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IOMO was a British mobile game developer and publisher based in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. IOMO was founded by John Chasey, Glenn Broadway and Andrew Bain in 2000. Initially a developer, the company was very successful in the early stages of the mobile game industry and worked with the majority of mobile technologies and customers across the whole value chain. This ranged from pre-installed titles developed for handset manufacturers and carriers, creation of branded titles for mobile games publishers and self-published original titles.


History

The first public announcement mentioning IOMO is in May 2001 when
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
announced development of seven WAP (
Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that use the protocol. Introduced in 1999, WAP achieve ...
) titles by IOMO for the Nokia Mobile Entertainment service, one of the first platforms designed for carriers to be able to host and bill for games content. IOMO also worked on
SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
titles including TxtDating which launched on O2 in the UK. As the industry moved away from WAP and SMS to
Java ME Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for embedded and mobile devices (micro-controllers, sensors, gateways, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, TV set-top ...
titles, in May 2003 IOMO acquired mobile game studio
Covert Operations Ltd Covert Operations was a game developer founded in Scotland in 2000 by Niall Fraser. The company developed titles for a range of platforms including Interactive Digital Television, mobile phones and handheld games devices. One notable title was th ...
for an undisclosed sum. The peak of IOMO's success came in 2004 when in addition to winning the Develop Industry Excellence award for the second year running, IOMO were developers of half the games in the Top 10 charts for two different UK
operators Operator may refer to: Mathematics * A symbol indicating a mathematical operation * Logical operator or logical connective in mathematical logic * Operator (mathematics), mapping that acts on elements of a space to produce elements of another sp ...
. January 2004, the
Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...
Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Tomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar,
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ''PGA Tour'' is a series of golf video games developed and published by Electronic Arts - and later their EA Sports sub-label - since 1990. The series primarily features courses featured on the U.S. PGA Tour, and other notable courses (such as t ...
Golf, Pub Pool, Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex and
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
. November 2004, the
Orange UK Orange mobile UK was a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom (now Orange S.A.) in 2000, which then ...
Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Pub Fruity,
Colin McRae Rally ''Dirt'' and ''Dirt Rally'' (stylized as ''DiRT'' and ''DiRT Rally'', formerly known as ''Colin McRae Rally''), also known as ''EA Sports Rally'', is a rally racing video game series developed by Codemasters and published by Electronic Arts und ...
2005,
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
, Golf Club and Pub Darts. In March 2004, IOMO partnered with Kayak Interactive to demonstrate the first live
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system ( couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky po ...
tournament between
Java ME Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for embedded and mobile devices (micro-controllers, sensors, gateways, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, TV set-top ...
and BREW handsets on at the GDC Mobile day of the 2004
Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...
. This success culminated on 1 December 2004 when it was announced that
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
had acquired IOMO for approximately $15 million in cash. In January 2005, an N-Gage version of the classic Snakes, developed by IOMO was launched. The title had universally positive reviews averaging a
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
score of 85. As a studio within the
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
group, IOMO games were published under the InfoSpace brand. However, on 25 January 2007, InfoSpace announced it was exiting the content space and had sold its US games studio to Twistbox Games with IOMO to follow. On 6 August 2007, IOMO was closed and staff from IOMO formed a new mobile game developer,
FinBlade FinBlade is a British mobile game and mobile app developer. FinBlade was founded by John Chasey, Fergus McNeill, Steve Longhurst and Barry Simpson in August 2007. Much of the FinBlade team previously worked at mobile game developer IOMO. Histor ...
, and a new mobile
middleware Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement c ...
developer, Metismo.


Awards

* 2002
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
Mobile Challenge - Entertainment Category - Foto Fun Pack * 2003 BAFTA Nomination - Scooby Doo * 2003 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile Studio * 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 * 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Colin McRae Rally 2005 * 2004 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile/Handheld Studio * 2006 Edinburgh International Entertainment Festival
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
Mobile Award - Dirty Sanchez


Embedded Games

*''Adventure Race'' on
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
5140i *''Foto Fun Pack'' on
Motorola RAZR V3 The Motorola Razr (styled RAZR, pronounced like "razor"; codenamed Siliqua) is a series of mobile phones by Motorola, part of the 4LTR line. The V3 was the first phone shown in the series and was introduced in December 2003 and released in th ...
*''GemGemPanic'' on
Sony Ericsson T610 The Sony Ericsson T610, released in 2003, is a mobile phone manufactured by Sony Ericsson. It was one of the first widely available mobile phones to include a built-in digital camera, Bluetooth, color screen, joystick navigation, and was a very ...
(
Vodafone live! Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, offering news content, picture messaging, instant messaging, email, and downloadable ringtones and games. The service officially launched on 24 O ...
handsets only) *''Golf'' on
Motorola RAZR V3 The Motorola Razr (styled RAZR, pronounced like "razor"; codenamed Siliqua) is a series of mobile phones by Motorola, part of the 4LTR line. The V3 was the first phone shown in the series and was introduced in December 2003 and released in th ...
*''Jedi Trainer'' on
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
handsets *''Monopoly'' on
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
V525/V600 *''Munkiki's Castles'' on
Nokia 3410 The Nokia 3410 is a mobile phone made by Nokia, the successor of the popular Nokia 3310. It was announced at CEBIT on 12 March 2002. The 3410 was the first Java phone by Nokia, as well as being one of the earliest mobile phones outside Japan to f ...
*''Skydiver'' on Nokia 3510i and Nokia 5500 *''Snakes 2 EX'' on
Nokia 3300 The Nokia 3300 is a mobile phone announced on March 11, 2003 as the successor of Nokia 5510. It was marketed primarily as a music playing phone. They are relatively rare and today go for high prices in the second hand market. Design Unlike mos ...
and others *''Stuntman'' on
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...
V525/V600 *''Triple Pop'' on
Nokia 7210 The Nokia 7210 is a handset by Nokia, built on the Series 40 1st Edition software platform and enabled with J2ME (Java). The device features text and picture messaging, WAP browser, Stereo FM radio, Polyphonic ringtones, two preinstalled games a ...
and others


ExEn Games

*''Football Challenge'' published by InFusio


Java ME Games

*'' 007: Hoverchase'' published by
Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...
*''
Activision Anthology ''Activision Anthology'' is a compilation of most of the Atari 2600 games by Activision for various game systems. It also includes games that were originally released by Absolute Entertainment and Imagic, as well as various homebrew games. The ...
'' published by InFusio *'' Aquastax'' published by
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Colin McRae Rally 2005 ''Colin McRae Rally 2005'' is a racing video game developed and published by Codemasters. Gameplay As with previous games in the series, ''Colin McRae Rally 2005'' is presented as a realistic rally simulation, with players participating in ralli ...
'' published by Digital Bridges *'' DBI 3D Golf'' published by Digital Bridges *'' Dirty Sanchez'' published by
Infospace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''Fight Club'' published by Superscape *''Fight Club 3D'' published by Superscape *'' Finding Nemo'' published by
Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
/
Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...
*'' FPR Superbikes'' published by
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Golf Club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...
'' published by IOMO *'' Le Mans 2006'' published by
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
'' published by iFone *'' Now Quiz'' published by
InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Chase H.Q. is a vehicular combat racing game, originally released as an arcade video game by Taito in 1988. It is sometimes seen as a spiritual successor to Taito's earlier '' Full Throttle''. The player assumes the role of a police officer named Tony Gib ...
'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*'' Pub Arcade'' published by IOMO *'' Pub Darts'' published by IOMO *'' Pub Fight'' published by IOMO *'' Pub Fruity'' / ''Pub Slots'' published by IOMO *'' Pub Pool'' published by IOMO *'' Pub Pool 3D'' published by IOMO *'' Pursuit Squad'' published by IOMO *'' Scooby-Doo: Jeepers Creepers'' published by Digital Bridges *'' Slot Racers'' published by
Infospace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Steve Davis Snooker ''Steve Davis Snooker'' is a sports simulation video game developed and published by CDS Software in 1984. The budget release published by Blue Ribbon Software reached the top of the UK charts in May 1988. ''Steve Davis Snooker'' simulates the ...
'' published by IOMO *'' Stuntman'' published by iFone *'' Thief: Deadly Shadows'' published by Eidos New Media *'' Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf'' published by EA/ Digital Bridges *''
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004'' is a sports video game developed by EA Redwood Shores for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, Headgate Studios for the Microsoft Windows version, and Backbone Emeryville for the Game Boy Advance and N-G ...
'' published by EA/ Digital Bridges *''
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005'' is a sports video game developed by EA Redwood Shores for the GameCube, Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions, Headgate Studios for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions, Sensory Sweep Studios for the Nintendo DS ...
'' published by EA/ Digital Bridges *'' Tomb Raider: Puzzle Paradox'' published by Eidos Interactive *'' Tomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar'' published by Eidos New Media *'' Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex'' published by Eidos New Media *'' Tomb Raider: The Elixir of Life'' published by Eidos New Media *''
Tony Hawk's Project 8 ''Tony Hawk's Project 8'' is a skateboarding video game and the eighth installment in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in November 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, an ...
'' published by
Infospace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground ''Tony Hawk's Proving Ground'' is a 2007 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS, and by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii. ''Proving Ground'' is the n ...
'' published by InFusio *''
Treasure Planet ''Treasure Planet'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The 43rd Disney animated feature film, it is a science fiction adaptat ...
'' published by
Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
/
Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...
*'' Trickshot Pool'' published by
Infospace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and Met ...
*''
Urban Freestyle Soccer ''Urban Freestyle Soccer'' (known as ''Freestyle Street Soccer'' outside Europe) is a sports video game developed by British studio Gusto Games, a company announced in 2003, made up from eleven former employees of Silicon Dreams Studio, the gam ...
'' published by
Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally formed by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki out of an Oyster Bay storefront in 1987, the company established a worldwide ...


SMS Games

*''TxtDating'' published by Digital Bridges


Symbian Games

*'' Snakes'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''Foto Fun Pack'' published by IOMO *''Foto Puzzle'' published by IOMO


WAP Games

*''Blinker Thinker'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''Dial-A-Word'' published by Froghop *''Infiltrator'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''Fortune Cookie'' published by gameplay.com *''Magic 8-Ball'' published by gameplay.com *''NumbaRumba'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''Runway'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''
Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
: Constantine's Sword'' published by Digital Bridges/Eidos New Media *''Pass The Egg'' published by
Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...
*''StrikeOut!'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''Tamacutie'' published by
Aspiro Aspiro AB was a Norwegian-based, legally Swedish-domiciled technology company founded in 1998. The company mainly provided subscription-based Lossless compression, lossless Streaming media, music streaming services under its two brands, Tidal (serv ...
*''The Love Game'' / ''The Dating Game'' published by
Aspiro Aspiro AB was a Norwegian-based, legally Swedish-domiciled technology company founded in 1998. The company mainly provided subscription-based Lossless compression, lossless Streaming media, music streaming services under its two brands, Tidal (serv ...
*'' Thunderbirds'' published by Digital Bridges *''TicTacToe'' published by gameplay.com *''WAP Fishing'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''WAP Hunter'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''WAPPet'' published by gameplay.com *''Wapundrum'' published by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
*''
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
Golf'' published by Digital Bridges/
Empire Interactive Empire Interactive was a British video game developer and publisher based in London. Founded in 1987 by Ian Higgins and Simon Jeffrey, it was acquired by Silverstar Holdings in 2006 and went out of business in 2009. History Empire Interacti ...


References

{{Reflist Mobile game companies Video game development companies Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom