For many Hunt Valley companies, business is about fun and games.
The home to many video game designers, developers and creators, Hunt Valley is a hotbed of electronic businesses. Since the release of new video game platforms such as the PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360, these companies have been working hard to put out games for what is becoming a rapidly improving gaming market.
“As far as the companies are concerned, they are coming out of a cyclical low,” said Norman Young, a market analyst for Morningstar, an online business tracking firm. “This happens every time the console managers upgrade their equipment, and that is reflecting [the market] a year to seven months ago.”
At Hunt Valley gaming firm BreakAway Games Ltd., company officials are projecting gross revenue of about $10 million, one of the best years the company has ever had.
BreakAway creates anything from their most recent “Battle For Middle-Earth 2” expansion pack, to games that help train emergency responders and decision-makers how to handle crises. Cost to create games can run from around $500,000 to $5 million.
The company currently is working on a game for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi that will aid the virtual teaching of doctors and nurses.
“At the moment our lead product is a desktop development set of tools so you can create any world in 3-D,” BreakAway spokesperson Deb Tillet said. “You can create your own scenarios and play out any situation you care to.”
At neighboring Big Huge Games, company president Tim Train compares working in his office to “sitting in a tree house, doing fun coding and art.”
Train?s company is working on role-playing games for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the personal computer. Games created by Train?s team are usually unlicensed and allow Big Huge Games to cut out the middleman.
Despite the money and the booming business, officials at both gaming companies know to keep their work in perspective.
“We [hope to] create games that change the world,” Tillet said.
More information
» Big Huge Games, Inc.
1954 Greenspring Drive
Suite 520
Timonium, 21093
www.bighugegames.com
» BreakAway Games Ltd.
10150 York Road
Suite 250
Hunt Valley, 21030
www.breakawaygames.com
