology. The payoff is seeing how our users’ multiple lines of creative thinking can make something unique, which is incredibly inspiring.” As a true pioneer in the market, the studio faces many challenges, however Mads is keen to highlight the techniques the company is using to overcome these and create innovative games that will appeal to a wide range of users. “Doing something completely new is always risky but it is also exciting and intellectually and creatively stimulating. One challenge is that when we create new types of games such as the location-based augmented reality games, players may not be familiar with the new genre. When our first real game of this type, Bram Stoker’s Vampires, launched in 2012 there were very few other titles like it, so we really had to train players to play the game. “Another challenge is that we have a diverse user base – anyone with a smartphone can play our games, and they do. Our first market trial showed great ratings across the range from 8-year olds to 45-year olds, which was exciting, but it is a big challenge to market our games to such a varied audience. However, we want our games to be accessible to everyone so it’s worth the effort. “Fundamentally, modern gamers love to create things, so we want to empower them to make our games their own. To this end, we are venturing into the realm of user generated content by turning our location-based augmented reality game engine into a platform such that people can make their own games, tell stories about their own neighbourhoods and share them with their friends and family – or even with strangers.” Creating new and inventive games would be impossible without dedicated and passionate staff, and one of the key benefits that the studio sees from being based in Ireland is the vast amount of talented and creative employees that the region has. As such, Mads is proud of Haunted Planet Studios’ staff, as he shares. “Internally we have a flat organisational structure, where each team member’s opinions are taken seriously and valued. We are all passionate about our chosen specialisms, and we encourage each other to learn new things and take on new responsibilities. All our team members participate in training or attend industry conferences every year to stay on the cutting edge of industry trends, whether related to game development, technology or business and marketing.” As he looks to the future Mads foresees even greater success for the studio as it seeks to drive greater success not only for the firm itself but for the wider virtual reality gaming market. “Looking ahead, for everyone here at Haunted Planet Studios our ongoing focus is the transformation of our augmented reality game engine into a platform for user generated content. We know people are excited about telling and sharing stories, especially related to their neighbourhood and places that matter to them. Our platform will help them do this by equipping them with the tools they need. “In addition, we are excited about the slow but steady growth of the virtual, augmented and mixed reality platforms. We already have expertise and a proven track record developing games using augmented reality and could see ourselves branching into virtual and mixed reality in the future.”