Uken Games Explained

Uken Games
Type:Private
Foundation:2009
Founders:Chris Ye & Mark Lampert
Num Employees:90+ (2019)
Industry:Video games
Homepage:wwww.uken.com

Uken Games is an independent game studio based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] [2] The company was founded in 2009 by Chris Ye and Mark Lampert to build cross platform social and mobile games for iOS and Android.[3] [4] [5] In 2011, the company was the recipient of the Digi Award for Canada’s Most Promising New Digital Company.[6] Uken was in the top 10 of Deloitte's Fast 50[7] and #13 in their Fast 500 for 2014,[8] after being one of Deloitte's "Companies-to-Watch" in 2013.[9] Uken was certified as a Great Place to Work[10] and was recognized as one of Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers in 2017.[11] Uken partnered with Sony to develop Jeopardy! World Tour which was released in May 2017. Subsequently in March 2018, Uken also developed and released a second trivia title Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? which became the top trivia game on mobile. In 2020, Uken released Ava’s Manor, a solitaire game where users renovate and decorate the manor while discovering mysterious clues and dabbling in a romantic love story.

The studio also hosts numerous developer events including meetups for the Toronto Unity Developers,[12] ReactJS,[13] PhoneGap Toronto,[14] DevOps Toronto,[15] AngularJS Toronto[16] and Go TO.[17] Uken regularly sponsors TOJam (Toronto Game Jam)[18] and Level Up Showcase.[19] They hosted MolyJam’s Toronto chapter in 2012 and 2013,[20] and were a sponsor of Gamercamp 2013[21] and the UTGDDC Game Jam.[22]

Uken participates in various fundraising efforts for organizations such as the Movember Foundation, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Canadian Red Cross disaster relief, American Red Cross disaster relief, Free the Children, Sunnybrook Cancer Research, Extra Life Marathon for Sick Kids, Camp Oochigeas (Sporting Life 10K) and Daily Bread Food Bank. Since the beginning of 2011, Uken’s charitable contributions total over $215,000

Current Titles

Year Game Platforms
width=65 iOS !width=65 Android !width=65
2020 Ava's Manor
2018 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
2017 JeopardyWorld Tour

Past Titles

Year Game Platforms
width=65 iOS !width=65 Android !width=65 Facebook !width=65 BlackBerry !width=65 WP8
2014 Titans
2012 Bingo Pop
2011 Mighty Monsters
2011 Crime Inc
2011 The Streetz
2010 Forces of War
2010 Age of Legends
2010 Dark Galaxy
2010 Villains
2009 Superheroes Alliance

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Crow. David. Uken Games – Caution: highly addictive games. Startup North. 30 October 2013.
  2. Web site: Harper Government Helps Launch Canadian Start-Ups in Dynamic New York City Market. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service. 30 October 2013.
  3. Web site: Ingram. Mathew. Uken Games Lets You Take Your Game With You. Gigaom. 30 October 2013.
  4. Web site: Keenan. Edward. Red-hot Uken Games expects to grow from 27 to 40 staff this quarter in global power play. Yonge Street. 30 October 2013.
  5. Web site: Shevchik. Leigh. Case Study: New Relic Helps Uken Games Build a Global Gaming Business. New Relic. 30 October 2013.
  6. Web site: The winners of the 2011 Digi Awards are.... Techvibes. 30 October 2013.
  7. Web site: Toronto company tops this year's Fast 50 list. The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. 14 November 2014.
  8. Web site: Deloitte's 2014 Technology Fast 500™ Ranking. Deloitte. 17 November 2014.
  9. Web site: 2013 Companies-to-Watch winners. Deloitte.. 13 November 2013.
  10. Web site: Certified Companies - Great Place to Work® Canada. gptwcanada. www.greatplacetowork.ca. en-gb. 2017-02-27.
  11. Web site: Top Employer: Uken Studios Inc.. content.eluta.ca. 2017-08-08.
  12. Web site: Sharing and Learning with the Toronto Unity User Group. Unity Technologies. 16 December 2014.
  13. Web site: ReactJS Meetup. ReactJS Toronto. 3 December 2014.
  14. Web site: PhoneGap Performance Tips and App Showcase. PhoneGap Toronto. 28 November 2013.
  15. Web site: MySQL 5.6 & MySQL Tricks. DevOps Toronto. 31 October 2013.
  16. Web site: Toronto AngularJS Summer Social. AngularJS Toronto. 31 October 2013.
  17. Web site: Go Talk. Go TO. 31 October 2013.
  18. Web site: Toronto Game Jam 2016 Sponsors. www.tojam.ca. 2017-02-27.
  19. News: Sponsors. 2016-01-15. Level Up Showcase. 2017-02-27. en-US.
  20. Web site: MolyJam Toronto. 30 October 2013.
  21. Web site: Gamercamp: Canada's Game Festival November 1, 2, and 3, 2013 Toronto. Gamercamp. 30 October 2013.
  22. Web site: UTGDDC Game Jam. University of Toronto Game Design & Development Club. 3 December 2014.