In a suite of darkened rooms in a plain suburban office building, groups of software programmers, designers and animators manipulate a cast of computer screen warriors, who are battling across other-worldly landscapes for nothing less than total domination.
It is a scene one might expect to see in some creative center like California, but this workday moment takes place in Georgia -- Alpharetta, to be precise -- where a successful local serial entrepreneur is realizing his somewhat daring dream of becoming a player in the growing online game industry.
Erez Goren, who made millions with Radiant Systems, a retail point of sale systems developer, returned to his first love of computer games when he founded Hi-Rez Studios in 2005. Now, five years and $20 million of his own money later, the company has found success with its first product, a game called Global Agenda, a top seller in its category since coming out Feb. 1.
Sold digitally and played on a PC, Global Agenda has an international "community" of more than 100,000 players who interactively battle an oppressive futuristic government called the Commonwealth, as well as a constantly-shifting array of agents and alliances in a world populated by androids and elite assassins.
Company executives say the game is different because of the way it combines action elements and strategy. The same might be said for Hi-Rez, operating in Georgia and as an independent in its industry.
"It is unique, but it's part of an emerging trend," said Todd Harris, the company's chief operating officer, of Hi-Rez's location. Georgia, he said, has been "very active in supporting existing game companies and in growing the industry."
Support has come from the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which offers a 20 percent state tax credit to qualifying video game developers like Hi-Rez.
Goren, who Harris described as head of a major company (Radiant) "by day, and a gamer by night," entered the online games market as a passion play and as a business. Industry figures say people in 68 percent of U.S. households now play computer or video games, and while 18-year-old males may make up a prime slice of the users, the average user's age is 35, and 40 percent of those playing are women.
"It's more mainstream now. It's not just the stereotypical teenage boy," Harris said. "We very much see this as the future of entertainment. Today's generation has grown up on video games."
Global Agenda offers a free trial and carries a suggested price of $39.95. Players who want to add features can pay a $9.95 monthly subscription fee, which would generate recurring revenue.
Hi-Rez also stands out as an independent studio, and its 45 employees control all the creative and distribution elements of its games. Often, large publishers like Electronic Arts direct game content and appearance. The Hi-Rez model, Harris said, is financially more challenging, but allows it more control.
A second game to follow Global Agenda is in the works, Harris said, but he wouldn't divulge details.
"Top secret," he said.
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