Big Fish Games is a
casual gaming company based in
Seattle, with a regional office in Oakland, California, owned by
Aristocrat Leisure. It is a developer and distributor of casual games for
computers
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These programs ...
and
mobile devices. It has been accused of knowingly deceiving customers into signing up for monthly purchases without informed consent. It was also the subject of a
class action lawsuit over its app ''Big Fish Casino'', resulting in a settlement of $155 million after a federal appeals court ruled that it constituted illegal
online gambling.
History
The company was founded in 2002. In 2009, it announced the opening of their European headquarters in Cork, Ireland.
In July 2010, the company passed one billion game downloads from its online portal.
In August 2013, the company announced the closing of its cloud-based games service, Vancouver studio and Cork offices.
In 2014, the company was acquired by
Churchill Downs Inc.
Churchill Downs Incorporated is the parent company of Churchill Downs. The company has evolved from one racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, to a multi American-state-wide, publicly traded company with racetracks, casinos and an online wagering comp ...
in a deal valued at up to $885 million.
In 2018, Churchill Downs sold Big Fish to Australian
gambling machine manufacturer
Aristocrat Leisure for $990 million.
In September 2018, Big Fish cut 15% of its workforce, and September 2020, it cut nearly 50% of its workforce.
Big Fish Studios
Big Fish Games has a number of studios split between the Seattle office and Oakland office that develop games: Self Aware Games, Triton Studios, Epic Ventures and ARC Studios.
Games developed by the various Big Fish studios include:
*
''Drawn'' series: ''Dark Flight'', ''The Painted Tower'', ''Trail of Shadows''
*''
Fairway Solitaire HD''
*''
Hidden Expedition
''Hidden Expedition'' is a series of single-player hidden object casual games developed by the internal studios of Big Fish Games for the first five installments (using Big Fish Games Framework as the engine, and with the help of Flood Light Ga ...
'' series
*''
Mystery Case Files
''Mystery Case Files'' is a video game series originally developed by the internal studios of Big Fish Games. Some installments were developed by Eipix Entertainment between 2015 and 2019 and Elephant Games who developed sequels from 2013 to 201 ...
'' series
Online games
The company entered
browser gaming with its acquisition of the game website Ion Thunder in 2007; the service was re-branded as Atlantis following the acquisition. The service, which was later revamped as Big Sea Games in 2009, was shut down in 2010 as part of the company's shift from traditional online games to
social games on
Facebook and
mobile apps.
References
External links
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2002 establishments in Washington (state)
American companies established in 2002
Casual games
Companies based in Seattle
Mobile game companies
Video game companies established in 2002
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
2014 mergers and acquisitions
2018 mergers and acquisitions
American subsidiaries of foreign companies