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YoYo Games is a software and game publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland. It is best known for developing the free, cross-platform game development IDE, GameMaker, originally created by Mark Overmars.

History

On 26 January 2007, Mark Overmars announced his partnership with a company based in Dundee, Scotland called YoYo Games. The company, headed by CEO Sandy Duncan (ex Vice President of Xbox Europe), was founded to support the future development of GameMaker and to build a community for developers and casual gamers who could upload their games to the website. On 22 May 2012, YoYo Games announced the release of GameMaker: Studio – a product for a professional audience of developers by offering rapid cross-platform development across several native platforms: iPad and iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Ubuntu, Facebook and other HTML5 platforms, Mac OS X, all Windows 8 platforms and Windows Phone 8. With the use of advertising over several platforms, YoYo Games had established a commercially recognised product which allowed professional developers to develop successful, revenue generating games.

Company Development

The company established its European office in Dundee in May 2010 by opening an office within Abertay University with two team members. After three years, the company currently employ more than 25 employees YoYo Games has announced plans to create an additional 25 new positions over the next 18 months in - systems development, software engineering, sales and customer service. The employees will be hired to help the company keep pace with the rapid evolution of the global games market and demand for Game Maker: Studio To accommodate this expansion, in June 2013, YoYo Games is set to move from its current location within Abertay University into new office space on Dundee’s Waterfront redevelopment.

Games

Controversy

2013 April Fools' Day joke

On 30 March 2013, Mike Dailly announced that YoYoGames was being purchased by the valve steam developers. The joke drew much criticism from the community and lead to widespread arguments within the community and a large removal of several users from the Game Maker Community. YoYoGames Chief Executive Officer, Sandy Duncan, later learned of the prank and promptly had it removed from the site, however several moderators continued reposting the topic. An apology was later given.

Logo controversy

In 2009, YoYo Games conducted a competition for a new official Game Maker logo, encouraging members of the Game Maker Community to submit their own designs; the winner was Albert Zak. The decision received substantial criticism from the products userbase, becoming in a sense an internet meme. After the negative response, CEO of YoYo Games Sandy Duncan blogged and posted on his Twitter feed making it clear he was reconsidering the logo's design.

In response to the criticism, a topic was posted on the Game Maker Community where users could contribute a new logo, and on 9 December, a new logo was chosen.

References

1. Public announcement from Mark Overmars, Game Maker Community
2. YoYo Games on CNNMoney.com
3. http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/business/yoyo-games-on-the-rise-with-plan-to-double-staff-1-2905142
4. http://www.yoyogames.com/press/release/8
5. http://www.dundeewaterfront.com/News+Article/1656/YOYO+GAMES+EXPANDS+INTO+DUNDEE+WATERFRONT/?nid=1290
6. http://www.thecourier.co.uk/business/news/dundee-s-yoyo-games-looks-to-next-level-1.86723
7. http://interactivetayside.com/news/yoyo-games-to-double-its-staff-to-50/
8. ^ http://scottishgames.net/2013/04/23/yoyo-games-expanding-recruiting-new-staff-moving-to-new-office/
9. http://www.thecourier.co.uk/business/news/dundee-s-yoyo-games-looks-to-next-level-1.86723
10. http://www.yoyogames.com/game_showcases. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
11. http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1bdtar/valve_is_buying_yoyogames_the_makers_of_game_maker/
12. http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=576257
13. http://coinarcade.org/2013/04/01/yoyo-games-april-fools-prank-angers-indie-game-community/
14. New Game Maker Logo Suggestions on GMC

External links

• YoYo Games - Official Website
• @YoYoGameMaker – Official Twitter
• YoYoGames – Official Facebook
• Game Maker Community - Official Community (Forum)
• YoYo Games Sandbox - Official Sandbox
• YoYo Games Wiki - Official Wiki

• Articles with links needing disambiguation from May 2013
• Video game companies of the United Kingdom