Playfish Kicks Off EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars with London Football Match

The recent launch of Playfish’s EA SPORTS FIFA Superstars was a great success and the game is proving to be a big hit worldwide.  We are especially pleased to be able to bring the beautiful game of football to Facebook and to Playfish fans everywhere – especially just as the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa has gotten under way.

To celebrate the release of the game, Playfish hosted a FIFA Superstars “friendly” – a spirited football match featuring several members of the London media at a pitch in Battersea Park. The teams hit the pitch wearing exclusive FIFA Superstars blue and white kit made especially for the match.

At kick off, Team White came out with guns blazing and shots hitting the mark, building a quick lead over Team Blue.

Though down, but definitely not out, Team Blue found itself on the short end of a 7-2 score at the end of the 20-minute mark.

In a lively second half, an undaunted Team Blue stepped up the pace, outscoring Team White 5-3.

Alas, it was too little too late and Team White ultimately prevailed 10-8.

Nicely done, lads! And a special congratulations to Michael Sawh of Team White, who was awarded Man of the Match.

With the match over, but players still hungry for more football, everyone headed to a nearby pub for FIFA Superstars demos from members of the game’s production team. Playfishers Henrique Olifiers, John Earner, Raf Keustermans, Andy Watson and Tom Sarris were on hand to provide our special guests with valuable tips for claiming ultimate victory in FIFA Superstars. In all, it was a great afternoon and a fun way to kick off FIFA Superstars!

LONG LIVE FOOTBALL!  LONG LIVE FIFA SUPERSTARS!

Interview with Andrew Ow, Product Manager of My Empire!

Hear ye, hear ye! Playfish has released a new game and we, the People, demand word from the Product Manager of My Empire! Join us now and be part of an audience with Andrew Ow!

Good sir, would you kindly begin by explaining to us your role in bringing My Empire to us?
Hello and of course.  My name is Andrew Ow. I am the product manager of My Empire and responsible for deciding what the game will look like and play like. It is a really exciting job and working with the whole My Empire team has been great.

A leading role in My Empire? We are not worthy! But my lord, why create My Empire? (Though we are grateful!)
Building an empire is fun! We wanted to create a beautiful and easy game to get into which lets you have play with ancient themes. You can interact with friends, expand your land and create really stunning empires due to our lovingly detailed graphics. The My Empire team is extremely excited to see what the players make of it since we think we have created something really different and fun.

Indeed, My Empire is a delight for the eye! Can you describe to your humble audience the aim of the game?
The goal of My Empire is to create a glorious ancient empire – but what that means is completely up to you! Players can aim to create the most beautiful empire, build a Wonder (or all of them!), or have the largest population. It’s very open ended. I think new players will love the feeling of constructing Wonders. We have some really great Wonders like Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and the Parthenon. Our artists have really done a fantastic job creating them – they look stunning, and do great things for your empire as well!

So many things to choose from! It baffles the mind! But, my lord, perhaps you can help narrow this down with a suggestion as to where to begin?
My tip would be to be sure to building both houses and happiness buildings. Houses allow more citizens to live on your island, but you need to keep your citizens happy as well. Keeping a good balance is a key part of having a growing empire!

Wise words… surely such wisdom is learnt from having faced challenges during your reign?
I’d say the most challenging aspect of working on My Empire has been deciding which of the many exciting features to add.  We had so many ideas that we really had to pick and choose what to do each day.  The good news is we have many ideas for new features in the future and we hope you’ll be enjoying them with us!

Then it seems, my lord, you have had a most joyful experience building My Empire?
Yes! The most fun aspect has been seeing the game get better and better each week in all ways.  For example, we started without any art for the Wonders, so it was hard to imagine how cool or impressive they would look. The week we added the Wonder art everyone at the office was so impressed, our whole studio was racing to be the first to complete Stonehenge!

Ah, a tale to be told for years to come! And as the months come and go, what do you foresee for the citizen of My Empire?
I don’t want to give away anything too exciting – but it will definitely give old and new players something fun to do. All I can suggest is keep a close eye on the My Empire Facebook page for the latest news.

Ah my lord, you are a tease! But sir, so that I may know it when I pass by, what have you called your empire and why?
My empire is named Haogang, after one of My Empire‘s excellent programmers.  He accomplished some truly legendary work during the course of our project, so I had to commemorate him!

*Wipes a tear from eyes* That is so sweet… ahem… I mean… Bravo! And what kind of leader would you describe yourself as, my lord?
I am a leader obsessed with empire beautification!  I try to lay out parks and open areas for my citizens to enjoy. My roads are lined with trees, and one time I even constructed a hedge maze.   As you can imagine, I am excited when I unlock new decoration items each level!

My lord, I feel our time is coming to an end. Before we leave, what wise words would you like to leave with us?
First of all, thanks so much for playing!  I would also like to let our players to know that they can leave feedback on our game’s Facebook page or forum. We are listening to you and will do everything we can to make this game great!

Hotel City is Open For Business!

2010 sees the release of Gangster City, Poker Rivals and now…

Check in to Hotel City, Playfish’s latest offering that lets you and your friends design and run your own hotel!

Hotel City joins our simulation games and gives you the freedom to build a hotel the way you like. From decorating the largest suite for your marvelous motel to earning your keep at a friend’s hotel, you’re sure to have a five star experience playing Hotel City with your friends and family.

Read on and find out what you can do and look forward to!

BUILD
Jump right in and build your fabulous hotel straight away! You’ll start off with a lobby, a couple of rooms and a janitor’s office – the fledgling beginnings of your landmark hotel. The rooms are interchangeable so you can start to create a skyscraper or build a more laid-back bungalow-style hotel. Which will you choose?

DESIGN
No theme is too crazy or too glamourous in Hotel City – the style and layout is completely up to you! Express the inner you or explore new possibilities with new items added to the collections each week; choose from a whole myriad of wallpapers, floors and decorations to spruce up your customers’ rooms. Will you go the classic red carpet look or give your customers something to talk about with a new style of your very own?

EARN
Give your workers shifts to run your hotel for you – from 2 hours to 2 days! As they work, you’ll get the coins to bring your grand design to life. Customers will enjoy staying at a well decorated hotel but they will also pay to go the gym, eat at your five star gourmet restaurant or take a plunge in the swimming pool!

If you’re just starting out in Hotel City and need a helping hand, we’ve got it covered: grab a job at your friend’s hotel and earn a bit of extra cash on the side! Yup, now you can visit your friends’ hotels and work for them, too!

This new feature means you can apply for jobs your friends advertise on their profiles – but be quick! Open jobs in Hotel City are limited and someone else might take the spot you wanted and those hard earned coins! If you are lucky enough to get the job, be sure to go to your friend’s hotel and pick up your daily salary!

So in Hotel City it really pays to help your friends! Visit your friends to collect your hard earned coins to build a bigger, better and more luxurious hotel!

SCORE
Of course what’s a hotel if it’s not the best? Earn coins, decorate and keep those customers happy to gain those coveted five gold stars above your hotel. Will your hotel stay on top or will your friends beat you to it?

Only your customers will tell so and keep your eyes and ears open for tips and suggestions from them.

HAVE FUN!
With so much variety and so many things to do, the sky’s the limit for your hotel in Hotel City! Whether you’re a fan of decorating rooms in Pet Society or starting a fun business head to head with your friends in Restaurant City, you’re sure to love Hotel City. So welcome to Hotel City – we hope you have a pleasant stay!

Jobs @ Playfish: looking for Ninjas!

Playfish is a social games company that creates games for people to play together. Founded by casual and mobile games veterans, we believe games are more fun when played with friends and family. So we are working on combining the best elements of casual games, social networks, MMOGs and virtual worlds to create entirely new, more social ways of enjoying great games together. We have studios in London, UK; Tromsø, Norway; and Beijing, China.

Check out the link below for all positions that we’re actively seeking to fill:

http://www.playfish.com/content.php?page=jobs

100,000 friends are getting smarter

In the first 25 days post-launch, 50,000 of you installed Who Has The Biggest Brain? It only took another 14 days to pass the 100,000 installs mark. Today, we also passed another milestone: 100,000 game plays a day. To put this in perspective, that’s almost 300 man days of brain training happening every day. In addition, we have also been ranked 19th most active app in the Facebook directory, just below Scrabulous (17th most active). We try to adopt an ethical distribution strategy (eg no forced invite, no spam) and your enthusiastic feedback is really encouraging. Let’s see how long it will take to reach 200,000 installs. Leave your guess in the comments and stay tuned for some fun new features coming your way real soon. Happy brain training!