Level Up! taps local developer for casual game portal

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net LEVEL UP! Philippines has announced that it is tapping a local game developer to produce content for the Philippine online game publisher. Jose Carlo Medina, Level Up! director of new media, said the online game publisher is now working closely with FlipSide Games in the development of custom games for its new casual game platform called Be There. "We're tapping them to develop custom games for a new platform, which is a casual game platform. It is Web-based," Medina said. "We're doing this because it complements our advergaming business. We would also like to strengthen ties with the local development community and eventually showcase them to other countries," he added. Level Up! Philippines is partly owned by Level Up! International, which also manages operations in India and Brazil. "We can export their [local developers'] output to India and Brazil," Medina said. Level Up! Philippines signed the contract with FlipSide Games two months ago, as it intends to have a long-term partnership with the local developer, he added. In a separate interview, Gabby Dizon, president and CEO of FlipSide Games, confirmed the collaboration. "They have a casual game platform. They're partnering with us to provide content for this casual game platform, where we will do our original content. This is the first time that a collaboration between an online game publisher and a local developer has happened," Dizon said. Medina said Level Up! Philippines has been "wanting to support local game developers, and this project was the perfect opportunity to have more local content delivered quickly." Level Up! expects to generate business from producing more local content through advergaming, or advertising within video and online games.