Plarium Explained

Plarium
Type:Subsidiary
Hq Location:Herzliya, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Industry:mobile, desktop and browser games
Products:Full list
Parent:Aristocrat Leisure Limited
Num Employees:1,300 (2022)
Foundation:2009
Homepage:www.plarium.com

Plarium Global Ltd. (Hebrew: פלאריום) is a video game developer, publisher and subsidiary of the Australian gambling machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure. It is known for creating mobile, desktop and browser games in various genres including MMO, RPG, action, strategy, and casual.

Plarium has more than 435 million players worldwide.[1] Its games are available on iOS, Android, the Microsoft Store[2] and on PC/Mac via the game launcher Plarium Play.[3]

The company has more than 1300 employees[4] and has established studios in Herzliya (established 2009 and current headquarters),[5] Warsaw,[6] Kharkiv,[7] Lviv,[8] Kyiv,[9] Odesa[10] and Michigan.[11] In addition, Plarium acquired San Francisco-based Rumble Games[12] in 2017 and, in 2021, Helsinki-based studio Futureplay.[13]

There are more than 20 games in the Plarium portfolio.[14] Plarium's most popular game is the dark fantasy gacha RPG , which has more than 80 million downloads.[15] Other Plarium titles include Mech Arena, , the Stormfall franchise (, Stormfall: Rise of Balur, Stormfall: Saga of Survival) and Lost Island: Blast Adventure.

Plarium has worked with celebrities, content creators, and notable Esports professionals in a promotional capacity, including Richard Tyler "Ninja" Blevins,[16] Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev of the Esports team NAVI,[17] and actor Jeff Goldblum.[18]

Plarium has previously employed BAFTA award winner Jesper Kyd, known for his work on video games such as Assassin's Creed and Borderlands, to compose the music for its games.[19]

History

Plarium was founded in 2009 in Herzliya, Israel, where it is headquartered, and started out by developing games for the Eastern European casual gaming market, such as Farmandia.

In 2011, Plarium began developing massively multiplayer online strategy games, and in February of that year the company released Total Domination which reached 20 million users.[20]

In November 2012, Plarium released , which was one of the fastest growing social games on Facebook.[21]

On November 10, 2015, Plarium licensed characters of Alien vs. Predator from 20th Century Fox to add them to its Soldiers Inc. game.[22]

On August 10, 2017, Aristocrat Leisure Limited announced its acquisition of Plarium for a $500 million upfront payment plus an earn-out arrangement to shareholders.[23]

Plarium released RAID: Shadow Legends on mobile in March 2019. The game was released on PC and Mac in 2020.[24]

The Plarium Play desktop launcher was released on PC and Mac in April 2019. It is a free launcher that serves as a distribution platform for Plarium games.[25]

On 12 August 2021, Plarium released the PvP team shooter Mech Arena on iOS and Android devices.[26] Plarium and the players of Mech Arena made a combined donation of US$100,000 to the charitable foundation AbleGamers in February 2022.[27] On August 3, 2022, the game was released on PC and Mac via Plarium Play.[28]

On 10 March 2022, "as a response to the ongoing suffering of its employees and the people of Ukraine",[29] Plarium Global Ltd. made the decision to remove all of its games from the app stores and ceased accepting Plarium Play and Plarium.com payments in Russia and Belarus until further notice.[30]

Reception

Plarium's made "Top 20 Facebook apps" chart during its 2012 launch, and was one of the fastest growing Facebook apps by monthly active users at that time.[31]

In 2013, Facebook named Soldiers Inc. as one of the best new social games of the year.[32]

In 2014, Plarium was named one of Europe's most promising startups by Wired UK journalist Madhumita Venkataramanan.[33]

In 2014, Facebook's Director of Platform Partnerships, Julien Codorniou mentioned Plarium as one of the top global gaming companies on the Facebook platform.[34]

VentureBeat mentioned Plarium in March 2014 as one of the standalone gaming companies prioritizing social games on the Facebook platform.[35]

Plarium's RAID: Shadow Legends was nominated for the 2019 Google Play Users' Choice Awards in the "Games" category.[36] The game was also nominated for the "Game of the Year" and "Best Audio/Visual Accomplishment" categories at the 2020 Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.[37] It was featured as "Game of the Day" on the App Store[38] and won the best "App Video" award at the 2020 App Growth Awards.[39]

Plarium's game Mech Arena was the App Store's "Game of the Day'' on October 15, 2021.[40]

In July 2022, RAID: Shadow Legends crossed US$1 billion in lifetime revenue, becoming "one of the world's most lucrative RPGs."[41]

Plarium games

GameReleasePlatform(s)
Farmandia 2010 Browser
Total Domination 2011 Desktop
2012
Total Domination Reborn 2013 iOS and Android
Soldiers Inc. Desktop
2014 Browser
Stormfall: Rise of Balur 2015 iOS and Android, Desktop (released 2017)
Nords: Heroes of the North Desktop, iOS and Android
iOS and Android, Desktop (released 2016)
Throne: Kingdom at War 2016iOS and Android, Desktop (released 2017)
Soldiers Inc: Mobile Warfare iOS and Android
2017
Alliance: Heroes of the Spire[42]
Rio: Match 3 Party[43]
Stormfall: Saga of Survival2018Desktop, iOS and Android
Lost Island - Blast AdventureiOS and Android
RAID: Shadow Legends2019iOS and Android, Desktop (released 2020)
Undersea: Solitaire Tripeaks[44] 2020iOS and Android
Mech Arena: Robot Showdown 2021 iOS and Android, Desktop (released 2022)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Plarium . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  2. Web site: Raid: Shadow Legends . Microsoft.com.
  3. Web site: Plarium Play Launcher - A Smoother PC Gaming experience for FREE . 2022-08-17 . plarium.com.
  4. Web site: About Plarium . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  5. Web site: About Plarium's Herzliya studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  6. Web site: About Plarium's Warsaw studio company.plarium.com . 2023-04-12 . company.plarium.com . en.
  7. Web site: About Plarium's Kharkiv studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  8. Web site: About Plarium's Lviv studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  9. Web site: About Plarium's Kyiv studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  10. Web site: About Plarium's Odesa studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  11. Web site: About Plarium's Michigan studio . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  12. Web site: Plarium Global acquires Rumble Games. 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  13. Web site: Plarium entered an agreement to acquire Finnish mobile game studio Futureplay to expand leadership in the casual games market . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  14. Web site: About Plarium . 2022-08-17 . company.plarium.com . en.
  15. Web site: Derrick . Connor . RAID: Shadow Legends thanks massive fanbase with announcement of legendary version of fan favourite Death Knight . 2022-08-17 . www.pocketgamer.com . July 21, 2022 . en.
  16. Web site: Ninja Is A Playable Character In Raid: Shadow Legends . 2022-08-17 . GameSpot . en-US.
  17. Web site: Astle . Aaron . Plarium partners with Navi to bring S1mple to Raid: Shadow Legends . 2022-08-17 . pocketgamer.biz. December 2021 .
  18. Plarium Partners with Jeff Goldblum for "RAID: Shadow Legends" in their next Global Advertising Campaign . 2022-08-17 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  19. Web site: Jesper Kyd's Five Worlds of Plarium Soundtrack Dropping Soon . 2022-08-17 . Original Sound Version . en-US.
  20. Web site: 2013-06-06 . Plarium aims to reproduce Facebook success with Total Domination: Reborn on iOS . 2022-08-17 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  21. News: Tech Roundup Plarium Gaming Company Scores a Top 20 Facebook Hit . en . Haaretz . 2022-08-17.
  22. Web site: Spangler. Todd . 2015-09-14 . 'Alien vs. Predator' Coming to Facebook Game . 2022-08-17 . Variety . en-US.
  23. Web site: Aristocrat announces strategic acquisition of social gaming company Plarium .
  24. Web site: 2020-01-21 . Plarium Releases Acclaimed Collection RPG 'RAID: Shadow Legends' on PC . 2022-08-17 . www.businesswire.com . en.
  25. Web site: Plarium Play Launcher - A Smoother PC Gaming experience for FREE . 2022-08-17 . plarium.com.
  26. Plarium Launches 'Mech Arena: Robot Showdown' On iOS And Android Mobile Devices . 2022-08-17 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  27. Web site: Orr . Aaron . Plarium donates $100,000 to games accessibility charity AbleGamers . 2022-08-17 . pocketgamer.biz. February 24, 2022 .
  28. Web site: 2022-08-03 . Mech Arena on PC Launches with New Features – Plarium . 2022-08-17 . plarium.com . en.
  29. Web site: Power structure Plarium . international software company that designs both mobile and browser games . 2023-07-06 . 2023-08-31.
  30. Web site: Plarium Games . 2022-08-17 . Twitter.
  31. Web site: DarwellNovember 26 . Brittany . 2012 . CityVille 2, Subway Surfers, Stormfall, Snapchat, Twitter and more on this week's top 20 Facebook apps growing by MAU . 2022-08-17 . en-US.
  32. Web site: 2013-12-09 . Facebook names its top games of 2013 . 2022-08-17 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  33. Web site: 2016-05-02 . Europe's hottest startups 2014: Tel Aviv (Wired UK) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160502041855/http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/09/european-startups/tel-aviv/page/2 . 2016-05-02 . 2022-08-17 .
  34. News: Hirschauge . Amir Mizroch and Orr . 2014-09-16 . With Hostilities Over, DLD Kicks Off in Tel Aviv . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-08-17 . 0099-9660.
  35. Web site: 2014-03-13 . Why one studio is still plugging away on new Facebook games . 2022-08-17 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  36. Web site: Oh . David . 2019-11-11 . Google Play Users' Choice Awards 2019 voting has begun . 2022-08-17 . Android Police . en-US.
  37. Web site: PocketGamer biz Staff. Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2020 finalists revealed . 2022-08-17 . pocketgamer.biz. December 5, 2019 .
  38. Web site: Game of the Day: Raid: Shadow Legends . 2022-08-17 . App Store . en-US.
  39. Web site: Dogtiev . Artyom . 2020-12-07 . The 2020 App Growth Awards winners revealed . 2022-08-17 . Business of Apps . en-US.
  40. Web site: Game of the Day: Mech Arena . 2022-08-17 . App Store . en-US.
  41. Web site: RAID: Shadow Legends Crosses $1 Billion in Lifetime Player Spending on Mobile . 2022-08-17 . sensortower.com.
  42. Web site: Chapple . Craig . Plarium acquires Alliance: Heroes of the Spire developer Rumble Entertainment . 2022-08-17 . pocketgamer.biz. September 29, 2017 .
  43. Web site: 2017-02-15 . Plarium makes match-3 mobile game with Fox's Rio animated characters . 2022-08-17 . VentureBeat . en-US.
  44. Web site: Bald . Cameron . Undersea Solitaire Tripeaks is an intriguing genre hybrid from the minds behind Raid: Shadow Legends . 2022-08-17 . www.pocketgamer.com . April 2, 2020 . en.