Digital Chocolate

Digital Chocolate, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Predecessor	The 3DO Company
Founded	October 18, 2003; 21 years ago
Founder	Trip Hawkins
Defunct	2014
Fate	Games sold to RockYou
Successor	RockYou
Headquarters	San Mateo, California, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Marc Metis; (President); Edmond Chui; (VP of Engineering)
Number of employees	129
Website	digitalchocolate.com (offline)

Digital Chocolate, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher headquartered in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, the founder of video game companies Electronic Arts and The 3DO Company. The company focused on developing games for Java ME-based mobile phones, iOS, and Microsoft Windows, and made some non-entertainment titles. Its marketing motto was Seize the minute.

The developer was officially closed in 2014. It has sold its games to RockYou, and its website was shut down.

History

Digital Chocolate was founded in 2003 by Hawkins after the failure of The 3DO Company. It had operations in San Mateo, Seattle, St. Petersburg, Bangalore, Helsinki, and Mexicali.

In 2004, Digital Chocolate acquired European developer Sumea,^[3] which then became its Helsinki studio.

On August 15, 2011, Digital Chocolate agreed to acquire Sandlot Games, a leading casual game developer and publisher.^[4]

In May 2012, Trip Hawkins stepped down as CEO to move to a "consulting and advisory relationship" with the company. The company also announced plans to lay off 180 employees.^[5]

Galaxy Life is its most successful title on Facebook to date, ranking at 284th bucket of MAU (Monthly Active Users) as of September 13, 2013. ^[6] In 2013, Digital Chocolate's Barcelona studio was sold to Ubisoft with the Galaxy Life IP and the Helsinki studio was closed.^[7]^[8]^[9]

In April 2014, Digital Chocolate's four remaining Facebook games — Army Attack, Crazy Penguin Wars, Millionaire City, and Zombie Lane — were licensed to RockYou, along with the hiring of its developers to continue work on the games.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Games

20Q: Celebrity Quiz
20Q: Mind Reader
20Q: Sports Quiz
2D Brick Breaker Revolution
3D Brick Breaker Revolution
3D Rollercoaster Rush
3D Mini Golf Challenge
Army Attack
Bubble Popper Deluxe
Bumper Car City
California Gold Rush (2009)
California Gold Rush: Bonaza (2009-2010)
Chocolate Shop Frenzy
Crazy Monkey Spin
Crazy Penguin Catapult (2007)
Crazy Penguin Catapult 2 (2007-2009)
Crazy Penguin Wars
Crazy Penguin Assault (2011)
Crazy Penguin Party (2009)
Crazy Penguin Freezeway (2011)
DChoc Cafe Hangman
DChoc Cafe Solitaire
DChoc Cafe Sudoku^[13] ^[14]
Extreme Air Snowboarding^[15]
Foto Quest Fishing
Galaxy Life
Island God Beta
Johnny Crash
Johnny Crash Stuntman Does Texas

Kamikaze Robots
Kings & Warlords
Mafia Wars
Mafia Wars 2: Scarlottis
Mafia Wars 3: Yakuza
Millionaire City
Minigolf Castles
Mini Golf 99 Holes Theme Park
MMA Pro Fighter
New in Town
Nightclub Empire
Party Island Bowling
Party Island Pool
Party Island: Sexy Trivia^[16]
Petanque: World Tour
Pyramid Bloxx (2007)
Redbull X Fighters
Rollercoaster Rush (2006)
Rollercoaster Rush 3D (2007)
Rollercoaster Rush New York (2008-2010)
Rollercoaster Rush 99 Tracks (2008)
Rollercoaster Rush Underground 3D (2010-2011)
Racing Fever GT
Super Water Bomber
Strip Club Manager^[17]
Tornado Mania! (2007)
Tower Bloxx (2005)
Tower Bloxx Deluxe (2008)
Tower Bloxx: New York (2009)
Tower Bloxx: My City (2010)
Tower Bloxx: Revolution (2011-2012)
Santa's Tower Bloxx (2006)
Super Water Bomber
Zombie Lane

Awards

In 2009, the company's game Brick Breaker Revolution won an IGN award for Best Artistic Design.^[18]

Mobile Entertainment named the company "best mobile games developer" in 2006 and 2007.^[19]

In 2006, Digital Chocolate received nine IGN Game of the Year awards. Its game Tornado Mania! was awarded Wireless Game of the Year with a "perfect 10" score,^[20] and the company was named Best Developer.^[21]

In 2012, the company's game Army Attack was nominated for the "Social Networking Game of the Year" in the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science's 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.^[22]

The company has been included in The Red Herring Global 100.^[23]

References

^ "DigitalChocolate.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Digital Chocolate On Linkedin". Retrieved 2021-09-13.
^ "News" (Press release). Retrieved 2021-09-13.
^ "Digital Chocolate Acquires Highly-Respected Sandlot Games". Business Wire. August 15, 2011. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
^ "Digital Chocolate lays off 180 people, Hawkins stands down as CEO". VG247. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
^ "AppData - App Metrics and Research". Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-09-14.
^ "Digital Chocolate, Which Nurtured Some Of Gaming's Best Talent, Sells Its Barcelona Studio To Ubisoft". TechCrunch. AOL. 23 September 2013.
^ "[PC][MOBILE] Galaxy Life joins the Ubisoft family! - Forums". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
^ "Digital Chocolate to Close Helsinki Office". Archived from the original on 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
^ Christian Nutt (18 April 2014). "Gamasutra - RockYou's new strategy: Rescue games that other publishers don't want".
^ "Players of Army Attack, Crazy Penguin Wars, Millionaire City, and Zombie Lane: Welcome to RockYou's Growing Community of Worldwide Gamers!". Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
^ "RockYou buys three Playdom games from Disney to keep them running". VentureBeat. 18 April 2014.
^ "PocketGamer review of DChoc Cafe Sudoku".
^ "DChoc Cafe Sudoku trailer".
^ "Sony Ericsson W595 Pre-installed Games". YouTube. 22 March 2018.
^ Andrew, Keith (December 5, 2008). "Party Island: Sexy Trivia". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.
^ Williams, Andrew (March 27, 2008). "Strip Club Manager". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008.
^ "3D Brick Breaker Revolution Makes Its Debut on Apple App Store" (Press release). Business Wire. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
^ Michael French (2007-08-17). "Digital Chocolate wins ME award again". Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
^ "IGN.com presents The Best of 2006". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2007. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
^ "Digital Chocolate Sweeps IGN.com 2006 Game of the Year Awards" (Press release). Business Wire. 2007-01-16. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
^ http://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/15th-Annual-IAA-Finalists-Only.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
^ http://www.monitise.com/americas/downloads/awards/RedHerringGlobal100_ClairMail.pdf^{[permanent dead link‍]} ^{[bare URL PDF]}

External links

[1] "DigitalChocolate.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved 2021-09-13.

[linkedin1-2] "Digital Chocolate On Linkedin". Retrieved 2021-09-13.

[3] "News" (Press release). Retrieved 2021-09-13.

[4] "Digital Chocolate Acquires Highly-Respected Sandlot Games". Business Wire. August 15, 2011. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved 2021-09-13.

[5] "Digital Chocolate lays off 180 people, Hawkins stands down as CEO". VG247. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2021-09-13.

[6] "AppData - App Metrics and Research". Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2013-09-14.

[7] "Digital Chocolate, Which Nurtured Some Of Gaming's Best Talent, Sells Its Barcelona Studio To Ubisoft". TechCrunch. AOL. 23 September 2013.

[8] "[PC][MOBILE] Galaxy Life joins the Ubisoft family! - Forums". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2014-04-10.

[9] "Digital Chocolate to Close Helsinki Office". Archived from the original on 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2014-04-10.

[10] Christian Nutt (18 April 2014). "Gamasutra - RockYou's new strategy: Rescue games that other publishers don't want".

[11] "Players of Army Attack, Crazy Penguin Wars, Millionaire City, and Zombie Lane: Welcome to RockYou's Growing Community of Worldwide Gamers!". Archived from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2014-07-29.

[12] "RockYou buys three Playdom games from Disney to keep them running". VentureBeat. 18 April 2014.

[13] "PocketGamer review of DChoc Cafe Sudoku".

[14] "DChoc Cafe Sudoku trailer".

[15] "Sony Ericsson W595 Pre-installed Games". YouTube. 22 March 2018.

[16] Andrew, Keith (December 5, 2008). "Party Island: Sexy Trivia". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008.

[17] Williams, Andrew (March 27, 2008). "Strip Club Manager". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Archived from the original on March 30, 2008.

[18] "3D Brick Breaker Revolution Makes Its Debut on Apple App Store" (Press release). Business Wire. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2013-09-05.

[19] Michael French (2007-08-17). "Digital Chocolate wins ME award again". Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved 2013-09-05.

[20] "IGN.com presents The Best of 2006". IGN. Archived from the original on January 15, 2007. Retrieved 2013-09-05.

[21] "Digital Chocolate Sweeps IGN.com 2006 Game of the Year Awards" (Press release). Business Wire. 2007-01-16. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-09-05.

[22] ttp://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/15th-Annual-IAA-Finalists-Only.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[23] ttp://www.monitise.com/americas/downloads/awards/RedHerringGlobal100_ClairMail.pdf^{[permanent dead link‍]} ^{[bare URL PDF]}

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