Shine Group Acquires Social Gaming Company Bossa Studios
16th Sep 2011
Shine Group today announced the acquisition of UK-based social gaming specialists Bossa Studios.
Founded last year, Bossa Studios team of twenty includes co-founders, Henrique Olifiers, (Gamer in Chief), Roberta Lucca, (Marketer In Chief), Ric Moore, (Technologist in Chief) and Imre Iele, (Creator in Chief); all experts within the gaming, mobile and entertainment worlds whose experience spans companies including Playfish / EA, Jagex, Blitz Games and Vertu, and games such as FIFA Superstars, Runescape and My Big Brother.
As part of Shine Group, Bossa Studios will devise content exclusively for the social networking space and develop new cross platform content assets. Bossa Studios will also work with existing Shine Group properties.
Elisabeth Murdoch, CEO and Chairman, Shine Group said: “As a global content company, we are committed to producing exceptional experiences across multiple platforms and developing direct to consumer models. We have long identified social gaming as a critical component to this strategy, and in Bossa Studios we discovered an entrepreneurial, creative team that shared our passion for creative excellence. They have bold ideas for this space which we naturally welcome and will be a significant addition to the Shine Group.”
Their eagerly awaited debut game Monstermind launches in Beta on Facebook today and is playable here www.monstermindgame.com. Monstermind sees players building and protecting cities from giant B-movie era monsters unleashed by their friends in real time. Appealing to both veteran and casual gamers the ‘attack and defend’ gameplay aims predominantly at young adults who crave both skill and strategy. Monsters, artillery, businesses, houses, the city infrastructure and protection can be acquired through successful gameplay and facebook credits.
A trailer can be seen here: www.youtube.com/wearebossa
Henrique Olifiers, Gamer in Chief, Bossa Studios said: “We are delighted to be both launching Monstermind and joining the Shine Group. Shine have shown a great support for Bossa Studio’s creative-led mission and together, in addition to launching entirely new concepts, we hope to offer hundreds of millions of TV viewers and social gamers the opportunity to experience some their most-loved programmes in an entirely fresh, immersive way. In Monstermind, we wanted to create a game that tested the boundaries of current social games on the market and one that combined danger, adventure and action. Our main aim to make the game fun and accessible to all, so we have provided players with intensive levels of tactical engagement and that all important spice of hard core gameplay, which won’t however alienate casual gamers.”
Bossa Studios is the first digital business acquisition or investment identified by Shine Digital (formally Shine Vu) and sees Vice President, Digital Yoel Flohr joining the Bossa Studios board. Shine Digital will continue to both initiate and incubate new digital ideas for group companies and properties, building on previous successes such as the MasterChef Academy app for iPhone and iPad, The Biggest Loser online club, and multi-platform commissions such as The Magicians for the BBC.
Further information on Shine Group:
Patrick Keegan +44 207 985 7021 / [email protected] / Jules Grant Freud Communications +44 203 003 6527 [email protected]
For further information on MonsterMind
Georgina Dunkley, [email protected] / +44 (0) 1858 411 600
About Shine Group:
Shine Group includes some of the most respected and prolific production companies in the worlds of scripted and non-scripted television, now numbering 26 across three continents and responsible some of the world’s best known and loved programmes. Shine Group companies include award-winning genre specialists such as UK-based Dragonfly (factual), Kudos (drama), and Princess Productions (entertainment) along with award-winning multi-genre producers Shine TV, market-leading independent US producers Reveille plus Metronome Film & Television, the Nordic region’s pre-eminent production group. Shine International, the group’s international distribution arm is responsible for the distribution of over 3000 hours of broadcast content annually. In the last two years the group has successfully established international start-up companies Shine Germany, Shine France and Shine Australia and earlier this year launched Shine Iberia, covering Spain and Portugal.
