Machine Zone

Machine Zone
Formerly called
 Addmired (2008 (2008)–2012 (2012))[1]
Private
Industry Video game development
Founded 2008 (2008)
Founder
  • Gabriel Leydon
  • Halbert Nakagawa
  • Mike Sherrill
Headquarters Palo Alto, California, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Products
Brands MZ[3]
Number of employees
 550 (as of 2015)[4]
Divisions Epic War[2]
Website mz.com

Machine Zone, Inc. (MZ) is a privately held technology company, founded in 2008 and based in Palo Alto, California. The company is best known for its widely advertised freemium mobile MMO strategy games Game of War: Fire Age and Mobile Strike,[3] which have both simultaneously been ranked among the top ten highest-grossing mobile games.[5]

Business history

Gabriel Leydon, the CEO of Machine Zone, co-founded the company in 2008 as part of the Y Combinator startup program, with partners Mike Sherrill and current Chief Technology Officer Halbert Nakagawa.[6] As of October 2015, Machine Zone had more than 550 employees around the world, with headquarters in Palo Alto, California.[4]

Approximately $40 million was spent on marketing Game of War: Fire Age in 2014.[7] Along with advertisements in digital and social media, highly produced television commercials featuring model Kate Upton were created. The ads highlight Upton's sex appeal as she leads battles in fantasy settings loosely comparable to those in Game of Thrones. The spots were introduced in the United States during an NFL Thursday Night Football game and have since been prominent during Super Bowl XLIX and other sporting events.[8][9] In June 2015, TMZ reported that Upton was being replaced by singer Mariah Carey as the face of the campaign.[10] On September 14, 2015, a commercial with Mariah Carey was revealed.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Macmillan, Douglas; Demos, Telis (July 16, 2014). "Newest Hit-Game Maker Machine Zone Nears $3 Billion Valuation". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03.
  2. 1 2 Takahashi, Dean (November 11, 2015). "Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in Machine Zone’s modern warfare game Mobile Strike (updated)". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2015-11-13.
  3. 1 2 Jordan, Jon (April 5, 2016). "Updated: Machine Zone spins out big data tech RTplatform as separate division". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08.
  4. 1 2 Takahashi, Dean (October 16, 2015). "An interview with Gabe Leydon, Machine Zone's man on the Iron Throne". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20.
  5. ↑ "Top Grossing All Devices – Games: All Countries". Think Gaming. April 8, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08.
  6. ↑ Kolker, Robert (March 5, 2015). "One Nerd to Rule Them All". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25.
  7. ↑ Tassi, Paul (November 14, 2014). "A $40M Ad Budget Buys 'Game of War: Fire Age' Kate Upton". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  8. ↑ Monllos, Kristina (November 13, 2014). "Game of War: Fire Age Launches First Global Campaign, Starring Kate Upton". Adweek. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  9. ↑ Trinh, Brian Vinh Tien (February 1, 2015). "Game of War's Super Bowl Ad Is Pretty Much Kate Upton In 'Game of Thrones'". The Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  10. ↑ Cox, Jamieson. "Mariah Carey is replacing Kate Upton as the new public face of Game of War: Fire Age". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  11. ↑ "Game of War with Mariah Carey". TMZ. September 14, 2015.
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