Dhruva Interactive
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | (1997) |
| Headquarters | Bangalore, India |
Key people |
K.Rajesh Rao CEO Raju Patil, Director of Operations Ajit Pillai, CFO Mukund Rao, Studio Head |
| Products | Conga Bugs |
| Services | Outsourced Game Creation and Development Services |
| Revenue | Private |
Number of employees | ~300 (2014) |
| Website | Dhruva Interactive |
Dhruva Interactive,[1] founded in 1997 by K. Rajesh, is a game development company in India, providing game development[2] and art production services to the global gaming industry.[3] which include various platforms and genres across consoles on social/casual and mobile devices in serving marquee global clients - big and small.[4][5][6]
Games developed
Services
Art services
The Art Studio offers a range of services including concept art, animation, asset creation, in-game integration and level building for console, game art outsourcing, casual/social and mobile.[7] Over the past 18 years, Dhruva has outsourced art to over 100 games on consoles, social/casual[8] and mobile,[9] spanning a whole gamut of genres and art styles. Dhruva Interactive worked on over 70+ blockbuster games with engagements ranging from sm teams helping out on pre-production, ramping up to large scale production of 5000 to 10000 man-days of production on a single title. Dhruva has completed content creation for 15 of the biggest F2P titles apart from premium mobile titles. Dhruva is one of the leading art outsourcing companies that has 3D art, 2D art and animations for games targeted for mobile/handhelds and web.
Game development services
Dhruva Interactive is the oldest game development company dates back to 1998 with the porting of hit N64 game – Mission Impossible to PC. Dhruva provides end-to-end game client and server development services for mobile phones, tablets and PCs that run on IOS, Android or Windows. The games are built using industry standard middleware like Unity3D & Unreal to provide fully native implementations. The Game Studio is experienced in dealing with the specific issues that appear when optimizing performance, memory usage and other aspects of HTML5/Web implementation on desktop and mobile devices. Dhruva also provides applied game services to companies and public institutions aiming to deploy game technology and design for more serious applications. The Game Studio also provides porting services that enable clients to access audiences on previously unavailable devices. Porting includes platform specific adaptation of the interaction as well as cross-technology ports where existing games are taken and modernize or convert them from one middleware technology or platform to another.
History
1995
In an interview with Thomas L. Friedman, K. Rajesh said he started the game development company as a one-person operation, on 15 March 1995, with a 14.4 kbp modem.[3]
1997
Dhruva Interactive was founded in 1997 by K Rajesh Rao to develop and publish games across various platforms. Dhruva signed up for Intel’s Technology Access Program to build a 3D video game engine cum demo optimized for the Pentium II/AGP platform (which was the latest processor at that time) - becoming the first games company in India. This R&D development enabled Dhruva showcase its capabilities to worldwide publishers, resulting in[10] winning a development contract from Infogrames to make the PC version of the hit game, Mission Impossible, based on the Hollywood blockbuster.[11]
ThunderDome: The first 15 months were spent creating a Direct 3D based game engine aimed at the mass market graphics.
1998
Mission: Impossible: On 26 November 1998, Contract with Infogrames (now Atari) to develop the PC version of the game based on the Hollywood blockbuster.[12] Dhruva was the first games developer from India to work on a major international game title.
2000
Dhruva Interactive created broadband educational content.
Eric Mottet, Co-founder and worldwide head of games development at Infogrames takes an equity position in Dhruva
Saloon: A demo game, set in the American wild west showcased a revamped version of the ThunderDrome engine.[13]
2001
Dhruva signed on by publishers Infogrames Melbourne House and Codemasters (UK).
Partnered with Infogrames, Australia in the development of one of the PC based games – Geoff Crammond Grand Prix 4
TOCA Race Driver: Became the first Indian company to have developed content for the PS2 console by contributing to the development of Codemasters' hit title which went on to becoming a racing franchise on the PS2.
Dhruva launched its web-based games business. Web-based games included Hopper Menace, Santa's Night Out, Shootappan, and Snowballin' Willy.
Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC): Built this web-based game for the Star TV network.
2002
"I'll be back Rich": Developed and published India's first web based 3D game based on Wild Tangent's browser based 3D game engine.
Mission: Impossible Operation Surma: Partnered with Infogrames for the development of the content for PS2, Xbox, and PC platforms for the game based on the Hollywood blockbuster.
Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines: Partnered with Infogrames for the development of the content for PS2, Xbox, and PC platforms for the game based on the Hollywood blockbuster.
Microsoft Train Simulator II: Partnered with Kuju Entertainment for the development of content for Microsoft’s key title.
2003
Forza Motorsport: Microsoft enrolls Dhruva to work on its #1 Racing Franchise for the Xbox. Dhruva is the first such game development partner from India.
TOCA Race Driver 2: Partnered with Codemasters on content development for the sequel to TOCA Race Driver.
Dhruva Interactive launched its Mobile Games Division, focusing on developing and publishing key mobile games.
Dhruva partnered with Nokia to launch Copter, Ace Tennis, Carry on Bunny, Snowballin' Willy in the APAC region.
Ace Tennis: Utilizing a robust tennis engine, developed in-house, Ace Tennis was the launch title for the new Nokia Series 40 model in the APAC region in 2003.
2004
Dhruva Interactive expanded on its portfolio of mobile games published across major operators worldwide.
Pat Cash Tennis: Based on Dhruva Interactive's Tennis Engine and collaboration with Kuju Wireless (as worldwide publisher) and Player One (the Pat Cash licensee), Pat Cash Tennis was one of the world's first mobile multiplayer games. The title Reached #1 on the charts in the UK, carried by networks such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2; Top 10 in Australia.[14]
GameTantra Multi-Player 3D Gaming platform: Launched the gaming platform with title, Pool on the Net, ver 1.0, an online multiplayer billiards game, developed to showcase the capabilities of this platform.[15] Showcased at FICCI Frames 2004.
Charlie Chaplin: Dhruva secured the worldwide mobile rights to publish games based on Charlie Chaplin.
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2 Mission: Las Vegum: for PS2 and PC developed for Etranges Libellules (ELB), France. Dhruva created content for one entire level of this game which involved design of assets, creation and testing. The successful accomplishment proved Dhruva's ability to handle complex art styles.
2005
Dhruva launched 3 games on a worldwide level. Two of the titles hit #1 positions in key western markets operators such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and Telefonica (O2).
Maria Sharapova Tennis: Using an updated version of the tennis engine used in Pat Cash, Maria Sharapova was published through I-Play (Digital Bridges) worldwide.[16] Maria Sharapova Tennis received reviews scores of 8/10 by Midlet Review,[17] 90/100 by Mobile Game FAQ Review,[18] and a 7.9/10 by GameSpot.[19]
Phil Taylor Darts: Published through Player One in the UK and debuted #1 on the Vodafone UK charts.[20]
Slyder: Through a co-development deal with Sandlot Games, one of the top Casual Game publishers, Slyder was released worldwide; published through Mobiliss in USA and I-Play in other regions. The game was immensely success and continues to be popular even today.[21][22]
Project Gotham Racing 3; Partnered with Bizarre Creations for content creation; PRG-3 was the launch title for the Xbox 360 new console launch by Microsoft.
Battlefield: Modern Combat: Partnered with Electronic Arts for creating environments for this game.
AND 1 Streetball: Partnered with Ubisoft for creating content.
TOCA Race Driver 3: Partnered with Codemasters for the third release after having contributed to the successful past two releases.
2006
Cricinfo Genie: Partnering with Cricinfo, the world's leading cricket website, Dhruva built and published an innovative product aimed at the cricket-crazy Indian.[23] The application allowed users to watch Cricket matches LIVE on their mobile phone, using simulated animations to showcase the action. Cricinfo Genie involved the design and creation of a back-end system which ensured real time information transfer of the on-field actions and involved the setup of a dedicated country-wide server infrastructure. The game simulation engine required 20+ attributes per ball to be simulated. The Cricinfo Genie application had a record 500,000 subscribers over a period of 18 months. Additional key features included detailed score cards, the latest cricket news, statistics on players & records, schedules and results, highlights of the ongoing games, sharing features, and broad mass market handset support (low and high end).
Forza Motorsport 2: Partnering with Microsoft Game Studios, Dhruva was one of the main content creation partner for making vehicle art assets for the game.
Project Gotham Racing 4: Building off of the past success with Bizarre Creations on PGR3, Dhruva was chosen to provide art assets for a number of city racing environments for the next game, PGR4.
2007
Building on the success of the Multiplayer Connected games and the oncoming Cricket World Cup 07, Dhruva once again partnered with Cricinfo, to develop 3 distinct cricket based Multiplayer Connected mobile games.
Cricinfo Genie v2: The 2nd version of the game first released in 2006 contained significant enhancements to the User Interface and back-end gaming engine making it even more interactive and "addictive". In addition it had features of prizes, built-in quizzes, lobby features, and an improved simulation engine.
Cricinfo Trivia Champ: The first multi-player connected mobile cricket trivia game tagged to contests and prizes.[24]
Classroom Cricket: A Multiplayer Connected Game based on "book cricket". The game was held in a classroom environment. The students played book cricket while trying to avoid being caught by the lecturing teacher.
Need for Speed: ProStreet: Partnered with EA's Black Box Studio for content creation on NFS ProStreet.
Colin McRae DiRT: Partnered with Codemasters for creating vehicles and environments for DiRT, which has gone on to becoming a rally franchise.
2008
XNA RPG Starter Kit: Microsoft chose Dhruva for the development of an XNA Game Studio Starter Kit.[25] Dhruva built the starter kit with a Role Playing Game (RPG). The title was aimed at teaching developers how to make a 2D tile-based RPG. As such, the game was developed with incredible extensibility in mind, allowing developers to adjust and modify the existing art, code, and design to suit their personal requirements. Played on the Xbox 360 console and PC, Dhruva's RPG Starter Kit was a great success, bringing the company a lot of credibility and visibility amongst the gaming and game development communities.
PlayStation Home: Partnered with Sony UK Studio to develop content for their upcoming persistent virtual world on the PS3 platform.
PURE: Partnered with Disney's Black Rock Studio to develop content for this new franchise.
Asterix At The Olympics: Partnered with Etranges Libellules on the latest Asterix game.
NFS: UnderCover: Partnered again with EA's Black Box. to develop racing environments for the title.
Racedriver GRID: Partnered again with Codemasters to develop various car assets.
2009
Conga Bugs: Conga Bugs is Dhruva's first PC casual game under the new GameTantra publishing banner. This top-tier casual game has rich 3D visuals & tons of game play variety and several original characters. The title is currently being distributed around the world, through various distribution channels.
Colin McRae DiRT 2: Partnered again with Codemaster's franchise to create buildings and props for the game.
Find Your Own Way Home Game: Dhruva's Game Studio developed the first-of-its-kind casual game based on the rock band REO Speedwagon with producer Curious Sense.[26]
Forza Motorsport 3:Dhruva once again worked with Microsoft Game Studios, to help create one of the racing titles.
2010
SBK X: Dhruva working with Milestone Srl. on the 2010 installment of the Super Bike World Championship series.
F1 2010 (Video Game): Dhruva further cemented its relationship with Codemasters by working together on one of the racing games; F1 2010! Dhruva created 4 full and complete tracks for the game
Dead Rising 2: Dhruva worked with Blue Castle Games (now Capcom Vancouver) on DR2.
Awards and recognition
FICCI BAF Awards 2005 - Pat Cash Tennis (Mobile)[27]
FICCI BAF Awards 2006 - Slyder (Best Mobile Game)[28]
FICCI BAF Awards 2007 - Cricinfo Genie (Special Jury Award for Innovation in Mobile Gaming Application)[29]
In Thomas Friedman's book The World Is Flat, Dhruva is mentioned as successfully plugging itself into the global economy through what Friedman terms as "triple-convergence".[3]
References
- ↑ "Dhruva Interactive".
- ↑ "Indian gaming industry".
- 1 2 3 Friedman, Thomas (2006). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-374-29279-9.
- ↑ "Game developed by Dhruva Interactive".
- ↑ "Game developed by Dhruva Interactive".
- ↑ "Game developed by Dhruva Interactive".
- ↑ NT Balanarayan (19 December 2013). "Dhruva Interactive Sets Up Incubator For Indian Game Developers". Medianama. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ↑ "Social game Developers".
- ↑ "Mobile game Development".
- ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_53698611
- ↑ http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990326/india.htm/
- ↑ Friedman, Thomas (2006). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-374-29279-9.
- ↑ Saloon
- ↑ Pat Cash Tennis
- ↑ Pool on the Net
- ↑ Maria Sharapova Tennis
- ↑ Midlet Review of Maria Sharapova Tennis
- ↑ Mobile Game FAQ Review of Maria Sharapova Tennis
- ↑ Gamespot review of Maria Sharapova Tennis
- ↑ Phil Taylor Darts
- ↑ Slyder
- ↑ Slyder
- ↑ Cricinfo Genie
- ↑ Cricinfo Trivia Champ
- ↑ XNA RPG Starter Kit
- ↑ FYOWH
- ↑ FICCI BAF Awards 2005 - Pat Cash Tennis (Best Mobile Game)
- ↑ FICCI BAF Awards 2006 - Slyder (Best Mobile Game)
- ↑ FICCI BAF Awards 2007 - Cricinfo Genie (Special Jury Award for Innovation in Mobile Gaming Application)