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Ustwo Fampany Limited (typically stylized as ustwo) is a London-based
software development studio focused on digital design, such as clean and elegant
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
s. Founded in 2004, the company had initially served clients in supporting their
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s, and developed
mobile games, but gained significant attention upon release of ''
Monument Valley'' in 2014, which won numerous awards and had over two million units sold. Alongside their Ustwo Games division, the company continues to produce other software for a range of computing devices through Ustwo Studios, as well as investing in new firms through Ustwo Adventure, and helping to mentor young talent within Ustwo Foundation.
History
Ustwo was founded by Matt "Mills" Miller and John "Sinx" Sinclair in the
Shoreditch district of London in November 2004 as "Ustwo Studio, Ltd",
aiming to get into the nascent
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
market.
Miller and Sinclair had been friends since they were eleven, and so the name "Ustwo" is in reference to their long-term relation, "us two".
Prior to the founding, Miller and Sinclair had been working at a design firm called Big Animal who had
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
as a client. After Ustwo was founded, they were able to gain work from
Sony Ericsson
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. ...
from this prior relationship to help design a
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
. Additional work came from similar word-of-mouth for banking firm
JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...
.
In 2007,
Apple, Inc. introduced the
iPhone and with it, the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
in 2008. Miller and Sinclair saw the opportunity here to make and sell their own applications directly to consumers via the App Store, and started to explore that area.
They toyed with various apps, having limited success outside of one title, ''MouthOff'', that had a cartoon mouth on screen mimick mouth movements on hearing speech that they released in 2009. The app earned Ustwo , a product of strong word-of-mouth from works like ''
Creative Review
''Creative Review'' is a bimonthly print magazine and website. The magazine focuses on commercial creativity, covering design, advertising, photography, branding, digital products, film, and gaming. The magazine is published bimonthly in print and ...
'',
''
Techcrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $ ...
'',
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, according to Miller.
''MouthOff'' led to them gaining work from retail chain
H&M.
Work over the next few years split between client work and developing their own apps, splitting off the games development section into "Ustwo Games" while the client services remained at "Ustwo Studios". During this time, they developed ''
Whale Trail'' in 2011, a children's game, which led to a deal with
Penguin Group
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initi ...
for an ebook and television series,
and ''Blip Blop'' in 2012.
The company did not focus on producing volumes of game apps to generate revenue, but instead felt that what few games they put should reflect the high quality their studio had become known for.
Ustwo's breakout title came in 2014 with ''
Monument Valley''.
''Monument Valley'' was developed as an artistic game, inspired by
M. C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints.
Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...
works, and meant to have simple controls.
''Monument Valley'' was critically praised, being named the Apple Store's Editors Choice
and later winning the
Apple Design Award
The Apple Design Awards (ADAs) is an event hosted by Apple Inc. at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The purpose of the event is to recognize the best and most innovative Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a fa ...
in 2014.
The game has since sold more than in revenue from over 26 million copies sold.
Ustwo had developed a relation with Apple, such that the surprise release of ''
Monument Valley 2'' was a headline presentation at the 2017
Apple Worldwide Developers Conference,
and had their next major title ''
Assemble with Care'' as one of the premiere titles available on launch of
Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service offered by Apple Inc. It is available through a dedicated tab of the App Store on devices running iOS 13, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. The service launched on September 19 ...
in September 2019.
''Assemble with Care'' was later ported to
Microsoft Windows and released on March 26, 2020.
The success of ''Monument Valley'' not only helped to put more money into the company, but helped them to gain more client-side work, was estimated to have brought in in 2013.
With this, Ustwo began expanding its business by forming
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...
s with other startup firms, as well as establishing an investment arm proving both financial and service-related support for new firms.
In 2014, Ustwo co-founded
DICE, a ticketing platform, with Phil Hutcheon, founder of music managing company Deadly Management.
Ustwo renamed themselves as "Ustwo Fampany Ltd." in 2015,
with "fampany" representing their desire to have their studio to be a combination of "family" and "company".
In 2019, Ustwo fired an employee for
labour organizing at the company. The
Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, which represents him through
Game Workers Unite
Game Workers Unite is a worker-run, labor rights group seeking to organize the video game industry. Founded during events surrounding the March 2018 Game Developers Conference, the flat organization has grown to over a thousand members across ...
UK, filed suit on the worker's behalf. Lana Polansky of Waypoint criticized Ustwo for adopting progressive language and values to camouflage workplace issues and
union busting
Union busting is a range of activities undertaken to disrupt or prevent the formation of trade unions or their attempts to grow their membership in a workplace.
Union busting tactics can refer to both legal and illegal activities, and can range ...
activities.
Structure
Ustwo Fampany has four primary divisions:
* Ustwo Studios is the segment that offers client services for developing mobile applications and other computer software.
* Ustwo Games is the division focused on game development
* Ustwo Adventure is the venture capital portion of the business, investing into smaller firms
* Ustwo Foundation seeks to encourage creative growth in promising young persons
As of 2022, Ustwo had studios in Malmö, Lisbon, Tokyo, and New York in addition to the London headquarters, employing about 260 employees worldwide.
Games developed
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://www.ustwo.com/
2004 establishments in England
Apple Design Awards recipients
British companies established in 2004
Privately held companies based in London
Software companies based in London
Video game companies established in 2004
Video game companies of the United Kingdom
Video game development companies