Federation of Studios promises hassle-free porting for independent developers.
Java mobile gaming could receive a much-needed shot in the arm courtesy of RealNetworks' RealGames division, which has announced an initiative to help independent smartphone developers port their games to Java and other platforms.
It's called the Federation of Studios (FoS for short), and uses Real's in-house EMERGE porting technology, originally developed by Finnish studio Mr. Goodliving before it was bought by Real in 2005.
The platform claims to support more than 1,700 handsets, and platforms including J2ME, BREW, iPhone, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Android, Nintendo DSi and Flash.
"For many small, innovative studios and publishers today, keeping up with the fragmentation and demands of the carrier market has become increasingly challenging, forcing them to focus on fewer handsets where non-carrier distribution is a viable option," says RealGames' VP of content Matt Turetzky.
"This means lots of great games are developed for handsets like iPhone, Blackberry or Windows Mobile that don't make it into the hands of other consumers. The Federation of Studios bridges this gap by providing a simple, efficient way to reach more than two billion customers worldwide, with no entry costs required from developer partners."
US mobile games publisher Sonic Boom has already signed up as the first customer for the new service. Besides porting, FoS offers QA, localisation, sales and distribution - potentially positioning RealGames as an aggregator.
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