Huzutech takes social gaming revolution to MipJunior in Cannes

Sept. 30, 2011 - PRLog -- Huzutech founder Graeme Harvey is set to tell an audience at the MipJunior International Showcase in Cannes that the burgeoning field of social gaming offers a golden opportunity to reconnect and remain relevant to youth audiences in the 21st Century.

Addressing a prestigious audience at the MipJunior International Showcase for Children's and Youth Programme Screenings in Cannes on Sunday, Harvey will explain that in order to sustain long term success, all media formats must be capable of enabling and supporting new forms of content and intellectual property. Pointing out that today's rising generation has become accustomed to games that have moved beyond single platforms to encompass iPads, smart phones, web browsers and social media communities, he will illustrate how virtual worlds and social experiences are giving users new ways of interacting with the characters and properties they love.

"Instead of the relatively isolated and stand-alone nature of gaming in the past, today’s games are increasingly social. Not just ‘multi player’ but an integral part of the user’s wider online life. High scores can be compared with friends, messages sent to other players, new users invited to join and gifts sent, all from the game itself. Social gaming and virtual worlds have not only proven they are mature and viable new platforms for the creation of intellectual property, but they are creating such unique and innovative experiences for users that every brand owner, licensor and media company should be considering these new worlds very carefully indeed," said Harvey.

The Huzutech platform combines virtual worlds, social networks and online communities in an entirely new way, enabling the creation of persistent online worlds in which hundreds of players can compete, collaborate and play. Users only need their regular web browser to participate and can play using any platform (including tablets, iPads, mobile devices and netbooks) while also communicating via the integrated links into their favourite social networks.

Not only can these new platforms and channels add value and bring new levels of participation and collaboration to existing properties, but experienced and expert designers and developers are already creating the next generation of content, with this emerging field of social gaming providing publishers with a wealth of fresh opportunities to exploit existing content.

Angry Birds is already a global phenomenon, having made the leap from hugely successful mobile game, onto every social channel, a range of soft toys, a full range of merchandise and - coming soon - tv shows and cartoons. Moshi Monsters, with over 50,000,000 users (an estimated one in every three UK children) now has toys, cards and the country’s highest circulated children’s magazine.

These games are not alone in making the jump from the interactive sector into the wider media but they represent two of the first franchises to come from the new generation of virtual worlds and social games, whilst also highlighting the differences in this new type of gaming experience.

Harvey added: "Users of these new games invest a large amount of time and effort within these games and have a far more in-depth and rewarding interactive experience with them than they do with telvision, film or even books. If you want an insight into the enormous potential of this new generation of social and virtual worlds, look at the world’s biggest literary phenomena; The recently announced Pottermore puts a whole social and virtual experience around the books, characters and world created by JK Rowling."

About Huzutech
Online communities, social networks and virtual worlds are changing the way in which people all over the world communicate, participate, collaborate and play. Stand alone communities are increasingly rare, as users share more information and cross-pollinate over a wide range of digital services across multiple devices, platforms and channels.

Huzutech understands how these new environments are evolving, growing and being used. The company has created a comprehensive technology - HuzuVirtual- which allows the creation of wholly-branded, white label online virtual worlds, which integrate seamlessly with all leading social networks.

Huzutech is backed by MLC 50. In 2010 the company was fast-tracked by Scottish Enterprise as one of the country's most innovative new digital media companies, with truly global potential.

HuzuVirtual enables brand owners, media companies and organisations to build an effective, branded online presence, tailored to their individual requirements, which encourages user participation across all new platforms, social networks and digital channels.

Founded in 2009 Huzutech is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, one of the world's leading regions for the development of original new interactive entertainment and digital media. The company was founded by a team of online veterans, who had worked with a number of pioneering companies, including WeeWorld, Pixel, and HarperCollins Publishers.

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