Jam City Employee Spotlight – Aja Signor, Lead Game Designer

In the Employee Spotlight series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City.

Meet Aja Signor, a Lead Game Designer for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. To deliver creative and compelling game designs – especially for a game as renowned as Hogwarts Mystery – Aja draws inspiration from the world around her, focusing on human behavior and what moves the human spirit. 

What drew you to Jam City?

The games. I’m a huge fan of bubble-shooter and match-3 games and Jam City had advanced both of those genres in a player-centric way that I wanted to be apart of.

For example, in Panda Pop, the game team added a lantern-themed power-up mechanic to the bubble-shooter space. I loved how they leveraged a core puzzle mechanic with a super intuitive and exciting gameplay innovation that ended up being exactly what the genre’s players really wanted. I knew working with the intelligent people that lead to that kind of innovation was going to be great for me, both personally and professionally.

Describe your role on the team.

I direct and drive the content design process for the narrative, features, and events in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. It’s an interesting mix of game design, movie directing, and management.

I work with the narrative team and game director to help ensure that the story and choices are engaging for players, while still remaining executable by the other content departments in time for us to release that part of the story to players. I also design what people do in the Hogwarts classes and work with the writers to make sure each of the activities is really fun. Additionally, I work closely with the other game designers on the game’s features and events to help ensure compelling and healthy content growth for the game.

Then I translate those designs and the narrative into visual direction for art, animation, and content implementation teams. Together, we figure out how to nail the drama, mood, look, and feel for everything that ends up in game. It involves a lot of storyboarding, and I even act out character animations, camera transitions, and timings for the teams. So, when Rowan gets knocked down the stairs or McGonagall smiles at you after you get a quiz answer correct, I—at one point—acted that out for the team!

What advice would you give young designers about breaking ground in the gaming industry?

Firstly, play and be open to designing all types of games. Just because you love racing games doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy making puzzle games. Every type of design helps you hone your craft and become a better designer. I often find that the games genres I haven’t played before teach me more about game design than the games types I’m familiar with.

Secondly, design for players and not for yourself—people can tell! Look to work at a place where the creatives there set out to do the same thing. There’s no room for ego or personal taste in games you make for other people.

Lastly, I encourage young designers to have a body of work. Show it to as many people—and in as many ways—as possible. This industry values what you have executed upon versus what you can talk about.

Where do you draw inspiration from when you set out to create unique game designs?

I draw inspiration from anywhere I can get it. I read a ton; I watch a lot of great visual media; and I love to go to travel and people watch. I find that to entertain people, I need to discover what inspires and moves them about entertainment or life in general. What hits them at their core and why? What misses and why? All of those answers influence the decisions I make moment-to-moment as a game designer.

What do you think makes Jam City stand out in a trailblazer in the gaming industry?

Jam City has a fervent focus on the players. At every level of the company, we’re asking what players want and how to give it to them at the best quality possible. I have not met anybody here who is working to churn out games only to make a quick buck. There’s a passion here for creating high-quality entertainment experiences.

What advice would you give other employees about how to succeed in their role?

I measure success by how useful someone is in meeting and exceeding their team’s goals. Be a creative problem solver and help figure out ways that people can do things faster, better and smarter, wherever possible. Any intelligent person can have a great idea, but success is driving that great idea towards execution no matter what obstacles stand in your way.

Jam City Hosts The WIMMIES Game Changers Event

WIMMIES LA Panelists Left to Right: Vanessa Rouhani, Meghan Camarena, Tiffany Everett, Lisa Spano, Autumn Brown, Nina Kammer

On Wednesday, June 6, 2018, Jam City hosted the WIMMIES Game Changers event. Standing for Women in Media, the WIMMIES—though usually focusing on women working across all aspects of digital media and marketing—celebrated women making an impact in the games industry. The evening featured a rockstar panel that included Jam City’s VP Publishing, Vanessa Rouhani; Jam City’s VP, Consumer Insights, Lisa Spano; Social Media Influencer and Entrepreneur, Meghan Camarena (aka Strawburry17); Electronic Arts‘ Senior Director of Mobile Publishing, Autumn Brown; and Mobcrush’s Business Head of Sales, Nina Kammer.

Golin’s Director of Digital, Tiffany Everett, was the panel’s moderator and opened discussion on the state of the games industry with topics that included how the industry has changed to include women in the work place over the last 10 years; defying the social stigma of the typical “gamer” that game companies primarily market to; advice for women trying to get into gaming; and great areas of opportunity for women in gaming.

The WIMMIES hosted female designers, publishers, marketers, product managers, and data analysts across the games industry and even invited women with a passion for games working outside the industry.

Before introducing the panelists, Jam City’s Executive Producer for Panda Pop, Rachel DiPaola, presented impressive numbers that prove mobile is dominating the games space over PC’s and consoles. Citing App Annie’s review of App Store data and NewZoo’s quarterly update of it’s Global Games Market Report service, Rachel stated, “In 2018, the mobile games market will generate $70 billion. Last year, although games accounted for only 31 percent of downloads, they represented 75 percent of consumer spending. Total, there were over 4.5 million apps were released in the App store and 77 percent of those were games.”

Nina Kammer’s advice for women who don’t play games yet still wish to pursue a career in the games industry was simple, “You don’t need to be a gamer to be in the industry.”

When an audience member asked the panelists about great opportunities for women in gaming, Autumn Brown responded, “Everywhere. There are so many unique jobs in the in gaming industry.”

“Don’t think just because you’re good at doing one thing means you’re only capable of one thing,” said Vanessa Rouhani.

Social Media Influencer Meghan Camarena, a Mario Kart and Pokemon enthusiast, spoke about the challenges that come along with creating content around your own personal brand and offered a solution to those looking to overcome those obstacles, “Think outside the box and think how you can differentiate yourself. If you’re passionate about a game, let that guide you; developers will notice that.”

All the women on the panel pointed out the changes they’ve seen in the gaming industry over the last few years in both consumer behavior and workplace diversity.

“I remember the first gaming convention I went to,” remembered Vanessa Rouhani, “I was the only female in the room. It’s exciting, now, to see more and more of my peers in the games industry be female.”

Nina Kammer also commented on the industry’s evolution saying, “We’re going to see a lot more games made for PC and console get tailored for mobile,” referring to Fortnite’s expansion into the mobile platform. “The market is changing.”

Vanessa Rouhani shared her thoughts on the WIMMIES towards the conclusion of the event. “Women are doing incredible things in gaming right now and breaking all the stereotypes of what the “typical gamer” is. I am so honored to have joined such a remarkable group of women at the WIMMIES Game Changer event. The industry has come a long way since I first got into mobile gaming 15 years ago and I am more excited than ever about the future!” 

Lisa Spano provided the evening’s final thoughts and explained how Jam City has seen success thanks to the diversity woven into company’s culture. “Numerous reports indicate there are more female mobile gamers than male. Despite the shift in player demographics, women are still under-represented in the mobile games industry, particularly at the leadership level. I’m fortunate to lead a diverse research team at Jam City and believe diversity is critical to the success of our games. Not only has diversity led to a variety of perspectives and new ideas it has allowed us to relate better to our players and create gaming experiences that resonate emotionally with our audience.” 

Jam City Appoints Games Industry Veteran To Executive Team: Ryan Kaufman, VP, Narrative Design

Today, Jam City further bolstered its executive bench with the appointment of a games industry veteran: Ryan Kaufman.

Ryan Kaufman, VP of Narrative Design, will be helping Jam City’s creative teams build out the processes and methods to deliver world class narrative design. Ryan joins Jam City at a critical juncture for mobile games where narrative design has become extremely prominent and in many cases, a point of differentiation.

Ryan has worked in the games industry for over twenty years, serving as TellTale Games’ Director of Narrative Design for the last eight where he provided design and writing leadership on some of the biggest video game releases like Wolf Among Us, Walking Dead, Minecraft and HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Jam City is thrilled to welcome Ryan Kaufman to our executive team!

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Matt Chavis, Principal Animator

In the Employee Spotlight series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City.

Meet Matt Chavis, Principal Animator on the Cookie Jam and Cookie Jam Blast franchises. As an avid lover of art and gaming, Matt combined his passions to pursue a career in game animation and now offers valuable advice for young artists looking to enter the industry. 

What drew you to Jam City?  

I’ve been working on PC and console games for the majority of my career and Jam City sounded like the perfect opportunity to take the plunge into the mobile industry for a refreshing change.  The immediate warmth of the team reassured me that I had made the right decision.

Describe your role on the team.

I handle a lot of the Spine related animations for both Cookie Jam and Cookie Jam Blast. After the animations are complete, there is a lot of back and forth with Designers and Engineers to ensure the animations function and are tuned according to spec so that the players get the best experience possible.  Making things wiggle and jump is some serious business!

Did you know you always wanted to make art for games?

In my youth I enjoyed playing and replaying all of the classics like Mario, Donkey Kong Country, Megaman, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Sonic, and Golden Eye. Games that inspired me to do what I do today. I’ve always been passionate about art, passionate about ideas, and passionate about games. Joining the three was a no brainer and naturally led me to the decision to go to school for it. I have to credit Mario and Nintendo for giving me this passion for making games. They gave me so much joy as a child and that pushed me to follow this path into gaming so that maybe I can  provide the same joy to the future generation of gamers.

What guidance can you offer young artists about breaking ground in the gaming industry?

Construct a solid portfolio that showcases what style you thrive in; the gaming industry admires passion. Establish an online presence and connect yourself to the industry and its professionals by utilizing social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Vevo, Twitter, etc. It’s important to shop your portfolio around and get as much feedback as possible.  

What advice would you give other employees about how to succeed in their role?

Take time to reflect and remind yourself why you’re doing all of this in the first place.  I think it’s also important to embrace evolution. This is a fast moving industry that requires you to keep your skills up to date.

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Bob Stanton, Studio Art Director

In Jam City’s Employee Spotlight series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City.

Meet Bob Stanton. As Studio Art Director, Bob oversees the concept art that goes into Jam City’s games, from ideation to release. Bob’s made a career as an artist and understands the value of honing one’s craft to fit within the confines of their career goals and now offers valuable guidance and direction to a new generation of aspiring artists and designers dreaming of success. 

What drew you to Jam City?

I recognized that the employees at Jam City loved what they did and that was really important to me. I admire people who love what they do—it’s exciting to watch them grow, as both an artist and a person, and I knew it was the right culture that I wanted to be apart of.

Describe your role on the team.

I began as the Art Director on Juice Jam and as the team grew, so did my position. I now help develop the teams and make sure they have what they need. I also help the team achieve whatever style they set out to accomplish and that can include doing paint-overs and sketch-overs. I oversee all the games but ensure that each game’s Art Director retains ownership.

What advice can you give artists and designers about breaking into an industry, whether it’s in gaming or any other?

Researching the industry you’re trying to get into is key. Knowing what you like is really important and if you’re honest to yourself, you’ll find the right job. If you’re not, then you’ll find a job that you think you like and that isn’t the same as loving it. If you enjoy a style of art, ask yourself how that fits into the industry you’re trying to get into.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

I enjoy working with all the teams. They’re talented, fun, intelligent and the best at what they do. Not only that, but they want to get better and that makes me love their humility.

What do you think makes Jam City stand out as a trailblazer in the gaming industry?

The culture. Learning to appreciate other people’s work and learning to appreciate people go hand-in-hand. Working in business and learning continually fosters a mentality of respect and eagerness to learn. Having big ears is the best way to be a leader so you have to know when your crew is getting bored or burning out. Being sensitive to each other’s needs is really important and Jam City hits the mark on recognizing the value in that.

What projects at Jam City have you been most excited to work on?

Mary Shu, the Art Director for Juice Jam, is an artist I admire tremendously and her artwork was the first I saw from Jam City. She incorporated the style of Mary Blair—an artist at Disney in the 40’s/50’s who produced concept art for “Peter Pan,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Cinderella”—into Juice Jam and the characters were so adorable. Being apart of Mary Shu’s creative process and providing input on separate pieces was a lot of fun.

I’m also excited to do more work on Snoopy Pop. I was a little kid in the 60’s and was a huge fan of the “Peanuts” and Charles Schulz’s work.

What advice can you give employees about how to succeed in their role?

Learn something new everyday about your role and how you can support others on your team. You can strive for that but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, however it’s important to have that attitude. Every time you come into a new position, consider yourself at the bottom level. You know enough to do this now, but there is always more to learn that can help support your teams.

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Max Litvinov, Associate Software Engineer

In Jam City’s Employee Spotlight series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City. 

Meet Max Litvinov, the Associate Software Engineer for Jam City’s hit mobile game, Cookie Jam Blast. Max is passionate about the science behind engineering video games and offers guidance for young engineers looking to break ground in the games industry. 

What drew you to Jam City?

I played Panda Pop, Cookie Jam Blast and Marvel Avengers Academy before joining Jam City so I was familiar with their large and successful game portfolio as well as the impressive profiles of their executives. I had also heard great things about the company’s culture.

Describe your role on the team.

I’m an Associate Software Engineer for the mobile game, Cookie Jam Blast. I work primarily on gameplay elements which include characters, game modes, game buffs and player rewards. Gameplay elements could include logic, physics, animation and interactivity with character’s in the game. I also assist in live operations.

What makes Jam City stand out among other mobile games companies?

At Jam City, we are guided by data and driven by fun. There’s a lot of emphasis put on game analytics for everything we do. Additionally, decisions here are made by groups of people — and not just one single executive — so we have multiple minds working towards a common goal. When features come out, everyone provides input during the entire development process.

Have you always wanted to build a career in gaming?

Yes. Gaming appealed to me at an early age since I started playing games like Halo and Plants vs. Zombies. The more I played games, the more I wanted to learn about the science behind engineering video games.

What advice would you give employees about how to succeed in their role?

Ask questions and don’t be afraid to do so. Experienced people know how to get things done so when you’re stuck, it’s better to ask how to accomplish something properly in order to move on to the next step. As a result, you become a better all around employee because your learning curve increases exponentially.

What guidance can you give young engineers about breaking into the games industry?

It’s all about persistence. You learn more the harder you work towards something and that will ultimately lead to more opportunities. In April, I spoke at the East Coast Games Conference about taking a modern day approach to breaking into the games industry. My main point of discussion was to work on your own video game projects to figure out if you actually enjoy the work. Making your own video games allow you to take something fun — and learn from it — while building your own portfolio. This talk will release on ECGC’s Youtube channel shortly and is provided with many specific resources and as well as real-world examples.

Josh Yguado, Jam City President, Discusses Company Culture & Drive

Josh Yguado, President/Co-Founder, Jam City

On April 10, Josh Yguado represented Jam City at the GamesBeat Summit in Mill Valley, CA where he lead a fireside chat alongside CAA’s Head of Mobile, Michael Blank, to discuss the intersection between Hollywood IPs + mobile games. 

At the summit, USC Games sat down with the Jam City President to discuss the company culture, the opportunities within the mobile games industry and why students interested in media should invest their time in mobile. 

On what inspires Jam City to create:

Josh Yguado: Games can be for everyone and we try to create games that everyone can enjoy. It’s the democratization of video games, its not hardcore gamers hidden in their basement.  Nowadays, everyone has a game console in their pocket that they carry around with them. 

On why students should pay attention to mobile:

Josh Yguado: Everyone who wants to be in entertainment should take mobile seriously. More people consume media content on mobile devices than they do on television or film screens. Mobile is the future of entertainment and technology and some of the best jobs will not be in traditional media, they will be in mobile games.

On why company culture is so important:

Josh Yguado: We don’t take for granted that we get to be in an industry where people make games. We get to make games people love. There’s nothing I love more than going down the middle of the bus and seeing a couple of people playing Jam City games. I love bringing joy to other people and that creates joy in our day to day work environment.

Check out the full video interview below:

Jam City At Google I/O: Finding Success With Google Play Instant

Left to right: Google moderator Benjamin Frenkel, Marcelo Ferreiro of Jam City, Olivia Yu of King and Kyle Rushton of Zynga

Google I/O is an annual festival for developers that features technical talks, codelabs and hands-on experiences. At this year’s festival, Jam City’s Director of Engineering, Marcelo Ferreiro—alongside Olivia Yu of King and Kyle Rushton of Zynga—discussed how game developers can find success with Google Play Instant.

Back in March, Jam City partnered with Google to create a Google Play Instant version of Panda Pop. Marcelo provided an update on Panda Pop’s use case and offered key considerations that all gaming developers should take into account when creating a Google Play Instant version for their game. 

How do you see Google Play Instant impacting the overall gaming landscape?

Marcelo: The mobile gaming landscape is more competitive than ever and we see Google Play Instant as a valuable tool for developers to acquire new users into their games.

What Google Play Instant use cases have you tried and what use cases are you most excited about?

Marcelo: Jam City built the first 10 levels of Panda Pop for users to play and they are able to carry over their progress into the full app when they install it. In the future, we’re going to explore social opportunity and the possibility of sharing the game with your friends.

Jam City Director of Engineering, Marcelo Ferreiro

Of all the things you’ve implemented so far, what’s been the impact that you’ve seen with Google Play Instant?

Marcelo: Being able to just click and play the game removes the friction of the installation process. Taking advantage of that eagerness is going to be really important in the future.

Goole Play Instant for Panda Pop

As you build out the Google Play Instant experience for Panda Pop, what did you learn about the infrastructure of installing apps?

Marcelo: Jam City’s first idea was the make the Instant version 20 levels long and give players the ability to go back and forth between the map and the game. However, we realized we weren’t going to achieve the 10 MB size limit allowed for Google Play Instant, so our team decided to instead release the first 10 levels of gameplay. 

We learned that it’s important to remove things you don’t use that take up too much space like plugins, textures, scenes and localization strings. Our goal was to build a Google Play Instant on top of the regular game so that we benefit from the changes made in the full app. It was beneficial to do so because ultimately, we gained memory and performance.

The USC Games Expo Sponsored By Jam City Shows Why USC Is The #1 Game School In North America

On Wednesday, May 9, Jam City Sponsored the inaugural USC Games Expo hosted by the University of Southern California School of Interactive Media and Games Division and the Viterbi Computer Science GamePipe Program. The event brought together, for the first time, interactive projects and initiatives under one room with over 80 new games and digital projects from students and faculty from the #1 Video Game School in North America.

Jam City CEO Chris DeWolfe—a USC alumni himself—opened the inauguration at the Eileen Norris Cinema Theater to a packed house and offered students and their families encouraging words about the current state of the gaming industry and what graduating students can expect as they embark on their careers.

“The one thing I learned at USC was to follow what you’re really passionate about. We should all keep following our passions,” said Chris DeWolfe.  

Following DeWolfe’s keynote, 7 game teams from the Advanced Games Program were given a spotlight to introduce their projects and show off gameplay. The demos were an artistic thrill ride into the imaginations of the next generation of game developers. From virtual reality experiences to puzzle simulations, futuristic battle arenas to comedic adventures, the students’ quality of the games showed why USC retains the position as the #1 Gaming School in North America and assures players around the world that the future of gaming is in good hands.

Chris DeWolfe pictured with the creators of One Hand Clapping, a musical game that required players to sing into a microphone to solve puzzles.

The creators of Friendshrimp, a whimsical game based on the mantis shrimp, the animal with the strongest punch in the world.

The creators of Sky Command, a VR game that has players piloting a stolen ammunitions ship.

After the demos inside the Norris theater concluded, the Expo kicked off around campus where students premiered over 80 games across a variety of categories including Virtual Reality games, Console games, and Board and Card games to over 1,000 people in attendance.

Congratulations to all of the participants at the Expo and thank you to the University of Southern California for allowing Jam City to sponsor! 

Jam City Speaks At The LA Games Conference: Hollywood and Games

On Tuesday, May 8, The LA Games Conference held their annual event at the W Hotel in Hollywood where leaders across the gaming industry spoke on a variety of topics that are dominating the gaming industry. From Fighting Toxicity in Gaming to the Opportunity or Brands, Agencies and Marketers have in Esports, every corner of the industry was covered.

Jam City’s SVP Brand Strategy & Marketing, Josh Brooks, spoke on the Hollywood and Games panel about how gaming companies can create an original narrative that stems from Hollywood IPs. 

Jam City is the go-to studio for Hollywood, having developed immersive, narrative rich mobile games for iconic entertainment brands including Harry Potter, Family Guy, and Marvel Avengers. As studios are very protective of their brand, development takes time as developers and designers want to ensure accuracy in every frame.  

The most notable highlight from the panel was the direction gaming studios should take when creating a narrative that stems from a Hollywood IP: 

Tell a new story in the world, not the same story as the movie or TV show. Above all, be flexible because studios always have changes. 

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Lisa Spano, VP Consumer Insights

In Jam City’s “Employee Spotlight” series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City.

Meet Lisa Spano, Jam City’s VP, Consumer Insights. Lisa and her insights team run the research and competitive intelligence groups at Jam City. Together they’ve assembled a passionate community of play testers whose feedback contribute to design and business initiatives. 

What drew you to Jam City?

I’m really passionate about mobile games and love the challenge of building and creating influential teams from the ground up. When I initially learned about the opportunity to create a new research function a year and a half ago I knew it was the perfect time for me to transition from a more console focused company. I strongly believe in the executive vision for Jam City and see a very bright future ahead of us.     

Describe your role on the team.

I oversee the Research and Competitive Intelligence groups at Jam City. Our vision is to inspire transformational action and drive growth through in-depth player understanding. I’m really fortunate to have an amazing team that has had a tremendous impact on the way we think about game design and marketing strategy.

Who are the Jam City Insiders and what role do they play in influencing a game?

Jam City Insiders is a community of our most passionate players across a variety of Jam City games. We are in continuous communication with our Insiders and use their feedback to influence a number of business initiatives including game design, go to market strategy, IP decisions and much more. As a company, it’s important for us to be player-centric and to build relationships with some of our most valued players, to learn more about their gameplay motivations and to create new experiences that will keep our players engaged for years to come.  

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

Aside from working with great people, I love knowing that the games we are making bring so much joy and happiness to millions of people around the world. Because of the work I do, I’ve had the pleasure of reading many touching stories about the impact our games have on our players’ lives. Our games bring families closer together, create special bonds between moms and their children, help people get through difficult times they are having in their lives and make people smile.

What sets Jam City apart from other mobile gaming companies?

Jam City operates in an entrepreneurial environment—the executives are always open to new ideas and testing which leads to more innovative opportunities. We also have an amazing culture made up of employees who are very passionate about what they’re working on. Additionally, I love working for a company that helps our local community by participating in various charity events throughout the year, like Habitat for Humanity.

What advice would you give to your employees about how to succeed in their role?

There are three pieces of advice I live by and often talk about with others: (1) Be passionate about what you do. It’s so important to find what makes you happy and never settle. (2) Keep reading and keep learning. Knowledge is powerful and can lead to many great things such as inspiration for new ideas, improved skills and the ability to teach and mentor others. There’s always more to learn no matter where you are in life or your career. (3) Use failure as an opportunity to grow. Most people avoid talking about failures but many failures lead to new perspectives and ultimately greater success.

‘Wild Things: Animal Adventure’ Partners With Discovery’s Project CAT For Donation Campaign

Wild Things: Animal Adventure is partnering with Discovery’s Project CAT for a Facebook donation campaign called, “Likes For Stripes.” For every 10,000 “likes” Wild Things: Animal Adventure receives on Facebook, they will donate $1,000 to Discovery’s Project CAT. The campaign lasts until Wednesday, May 9 with a donation cap of $10,000. Head to Wild Things: Animal Adventure’s Facebook to “like” their page today.

Pre-Registration is open for Wild Things: Animal Adventure now.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is Out Now!

Today is a HUGE day for Jam City as we officially launch our brand new mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery worldwide! I want to personally congratulate the wildly talented and driven Jam City team for creating what is already the #1 game in the Apple and Google Play Store!  With over three million pre-registrations, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery was undoubtedly the most anticipated game of 2018, and deservedly so. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is an immersive, narrative-rich mobile entertainment experience inspired by one of the most iconic and beloved franchises in history.

The fan excitement and media interest surrounding Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery was like nothing we’ve ever seen before, with early news and trailers generating an avalanche of Tweets, Facebook posts and fan reaction YouTube videos that showed just how excited players are to begin their very own Hogwarts journeys. Well the wait is over, and Harry Potter fans (old and new) now have a magical new way to experience J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World – on their mobile devices.

Players will befriend a young Nymphadora Tonks long before she served in the Ministry of Magic and have quality puppy time with Hagrid’s favorite boarhound, Fang. Those looking for the full educational experience can take Transfiguration classes with Professor McGongall, voiced by Dame Maggie Smith, and perfect the swish and flick technique that comes with learning a first year levitation charm taught by Professor Flitwick.  

The launch of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery comes at a momentous time for Jam City as our team is creating two other mobile entertainment franchises —World War Doh and Wild Things: Animal Adventure.

World War Doh is a real-time strategy game we acquired from the Bogota-Columbia based studio, Brainz. The highly anticipated title was awarded Apple’s “Best of 2017” in the Tech and Innovation category in Latin America, as well as the “Best In Show: Audience Choice” award at the 2017 Casual Connect USA conference. It’s a fun and innovative and totally different than the other games in our portfolio.

Wild Things: Animal Adventure – which is now open for pre-registration at http://www.jamcity.com/wildthings – delivers the spectacular visual and storytelling impact of an animated television or web series to mobile platforms. Based on extremely positive feedback from player testing, we believe this is a one-of-a-kind entertainment franchise in the making.

Since launching Jam City in 2010, we have navigated a rapidly consolidating industry, achieving significant growth through partnerships with Hollywood studios, innovations in the mechanics of game play and in data mining, and an obsessive focus on creating amazing games that millions of people around the world love and play everyday.

Our games are designed to give people a sense of achievement, to give them social opportunities for sharing and community building, and to help them experience stories in new, interactive ways. This approach has enabled us to rapidly gain global scale while driving strong financial performance.

Jam City’s success has been fueled by the swift adoption of mobile devices and significant  advancements in mobile technology. Mobile games now offer stunning, interactive entertainment experiences coupled with cutting-edge social features that delight consumers in rapidly increasing numbers. Consider this:

• Consumer spending on mobile games is expected to reach $58 billion in 2018 and grow to $73 billion in 2020 (NewZoo)
• With a 15.3% CAGR, mobile games are the the fastest growing form of entertainment media (NewZoo)
• Mobile games accounted for 90% of Google Play revenue and 75% of Apple App Store revenue in 2017 (Sensor Tower)
• There are now 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, compared to 100 million in 1995 (NewZoo)

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is only the beginning of an incredible year for Jam City. Given immense industry tailwinds, the strength of our existing games and our robust pipeline of new innovative titles, we expect more great things to come for Jam City.

I feel fortunate to be surrounded by such a talented team as we continue to build the global leader in mobile entertainment.

Best,

Chris DeWolfe

Co-Founder & CEO, Jam City

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Vanessa Rouhani VP, Publishing

In Jam City’s “Employee Spotlight” series, we are highlighting the diverse and exceptional talent here at Jam City.

Meet Vanessa Rouhani, Jam City’s VP, Publishing. Vanessa and her publishing team are largely responsible for the active presence Jam City games have in the app stores and other digital platforms.

What drew you to Jam City?

I was drawn to Jam City’s entrepreneurial spirit and the opportunity to be a part of their growth. The company had already experienced great success but still possessed the grit and tenacity of a startup company.

Describe your role on the team.

I oversee the Publishing department that manages Jam City’s relationship with platform partners, like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. I like to think of my role as the central point of contact between platform partners and Jam City’s game teams. In addition to helping our games get exposure on the App Store and Google Play, we also work with platform partners to help test and provide feedback on new technology, tools, and services, like the recent partnership with Google for Panda Pop’s Instant version of the game. These initiatives help position Jam City as a top gaming partner.

What sets Jam City apart from other mobile gaming companies?

At some companies, teams are very siloed, but Jam City does an excellent job of encouraging cross-collaboration across different teams. Despite having our own responsibilities, the Publishing team works closely with many internal teams, including Product Marketing, Product Management, Production, and more. At Jam City, we’re all working towards the same goal and it’s often helpful to get a fresh perspective on different initiatives.

Can you speak to how Jam City’s leadership team operates?

The leadership team at Jam City is extremely supportive. They respect our teams and see value in the way we build them. They’re trusting enough to grant us autonomy, making a lot of the initiatives that the Publishing team — and others — are working on, easier to implement.

Do you consider yourself a gamer?

I always said, “I’m not a gamer,” and that I just stumbled into a career in gaming. But when I look back on my life, I have always been a gamer. I played Mario; I played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES; I loved Sonic and Crash Bandicoot. I even got into PC gaming in high school and played Heroes of Might and Magic and Mechwarrior — I laugh when I say that because it’s so not me! As I got older and had less free time, I started playing casual puzzle games, where I could compete against friends. That’s why I was so happy to join Jam City — our games were made for me!

What advice would you give employees on how to succeed in their field?

First and foremost, realize that passion is contagious. It’s so important to love what you do because it’s reflected in your work. Secondly, always trust your intuition — don’t be afraid to voice your opinion because sometimes you may have the only right answer. Lastly, celebrate your failures as much as your wins. If you don’t speak up, it’s a missed opportunity for growth.

Jam City President Josh Yguado Speaks with CAA Partner Michael Blank at GamesBeat Summit 2018

Today, at VentureBeat’s GamesBeat Summit in Mill Valley, CA, Jam City President/Co-Founder Josh Yguado sat down with CAA’s Head of Mobile, Michael Blank, for a fireside chat to discuss how shorter in-game promotional opportunities can give developers a chance to experiment with what it’s like to partner with celebrities and franchises in an authentic way. 

Check out the full fireside chat here:

Jam City Sr. Director, Ad Monetization Featured In MoPub Match! At Mobile Growth Summit

In February, the Mobile Growth Summit held its annual conference in San Francisco where it explored the latest trends in marketing, advertising and distribution for mobile applications.

At the summit, MoPub – a Twitter company that provides monetization solutions for mobile app publishers and developers around the globe – hosted MoPub Match!, a dating game show that matched mobile publishers to their dream programmatic buyer. The game show illustrated how connections are made between a mobile app publisher and a demand-side platform (DSP) while providing a peek into how publishers and DSPs go about understanding each other’s desires, motivations and goals.

Representing the mobile publisher was Sally Lu, Jam City’s Senior Director, Ad Monetization.

Sally sat down with 4 programmatic buyers; The Trade Desk’s Senior Director of Inventory Partnership, Tiffany Lee; Criteo’s Director of Global Partnership, Adam London; Liftoff’s Account Executive, Kate Handley; and LinkedIn’s Business Lead, Peter Turner.

The buyers were instructed to answer questions that focused on different aspects a mobile publisher considers when choosing a DSP (i.e. ad size, inventory performance, etc.) and by the end of the show, MoPub revealed which buyer would be an ideal match for Jam City.

Great to see Sally sharing her expertise on monetization in the mobile era!

Check out the full segment below:

Jam City Employee Spotlight – Brian Sapp, VP of User Acquisition

In our new “Employee Spotlight” series, our goal is to highlight the amazing talent at Jam City. We have over 500 diverse employees across five studios, trailblazing in areas like storytelling, data science and marketing. Meet Brian Sapp, Jam City’s VP of User Acquisition Marketing. Though relatively new to the company, Brian is already making a huge impact at Jam City.

What drew you to Jam City?

I’ve known about Jam City since 2011 from my time at Tapjoy when I worked with the Jam City marketing team. I knew all about the amazing products Jam City was creating and I always heard great things about the company’s culture. So when the opportunity arose to work here, I knew it would be a great next step in my career.

Describe your role on the team.

I oversee the User Acquisition Marketing team. My day-to-day involves setting the UA goals and strategy for Jam City’s portfolio of titles and helping the UA team execute against those goals, and doing my best to make sure any obstacles the team encounters are removed. Another big area of focus for me is marketing creative. From ideation, iteration, to output and testing, the team is focused on delivering the best creative to maximize our marketing efforts. These are just a few of my priorities.

How has Jam City helped your career development?

I’ve only been with Jam City for a short time but it’s definitely impacted my career. Jam City has immense resources – and it really shows. Speaking from a UA perspective, the team can focus on what’s important and execute thanks to our robust data infrastructure – which is a huge advantage. I also love how entrepreneurial the culture is – and how people aren’t afraid to try new things or take risks.

What sets Jam City apart from other mobile gaming companies?

There’s an entertainment culture here that is very strong. Jam City titles are conceived in terms of building entertainment franchises and bigger brands, as opposed to just gaming. Jam City also understands the fun factor that resonates with audiences – which is very important. I’ve overseen a lot of games during my career and I can say, Jam City games are really innovative and fun.

What advice would you give employees about how to succeed in their role?

One of the most important traits to have is intellectual curiosity – especially within UA. People shouldn’t take things at face value, but rather try to dig deeper and understand “the why” which is driven by intellectual curiosity.

New Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Game And Fan Reaction Video

Earlier this year, Harry Potter fans from around the world gathered at Universal Orlando Resort for A Celebration Of Harry Potter event. With wands at the ready, witches, wizards and muggles of all ages donned their finest robes for a magical 3-day extravaganza—presented by Warner Bros. and Universal Orlando Resort—celebrating all things Harry Potter.

While attendees experienced everything from Butterbeer to the Sorting Hat, the celebration’s biggest highlight was when Jam City demoed the highly-anticipated upcoming mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery to fans.

A recap video showcases gameplay and real-time reactions to the game from Harry Potter fans. Watch it below!

Excitement was through the castle roof as fans began their Hogwarts story. Players took note of the realistic nature of the game, with one saying, “it felt like I was sitting in Hogwarts.” 

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery pre-registration is open and will launch worldwide later this spring.

Creating “Google Play Instant” for Panda Pop

With all the great games available today, discovery can be challenging for developers. One of the largest barriers to converting new players is the friction of the install process.

That’s why we were excited to partner with Google on a Google Play Instant version of Panda Pop – which was announced this morning at Google’s Developer Day at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. Google Play Instant allows players to try Panda Pop without having to download and install the full game. Check out the announcement and Panda Pop case study Google posted today on its Android Developers Blog as part of its “Big Bet on Mobile Games” in 2018!

Jam City leveraged Google Play Instant to enhance Panda Pop’s architecture and design and find a new way to acquire high quality players. The talented Panda Pop engineering team built and launched an Instant version of the game that allows players to experience the first ten levels of game play. The build removes menus, unnecessary codes and unused plugins leading to a significant reduction in build size.

Marcelo Ferreiro, Director of Engineering at Jam City, said:

“Building Google Play Instant was a great opportunity for Jam City to see where Panda Pop could be optimized. We’ve taken those learnings and applied them to the full version of the game, which now runs smoother and with a reduced memory footprint.”

And

“Google Play Instant is a win-win for players and developers – players get a fully functional gameplay experience before downloading, and developers get a promising new way to acquire high quality users.”

Google Play Instant is still in closed beta and will be opened more broadly later this year. Below are some pictures from Google’s Developer Day at GDC, where they discussed Google Play Instant and more!

Jam City Appoints Former Machine Zone Executives Nick Pavlich As SVP of Studio Operations And Chris Ulm As Creative Director

Today, Jam City announced that it has further strengthened its executive bench with the appointment of two former general managers (GMs) from Machine Zone – Nick Pavlich and Chris Ulm.

Nick Pavlich, who was appointed SVP of Studio Operations at Jam City, drove development for the massively successful games Game of War and Mobile Strike as GM at Machine Zone. In addition, as former VP and Development Director at Activision, Nick oversaw one of the biggest console launches of all time, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In his new role, Pavlich will focus on strengthening Jam City’s global studio operations as the company continues to grow and expand its mobile games portfolio.

Chris Ulm, who was appointed Creative Director of Jam City’s San Diego studio, is a twenty-year veteran of both the publishing and video game industries, having co-founded studios later acquired by Marvel and Activision. Most recently, Chris served as GM of Machine Zone’s San Diego studio. In his new role, Chris will lead the creative team at Jam City’s San Diego studio, overseeing the company’s 100 million user Cookie Jam franchise.

“We are thrilled about bringing Nick and Chris on board as we look to accelerate the tremendous growth we have achieved in our core business,” said Josh Yguado, Co-Founder & President at Jam City. “Nick and Chris are both highly respected leaders with deep experience in operational scale and the game development process and we are already benefiting from their expertise and creativity as we continue to expand our audience and launch iconic, top grossing mobile games.”

Jam City is thrilled to welcome Nick and Chris to our executive team!

Jam City Expands Portfolio with Acquisition of Brainz Team and Assets, Including Award-Winning Strategy Game, World War Doh

Today, Jam City announced that we are expanding our portfolio of games with the acquisition of the award-winning strategy game, World War Doh from the Bogota, Colombia based mobile game developer, Brainz. We are very excited that Brainz’s world-class creative team has joined Jam City and will continue to carry out the development of World War Doh.

The highly anticipated World War Doh title was awarded Apple’s “Best of 2017” in the Tech and Innovation category in Latin America as well as the award for “Best In Show: Audience Choice” at the 2017 Casual Connect USA conference. Jam City will release World War Doh worldwide in late 2018.

World War Doh is a fast-paced strategy game where you lead the Commander and his (not entirely willing) band of allies in real-time combat, while deploying troop and spell combinations into the battlefield. The game combines humorous and engaging gameplay with high production value, memorable characters and unique social features. The acquisition marks Jam City’s continued expansion into real-time strategy game development and provides a strong platform for continued innovation in mobile entertainment.

For those of you who are interested in seeing what World War Doh looks like in action – check out this gameplay video here.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Jam City to acquire a highly anticipated, award winning mobile game before its worldwide launch,” said Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and CEO of Jam City. “World War Doh is an entirely new type of game for Jam City, and we’ve been blown away by how creative, entertaining and just plain fun it is. We look forward to welcoming the incredibly talented World War Doh team to Jam City and bringing the experience to gamers worldwide later this year.”

Check out the press release we issued today!

Jam City and Panda Pop Team Up with NFL Star, Ty Montgomery, in ‘Save the Babies’ Event Benefiting the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families

Today Jam City announced a partnership with Panda Pop super fan and NFL star, Ty Montgomery, for a Panda Pop Save the Babies Event. Teaming up with Ty to support foster care families, Jam City will be donating $15,000 to the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families in his honor. Ty will be challenging his Green Bay teammates and other professional football players to rescue the baby pandas in Panda Pop, the world’s most popular bubble shooter game. Kicking off on Ty’s 25th birthday, for every 25 levels these pro players complete in Panda Pop between January 22-29, Jam City will donate an additional $2,500.

“Ty Montgomery makes a difference for his team every time he’s on the field. Now he’s channeling his passion for Panda Pop toward making a difference in the lives of foster care children through our Save the Babies event,” said Josh Yguado, Co-Founder, President and COO of Jam City. “Jam City is very proud to join Ty and the Coalition for Children, Youth and Families to bring the helping spirit of Panda Pop to foster children and their families.”

Along with being a talented and dedicated Panda Pop player, Ty Montgomery is a fleet-footed running back for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. After starring at Stanford as a wide receiver, he was drafted in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft. In 2016, he switched to running back to fulfill a team need, showing his team spirit and readiness to help others around him.

“Panda Pop is my go-to game and it’s a great pleasure to work with Jam City to use my off-the-field pastime to benefit those in need,” said Ty Montgomery. “Once you start playing Panda Pop you don’t want to stop, so I know my teammates will come through for this challenge to earn additional resources for the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families.”

Based in Wisconsin, the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families supports people who are changing lives through foster care and adoption by connecting them to information, training, and support they need to succeed. Its mission is to inspire, inform and support individuals and families caring for children touched by foster care and adoption.

“Ty Montgomery is one of our strongest supporters and on behalf of the foster care children and families who benefit from our services, we welcome this generous contribution from Jam City and Panda Pop,” said Oriana Carey, CEO of the Coalition for Children, Youth & Families. “This Panda Pop event will help us carry out our mission so let’s go, Packers—save those panda babies!”

Jam City’s hit game Panda Pop is free to play and is available on mobile devices via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Jam City and FoxNext Games Celebrate 300th FAMILY GUY Episode with Danny Trejo in FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game

Today Jam City announced a special Danny Trejo-themed in-game event for FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game which will run from January 14th to January 18th. We are SUPER excited about this partnership with Danny Trejo, a legendary American actor known for playing iconic characters and super-villains in films and TV shows such as Machete, Spy Kids, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy. The event launch celebrates the 300th episode of the FAMILY GUY television series, from which the Jam City game gets its trademark characters and humor.

Along with the in-game event, we are also releasing comedic videos starring Danny Trejo, featuring real life match-3 challenges, to give players a taste of what to expect in FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game. For a limited-time the game will host an epic match-3 battle between Peter Griffin’s food truck and his Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts’ truck. Word is Peter’s truck business is booming and Danny wants in on the sweet, sweet action.

Commenting on the event, Jam City Co-Founder and President Josh Yguado, said: “We are all in on the FAMILY GUY brand and it’s awesome to celebrate the show’s 300th episode with an icon like Danny Trejo. FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game thrives on the same style of topical yet self-aware humor as the show and Danny’s appearance in the game is no exception.”

Danny Trejo added: “When Jam City asked me to appear in FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game, I had two questions, ‘Who wants some delicious donuts?’ and ‘What happens to players who disrespect the Trejo’s trucks?’ I’ll have words for any players who think they can breeze their way through my game levels.”

Created in close partnership with FoxNext Games and the Family Guy Production team, FAMILY GUY: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game is available for free from the Apple App Store on iPhone, at (http://jamcity.me/AFMGiOS), on Google Play at (http://jamcity.me/AFMGgp), and available via all major app stores worldwide.

Jam City, Onward 2018!!

Jam City could not be more honored to announce today that we have entered into a licensing agreement with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment to develop a mobile game for one of the largest and most iconic brands in history:  Harry Potter.

As Harry Potter fanatics ourselves, we have great respect for the millions of people throughout the world who have followed the Harry Potter story for more than 20 years.  From an idea born on a train journey to its creation in a small cafe in Edinburgh, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone started a global phenomenon.  Our company is now part of this legacy, and the game we are announcing today (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery) is a labor of love for our developers and artists, who are dedicated to creating the most magical entertainment and gameplay experience for anyone who adores J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.

Ending 2017 by announcing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery caps off an extraordinary year for Jam City.  We debuted four mobile games this year that reflect our mix of original titles and our ability to turn licensed third party IP into dynamic, personal game experiences.  Titles like Snoopy Pop, Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game and Futurama Worlds of Tomorrow continue to demonstrate that Jam City is the industry leader when it comes to bringing beloved entertainment franchises to life in the mobile game format.  Additionally, the launch of Cookie Jam Blast further validated the significance of our own Cookie Jam franchise: a half a billion dollar mobile game that continues to grow in audience and profitability year-over-year.

As we look forward to 2018, we believe Jam City is a company at the forefront of a massive, global shift in human behavior — enabled by mobile phones — that is changing how we communicate, how we connect, and how we are entertained.  Increasingly, life today happens on mobile, app-by-app.  And, amid all of the entertainment options enabled via smartphones, mobile gaming is the fastest-growing form of entertainment media worldwide.  Mobile games represent 85% of all revenue generated by the app economy (App Store and Google Play).  That translates to a $40.6 billion mobile games industry last year alone.  Mobile gaming is a juggernaut experiencing unprecedented growth.  Today, there are more than 2.5 billion mobile gamers worldwide (compared to 100 million in 1995).

Games have moved from a subculture to become something far more mainstream and an integral part of modern life.  The massive scale of mobile audiences and frequency of game engagements, is driving an entirely new level of cultural relevance for games.  We believe Jam City is one of companies at the forefront of this mega trend.

As more and more people around the world look to their mobile phones and devices for entertainment, connections, and joy, our 500 employees will continue to create amazing mobile games for our hundreds of millions of players worldwide.  At Jam City, we make magic.  No wand required.

Happy holidays, and let the games begin!

Chris DeWolfe

Co-Founder and CEO of Jam City

Jam City Marks National Cookie Day By Announcing First Annual Holiday Cookie Jam Winner

Celebrating this year’s National Cookie Day,Jam City, a Los Angeles-based mobile game developer, announced that social media superstar, Justine Ezarik (aka iJustine), is the winner of its first annual Holiday Cookie Jam contest.

Holiday Cookie Jam pitted iJustine against her sister and fellow social media influencer, Jenna Ezarik, in a cookie recipe contest, with the winning recipe featured in Jam City’s hit mobile game, Cookie Jam, for the entire month of December. With more than 10,000 fans voting on Facebook of fans voting on Facebook, iJustine’s mouthwatering rainbow cookies, which mimic the game’s trademark rainbow cake power-up, triumphed over Jenna’s delicious peppermint thumbprint cookies.

“National Cookie Day is celebrated around the world by getting together to bake and eat cookies, and Holiday Cookie Jam extends this experience to mobile players with a friendly confectionery competition,” said Josh Brooks, SVP of Marketing and Brand Strategy at Jam City.  “Our players have spoken, and we congratulate iJustine on her sweet victory. Everyone can be a winner, as iJustine’s recipe will be available in Cookie Jam all month so fans can make their own rainbow cookies at home for the perfect holiday treat.”

“I’m so excited that Cookie Jam fans chose my rainbow cookies as their favorite holiday cookie!” said Justine Ezarik. “I’ve been having so much fun playing the game and could not be more excited to have my recipe featured!”

BACKGROUND ON NATIONAL COOKIE DAY:

The History of Cookie Day (December 4th)

In 1987, Matt Nader of the San Francisco-based Blue Chip Cookie Company created Cookie Day. This fun and sweet holiday was also championed by Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Since then, word traveled around the globe that there was much tasty fun to be had on December 4th, and people from many countries now celebrate Cookie Day by getting together and baking (and eating) cookies. In fact, a number of Cookie Day variations such as Oatmeal Cookie Day and Bake Cookie Day are also celebrated around the world.

VIEW THE WINNING RECIPE:

JUSTINE’S RECIPE

Temperature:

Preheat to 350 degrees / Bake for 15-22 minutes

Ingredients:

Cookie

1 Cup unsalted butter

1 Cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups all purpose flour

Rainbow food dye

Egg white (for egg wash)

Icing

1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temp

3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream or milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use baking spray or parchment paper to line baking sheet

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

Divide dough into different small bowls (as many as you would like colors)

Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix

Roll the dough into small balls. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 inch apart

Bake 8-10 minutes in the oven, or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool.

When completed cooled, put icing on one cookie bottom and top with another cookie.

Icing:

Whisk together room temperate butter, confectioner’s sugar, and salt 

Gradually add cocoa powder, heavy cream/milk and vanilla extract

Place icing into bags with desired tip, decorate cookie as desired

Combine cookies into tasty Cookie Jam sandwiches, enjoy!

Halloween Recap at Jam City

Jam Citizens got a bit spirited with their costumes this year and represented some of our favorite Cookie Jam characters. 

This year, employees brought some Spooktacular competition to our annual company-wide costume contest! This year, we included boo-tiful pumpkin carving to the mix. Check out some of our competition throughout the offices!!

\

TinyCo, a Jam City Company, had a “gourd“ time annual office decorating contest. We were mostly amused…but more than a little terrified with their skills. 

Jam City Los Angles celebrated Halloween with some skele-fun and their own local costume contest. 

Halloween at Jam City

Jam City is taking Halloween game play to a frightful new level this year. We are so excited about our six games integrating Halloween in spooktacular ways! We invited some Halloween experts to discuss the special in-game events.  Not only did they dish about our in-game treats, but they took over the office as well! Check out their expert opinions and day at the Jam City office below!

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Jam City Dresses Up for Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Who wants something sweet… to play? Jam City is celebrating Halloween throughout the month of October with treats for mobile players across six hit mobile games including the monster hits (over 100 million downloads each), Cookie Jam and Panda Pop. Along with these two titles, Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game, Marvel Avengers Academy, and Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow are all featuring in-game Halloween events, which include fan contests, new gaming content, costumes, and challenges. Get ready for some Halloween fun!

Jam City’s Trick or Treat Details

Unless otherwise indicated, all in-game events are currently active from now until October 31.

• Cookie Jam: On October 24, a new “Marshmalloween Isle” area with 20 new levels will be introduced, giving players deliciously eerie new challenges! Cookie Jam fans can win in-game currency and game swag by uploading photos of their spookiest homemade treat to the Cookie Jam Facebook page, with the winner picked by fan voting and Jam City judges. Other in-game events include Halloween-themed Cookie Walk and Cookie Hunt events, an all-new challenge to win the Batship and special sales!
• Panda Pop: Players can take part in new Halloween events for a chance to win spooky prizes! The game’s new PvP Race mode offers a chance to win a Bride of Frankenstein costume and there will be multiple sales including costume bundle offers. There’s a Haunted Dojo event from October 26–30 and on Halloween everything culminates with a special flash sale. Fans can also participate in the Panda Costume Contest by submitting their best panda costume photos on the game’s Facebook page.

• Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff: Horror movie characters and creatures are escaping from Stewie’s malfunctioning holographic projector into the real world—and it is up to Peter to save Quahog from the supernatural threats! Players must aid the Quahog gang in fending off zombie hordes and recruit help from iconic characters from “Silence of the Lambs,” “Teen Wolf,” “Jeepers Creepers,” “Candyman 3: Day of the Dead,” “John Wick: Chapter 2,” “Jigsaw” (the latest film in the “Saw” series, releasing October 27), and more.

• Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game: Players can join the “13th Day of October” event as the Griffins go camping at beautiful Camp Slashenchop! Spooky prizes such as a mask for Peter can be won on the game’s new Halloween mini-map. To support FG: AFMG’s Halloween event, the official Facebook page will host a photo contest where fans can submit their scariest Family Guy Halloween costume. Fans will vote on their favorites and one winner will take home the grand prize (winning costume to be featured in-game, and additional Family Guy prizes).
• Marvel Avengers Academy: Baron von Strucker joins the game and tries to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. and rebuild HYDRA by infiltrating the secret Area 13 base! Baron von Strucker will free dangerous monsters and aliens that have been trapped while also recruiting zombie versions of HYDRA villains to finally defeat S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. New villains and characters include Dum Dum Dugan, Hit-Monkey, Zombie Baron Zemo and Zombie Madame Hydra, and Franken-Castle Punisher.
• Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow: Each week, a crew member will make a devilish wish, resulting in Robot Devil pairing the character with a robot counterpart to “help” them with their wish. Preacher Bot will join the game; Devilish Fry will get up to no good; and eventually everyone will band together to take down Robot Devil… as they should have in the first place!

Jam City October Wrap Up

Check out some of the great things Jam Citizens have been doing this month!

こんにちは Anime Club

TinyCo’s has a new club! These anime fans do bi-weekly meetings where they view movies and TV series! 

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Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck, and Dodge

Jam City LA took on tech companies like Snap Chat, Tinder, and Space X in a multi-part Dodgeball tournament. 

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The Great Shake Out

On October 19th at 10:19am, we all took a moment to Drop, Cover, and Hold. Everyone was encouraged to take these 60 seconds to participate in the drill.

Jam City Summer 2017!

It’s been very busy at Jam City this summer! Check out some of our fun events and group activities our employees have been having.

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Summer Parties!

A long time tradition, Jam Citizens took the day off to get some fun in the sun.

– Los Angeles’ Beach Day –

Jam City Los Angeles Studio and HQ employees enjoyed a day at the beach in Malibu!  

This luau-themed beach day included team building games, a treasure hunt, standup paddle boarding, and Hawaiian BBQ!

– San Francisco at Great America –

Jam City San Francisco took the day to hang out with Snoopy at Great America.

The day was filled with Roller Coasters, Water Park, and wristbands for All-You-Can-Eat food. 

– San Diego’s Beach Day –

Jam City San Diego headed to Carlsbad Lagoon for a day of BBQ, jet skiing, boating, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, tubing, volleyball and more!

– TinyCo Summer Picnic –

TinyCo invited over 200 employees to a picnic in Golden Gate Park. There was plenty of food and drink including The Steamin Burger food truck and CREAM ice cream sandwiches. There were several rounds of volleyball, corn hole, beer pong, and giant ​Jenga. 

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Snoopy Pop Launch Party

The Snoopy Game Team celebrated their game launch with ice cream sandwiches and a trip to a bar-cade.

Check out Snoopy Pop in App Stores now! 

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Eclipse Viewing Party

Jam City Los Angeles enjoyed some breakfast and special treats while viewing the Eclipse. 

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International Chocolate Day

Jam City TinyCo took some time out of their Wednesday to celebrate a very important holiday.

They enjoyed a chocolate fountain, chocolate samples, and shared the chocolate love!

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 Jam City Fruit Club 

Jam City San Francisco has recently organized an afternoon munchies group centered about fruit, veggies, and other healthy treats.

When willpower gets low, this group convenes to share family-style platters they bring from home and enjoy some casual conversation.

One club founder, says, “my personal favorite was frozen banana puree with cinnamon, strawberries and nuts. It’s just like ice cream”

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Check out our Instagram Hashtag

#LifeAtJamCity

Futurama Cast and Creators Celebrate Launch of Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow with Reddit AMA and Facebook Livestream Hosted by Tom Kenny

On Thursday, June 29, Futurama creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen were joined by voice cast members Billy West (Voice of Fry, Professor, Zoidberg, and others), John DiMaggio (Voice of Bender and others), Maurice Lamarche (Voice of Kif, Calculon, Lrrr, and others), Lauren Tom (Voice of Amy Wong and others), and Phil Lamarr (Voice of Hermes and others) to celebrate the launch of Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow with live Reddit AMA and Facebook livestream hosted by Tom Kenny (Voice of SpongeBob SquarePants and others).

Futurama Creators Matt Groening, David X. Cohen and Series Voice Cast Members Attend FUTURAMA: Worlds of Tomorrow Launch Event in Hollywood, CA

On June 20, Jam City and TinyCo, hosted a launch party for Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow at the Avalon Theatre in Hollywood.

The Nerdist’s Chris Hardwick moderated an exclusive LIVE reading of an episode of Futurama by the series’ cast and creators, followed by an exclusive Q&A with co-creator and executive producer of Futurama, David X. Cohen. Series creator Matt Groening made a special appearance and surprised guests.

Attendees also had the opportunity to receive hands-on time with the game and press interviews were held throughout the evening.

The event was OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Jam City’s SVP of Game Development Jill Wilson Serves as Mentor for Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership

From May 1 – 12, Jam City’s SVP of Game Development Jill Wilson mentored Danielle Sharaf, CEO of Switch-ITC, a multifaceted mobile value added services company based in Pakistan, as part of the Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Woman’s Mentoring Partnership.

The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership is an international exchange program that pairs senior women executives in the United States with emerging leaders from around the world to improve the status of women in business.

“It’s such an honor to participate in this program and to help support the global advancement of women,” said Jill Wilson, SVP of Game Development at Jam City. “Danielle is an incredibly smart, driven and passionate entrepreneur. We feel lucky to get to know her and learn from her, as well as teach her what we do here at Jam City.”

Jam City is proud to play an important role in engaging, inspiring and empowering a new generation of women leaders around the world. For the past two weeks, Jill has mentored Danielle, providing her with valuable skills, experience, and access to networks needed to grow as a leader in her business, community and country. At the same time, Danielle has shared her experience, industry knowledge, and key insights on the business culture in Pakistan to help Jam City advance in the global economy.

“It’s been phenomenal experience and a lot better than I could have ever expected,” said Danielle. “Not only did I get a lot of direction in terms of my career, but also in terms of personal growth as a woman in the tech industry.”

During her visit, Danielle also participated in numerous activities that gave her the opportunity to get to know Jam City employees and experience LA arts and culture. Jam City hosted a meet-and-greet breakfast every morning and a happy hour every evening, in which Danielle got to know a different Jam City member outside the office. Danielle also hosted a lunch and learn, in which she provided background and insightful information about her company. She visited visited the Museum of Ice Cream and had her first food truck experience at Abbot Kinney in Venice.

“Everybody I’ve met at Jam City will certainly have a profound effect on me,” said Danielle. “In terms of organizational culture, at some point in time, I would want my company where Jam City is now.  Bringing people together and having the workspace and environment like this are now my goals for my company.”

More About Danielle Sharaf:

As one of Pakistan’s leading young technology entrepreneurs working on projects that impact the lives of more than 15 million cellphone users in the country, Danielle’s initiatives are bringing health solutions to adolescent girls and linking job-seekers with industry and empowering women across all socioeconomic strata. Before she started Switch-ITC, she has been an integral part of Pakistan’s most successful startups and also led brand campaigns for large companies.

A self-starter and a multi-talented professional, Danielle is uniquely placed as the only woman CEO in her industry. A communicative technology enthusiast, she has a keen focus on mobile product development and its potential for social change.

An engineer by training and a product development guru by trade, Ms. Sharaf has received international grants and worked with tech gurus to scale and sharpen her business acumen. She was recently nominated for the 2017 Ladiesfund Trailblazer Award. She tweets at @DaniShara.

Adam West, Robert Franzese and Ralph Garman Celebrate Family Guy AFMG Launch

Adam West (Batman and Mayor West of Quahog), Robert Franzese (Real Life Peter Griffin) and Ralph Garman (KROQ and Family Guy expert) visit Jam City HQ to celebrate the launch of Family Guy Another Freakin’ Mobile Game via Facebook live stream.

#TBT Jam City’s EVP & General Counsel Rob Zakari talks up IP at Casual Connect Berlin

Jam City EVP of Corporate Development & GC Rob Zakari visited Casual Connect Berlin earlier this month where he spoke about the distinct advantages of licensed and original IP with European-based mobile gaming executives.

Zakari (center) speaking at Casual Connect Berlin with Wooga’s Sebastian Kriese (at left) and moderator Caglar Eger of Goodgame Studios.

Jam City Blooms With Charity for Valentines Day

This Valentine’s Day, the good folks at Jam City celebrated with a flower-making workshop with Bloom 2 Bloom! Each bouquet made/purchased gives back to non-profit organizations such as Girls, Inc., Trees 4 Trees, Wish Upon A Teen, and Downtown’s Women’s Center.

Jam City’s Hour of Code

This past Wednesday, Jam City San Diego participated in the annual Hour of Code event at the Casita Center for Science and Technology.

Joseph Young and Chris Andelin taught the 4th grade class, covering Minecraft and CodeMonkey. They talked about their education path through college and the game jobs they’ve had as well as answer questions. The class was then lead through the first couple of problems on the hour of code lessons.

On day two, Joseph Young, Trevor Miller, and Jason Justice got to spend time with the 5th grade class. The courses covered were Minecraft, Star Wars, and Code Combat.

It was an amazing experience for everyone involved: “I was blown away by how much these kids already knew; they’ve been doing block coding with their Chromebooks before and were disappointed at the end of the period when they had to stop working on a problem.” – Jason Justice

Casita created a TED talk covering the event – check it out here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dwOWnCB9CQ&feature=youtu.be

Jam City Plays Games for an Extra Life

Last weekend was the start of our charity partnering with Extra Life! We met up with our coworkers at our offices, streamed games, and raised money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, who give life-saving care to children, even if their families can’t pay. We played some amazing Mario Maker levels, had some exciting matches of League and Smash, and we had fun doing it. Most importantly of all, we blew past our goal of $1,000, raising $1241 for the kids

Extra Life isn’t over yet, though.This weekend, come and check out the stream, or even play with us!

https://www.twitch.tv/jamcityhq

https://www.twitch.tv/jamcitysf

Please spread the links to your friends and family. Let’s see if we can beat $2000 this weekend! The donation links can be found on the stream pages, but you can also head over to our Extra Life team page and join us.

http://www.extra-life.org/team/jamcity

Let’s work together for the kids!

Gamertainment: Gaming Goes Mainstream

This past week, Jam City’s President, Josh Yguado, along with Jon Goldman (Harvard AB ’87 – Skybound Entertainment, Greycroft Partners), Larry Kasanoff (Cornell AB ‘81 – Threshold Entertainment), and Rick Phillips (Harvard AB ’85 – 20th Century Fox) had a great discussion on #gamertainment. Hosted by Cornell in Hollywood and Harvardwood, the conversation was moderated by Alex Krivicich (Cornell AB ‘08 – Super Bit Machine).

The future of gaming isn’t gaming, and the future of entertainment isn’t entertainment. The clear borders that once defined these distinct industries and structured the way we’ve thought about them are blurring by the day. Games are becoming motion pictures and movies, TV shows and TV personalities are becoming games like never before. There’s a new paradigm — Gamertainment. Studios now have gaming arms and gaming studios are getting into movie making.

Weekly Tech Roundup: Five Jam City Games Featured On The App Stores

Naughty Monster Story Launch

• Home page banner & #4 Icon in New + Updated Games (Google Play)
• Featured in “New Games We Love” in select countries (App Store)

Panda Pop Scooby-Doo Event

• Featured in “Dressed Up for Halloween” collection (App Store)

Other Notable Features

• Marvel Avengers Academy & Family Guy QFS featured in “Dressed Up for Halloween” collection (App Store)
• Cookie Jam featured in “Sweetest Games” collection (App Store)

Playing the Name Game

What’s in a name?

That’s a question I started thinking a lot about last year.

In an airport lounge waiting for a flight back to Los Angeles last fall, some members of the executive team and I began discussing, over potato skins and a sad salad, whether our company’s name was still the right fit for the company we had built.

Well, a few creative agency meetings, 13 months, 20 brainstorm sessions and about 500 names later, we had our answer. Our old name wasn’t going to cut it anymore.

Good bye, SGN Games. Hello, Jam City.

Starting today, we’re now Jam City. Oh yeah, we’ve got the themed water bottles, hoodies and scratch-and-sniff stickers to prove it.

OK, but why?

Our old name got us far, like 800 million downloads far, and we’re grateful for that. Our games have been played 25 billion times. If you combine all the time people have spent playing them, you get 122,000 years, the equivalent of watching every episode of Friends about 9 million times.

Notably, five of our games are in the Top 100 grossing charts across Google’s and Apple’s U.S. app stores–something only three other game makers can say.

On top of all that, profitable for years, our revenues have grown more than 100 percent every year for five years straight.

But in spite of that success, my co-founders Josh Yguado and Aber Whitcomb as well as other members of the executive team and I grew increasingly convinced that our name was at odds with our identity.

The problem basically boiled down to this: As a company, we’ve thrived by creating colorful, engaging mobile games like Cookie Jam, Juice Jam and Panda Pop. And yet even though we’re in the business of fun, our old name was a humdrum corporate acronym that lacked the spirit of our games.

Put another way, we were a company with memorable products but a forgettable name.

With Jam City, we’re harnessing the success of our games to animate our company’s identity.

Coming up with the right name wasn’t quick or easy. We went through countless ideas but each time kept coming back to the same name–and with good reason.

On the one hand, Jam City is a nod to two of our most beloved, successful games. Cookie Jam and Juice Jam are played about 30 million times per day.

On the other hand, it’s a nod to our company’s creative culture. For musicians, jamming is about informally creating harmony amid improvisation. They might not be part of the band or even be reading the same music, but they’re making something together that’s beautiful and greater than themselves. (If you want to see a lot of jamming, watch Martin Scorsese’s rock doc The Last Waltz).

Our creative and technical teams here work the same way. On any given day in one of our studios, you’ll see designers and engineers huddling together on couches or conference rooms problem-solving in impromptu teams. They even call their sessions Game Jams.

And for us–a company whose mission remains connecting people around the world through games–“City” connotes the diverse, vibrant, virtual space we’re building for our players in every imaginable place in the world.

What now?

We already own three games based on Hollywood franchises with Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, Marvel Avengers Academy and the Book of Life: Sugar Smash. As gaming and entertainment continue to collide–something I call Gamertainment–some Hollywood brands with global popularity will grow increasingly lucrative for mobile game makers.

I’m announcing today that we’ve added Peanuts to the list, and we’ll be releasing a mobile game based on the iconic comic strip this year. And while we’re carefully expanding our partnerships with Hollywood, we’ll also continue doing what we do best: building great games that people around the world want to play–and play a lot.

Thanks for letting me share our news with you!

Cheers,

Chris

Jam City lends Habitat for Humanity a helping hand

On an average day, you’ll usually find Jam City’s game designers in front of monitors, not behind wheel burrows and circular saws.

But this wasn’t your average day.

The Jam City team joined Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, or Habitat LA, on a recent Friday in August, helping the nonprofit build affordable homes in Inglewood.

So that meant the folks behind Panda Pop and Cookie Jam learned how to paint, sand, caulk and, yes, even use a circular saw.

Thanks for letting us help you, Habitat LA! We were honored to be a part of your important mission.

Why We’re Buying TinyCo, A Studio That Turns Entertainment Brands Into Hit Mobile Games

Friends,

I’ve got great news.

Jam City is buying TinyCo, a San Francisco studio that’s built a thriving business out of converting Hollywood brands into popular mobile games. They’ve already done it with Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff and Marvel Avengers Academy. More importantly, with other equally iconic titles in hand now, they’re going to do it again soon.

The deal closed today, and we’re pumped about it.

TinyCo’s cofounder and CEO, Suli Ali, and its 125 employees will now be joining Jam City’s kick-ass 275 designers, graphic artists, developers and marketing ninjas. We’re thrilled to begin working together as part of one team.

Last July, we received a $130 million investment from South Korea-based Netmarble Games, and we promised that as the mobile gaming industry consolidated we weren’t going to stand by and watch.

We think we’re making good on that pledge. TinyCo just became our third acquisition since December.

The mobile gaming business is a good place to be these days. This year, revenues are expected to surpass those from the PC and console gaming industries for the first time ever. What’s more, revenues from mobile games are forecast to grow at 10 times the rate of PC and console games this year, according to an April report from Newzoo.

All along, we’ve been building toward becoming a giant in this new, fast-growing space, and we’ve made acquisitions that complement that ambition. TinyCo is a key part of that strategy for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. Here are the obvious ones:

• TinyCo is a great company with serious growth. Its two signature games have been downloaded more than 100 million times. And we expect it to earn more than $100 million this year.
• It helps us become a leader in a different genre of games. While we’re a global leader in puzzle games–think match-three titles like Cookie Jam and Genies and Gems or bubble shooters like Panda Pop–TinyCo is a leader in simulation or builder games.
• It helps us diversify our business plan. Jam City creates and owns its intellectual property. TinyCo has taken a different tack by licensing existing brands. There are a lot of mobile games out there, but ones with name ID have a leg-up on the competition, not to mention lower development and marketing costs.

The thing is, I think there’s a less straightforward yet perhaps more important motivation for this acquisition–one that gives insight into my vision for this company and the future of this industry.

Buying TinyCo advances our goal to not only grow but also becoming a mobile gaming entertainment franchise.

Consider its business model. TinyCo converts globally recognizable Hollywood brands into mobile games.

Suli and TinyCo foresaw the importance of mobile before many others in this business. And in a very clear way, the company has been at the forefront of navigating one of the most important trends affecting this industry–that is, gaming and entertainment are colliding at an unprecedented rate.

Let me explain.

The boundaries that once defined the gaming industry and traditional entertainment franchises are growing increasingly porous by the day. By my count, more movies based on games will be in theaters this year than ever before.

What’s more, they’re doing well.

Two movies based on games–Angry Birds The Movie and Warcraft–are currently ranked 10th and 11th at the worldwide box office, both taking in more than $325 million so far. There are at least two more on the way to theaters this year. In 2017, expect even more.

At the same time, the opposite trend is also true. That is, more movies, TV shows and celebrities are providing content for games, particularly mobile ones. In addition to TinyCo’s Family Guy and Avengers games, the Simpsons and Jurassic World franchises have produced top grossing games. And that’s not even getting into the increasing cross-pollination between Hollywood stardom and gaming.

These days, movie studios are getting into the game-making business, and gaming studios are getting into the movie-making business.

For lack of a better word, I call this intersection or collision between these two decreasingly distinct industries Gamertainment.

It’s a trend we like a lot.

From the beginning, I’ve worked with a team deeply rooted in tech and, also, media and entertainment. Jam City’s CTO, Aber Whitcomb, was also the co-founder and CTO of MySpace; and Jam City’s President and COO, Josh Yguado, was an executive at Fox Networks after working at Univision and MTV.

To be sure, we’ve played our role in this Gamertainment trend, launching our first game based on a movie–the Book of Life: Sugar Smash–in 2014. And last year, we used an actor–Dr. Ken–in national ad campaigns for one of our games, Cookie Jam.

TinyCo fits well into this evolving world where entertainment franchises are becoming lucrative games and games are becoming lucrative gaming franchises.

In the most recent year, we saw our fastest rate of revenue growth ever. We’ve grown more than 1000 percent since 2013. We expect to earn more than half a billion dollars within the year, and we think we can even do better in the near future. Embracing a company that gets this trend will help us do it.

Now, it’s time to start making awesome new games.

Best,

Chris

Top 3 from E3

It’s June and if you’re a lucky member of the interactive gaming industry, that means it’s E3 time! E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo and takes place every June in sunny Los Angeles. It’s a time when game publishers and developers come together to show off what they’re working on and all the cool new things we can all look forward to in the coming months and years. While Jam City didn’t have a booth on the show floor this year, I still took a day to see the sights and check out what E3 had to offer. Here are the top 3 things I took away from E3 2016!

Old Franchises, New Experiences

Much like Hollywood movies, game franchises are big business. Even if you don’t play many games, you’ve probably heard of Activision’s war shooter series Call of Duty, or if casual puzzle games are more your style, King’s Saga games. This year saw the return of several big name franchises, but the trend seemed to be to breath new life into them by giving players something completely different than what they had become accustomed to from previous entries. New entries in the God of War, Call of Duty, Resident Evil, and Legend of Zelda series all veered away from the traditional to give what looked like brand new and exciting experiences.

VR Immersion

Virtual Reality (VR) is finally here and it looks like it’s here to stay. From the recent launches of premium VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and Vive to entry level fare like the Google Cardboard, everyone wants to get in on the VR pie. At E3, VR was on the show floor in force. Samsung is not traditionally at E3, but they arrived this year with a sizeable booth, showing off a couple the Gear VR experiences. One virtual roller coaster and one virtual skateboard – both had guests strap the VR headset on and played a video while a peripheral was synced to said video and created a feeling of actually being there. I tried out the skateboarding demo and it really felt like I was flying down a hill on a skateboard. I nearly fell a few times even though in reality, I was barely moving!

360 Degrees of Viewing Freedom

VR wasn’t the only kind of fully immersive technology being shown, though. Fulldome.Pro had an impressive setup that projected video onto a huge dome above the viewer, giving them the feeling of being inside the video. The demos they showed using this were all very impressive and I definitely want one installed on the ceiling of my room now!

Don’t be fooled into thinking these three things were the only things I enjoyed. Far from it! I saw literally hundreds amazing games, technology, and experiences that have me so excited to be part of this wonderful industry and chomping at the bit to experience them when they are released.

Chris DeWolfe Gives The Commencement Address at The University Of Washington

This past weekend, Jam City’s CEO Chris DeWolfe had the special opportunity to deliver the commencement address for UW’s Foster School of Business.

Speaking at the Foster School’s Undergraduate Graduation Celebration in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Sunday, Chris pledged to veer from commencement address orthodoxy.

“It’s appropriate that we rip up the commencement speaker handbook,” DeWolfe said. “After all, you are a generation of disruptors… And unlike the professional pessimists who are cynical about the Millennial generation, I’m more confident than ever that you will do disruption right.”

Read more here!

FC/LA: A Meeting Of The Most Creative Minds

Fast Company hosted its second annual Creativity Counter-Conference in Los Angeles, May 24-25, 2016. Over the course of two days, FC/LA gathered some of the most creative minds in business, technology, design, and entertainment for a series of inspiring keynote conversations, hands-on sessions, visits to the workspaces and studios of L.A.’s leading organizations, and opportunities to practice purposeful networking. 

Jam City was the last stop on their tour – we hosted 50 people and conducted a Game Jam with Chris, Josh, Aber and Jill judging the winners. Guests broke out into 4 teams and came up with game concepts/designs/monetization/marketing ideas.

Juice Jam Hits 1,000 Levels!

Hop in the juice truck to make your way to level 1,000 of Juice Jam! Team Jam City celebrated the occasion with edible fruit baskets and smoothies across all studios…way to go team!

Jam City Seattle does ‪‎Earth Day‬

Jam City Seattle trades computer screens for trees this past ‪#‎EarthDay‬ with a local park clean up. Go team go!

LA Games Conference 2016

ICYMI: Check out pics from the LA Games Conference VIP dinner hosted by Jam City and Digital Media Wire

Behind the Scenes: Jam City at GDC 2016

On March 14-18, 2016, developers and gamers from across the country took the Bay area by storm for this year’s Game Developers Conference. Some of the most brilliant minds in the gaming industry took to the streets of downtown San Francisco for GDC16. 

Famous Youtuber Jesse Wellens from Prank vs. Prank brought this game to life in downtown SF with his motorized magic carpet. For those that spotted our magic genie, they were in for a lucky surprise! Check out the full recap here!

Team Jam City and The L.A. Kitchen

Team Jam City chopped and prepped this past Saturday at The L.A. Kitchen, who believes that neither food nor people should ever go to waste. By reclaiming healthy, local food that would otherwise be discarded, training men and women who are unemployed for jobs, and providing healthy meals to fellow citizens, L.A. Kitchen empowers, nourishes, and engages the community.

To find out more about what they do, head to http://www.lakitchen.org!

‪#‎LifeAtJamCity‬ ‪#‎DoGood‬

Happy International Women’s Day from the ladies of Jam City!

Last month, the talented ladies of Jam City had a luncheon to talk games, and to celebrate Jill Wilson’s award from the National Diversity Council. Proud of you, Jill! #WhoRunTheWorld?

Genies & Gems Launch Party

Monkeys, genies, and a giant mechanical camel…how else would Jam City celebrate the launch of Genies & Gems? Cheers to the LA team!

Health & Wellness at Jam City

Who knew Team Jam City could get so zen at the office? From in-office yoga sessions to 30 minute massages,  Jam City makes sure our employees are relaxed and ready to take on the day! One of the many perks of working at Jam City!

“Be a warrior, not a worrier.”

#LifeAtJamCity #WorkPerks

Chris DeWolfe Guest Lectures at USC

Our CEO, Chris DeWolfe guest lectured at USC Marshall School of Business this past month to chat with students about entrepreneurial mindset, success, failure, fears, adversity, and getting out of your comfort zone. ‪#‎FightOn‬! ‪#‎Trojans‬

SGN is included on Built in Los Angeles’s list of LA’s Hottest Tech Offices

Recently, we let Built In LA get a sneak peek behind SGN doors to see where the magic happens. Read what Josh Yguado has to say about our new Culver City space here!

Keeping Ballona Creek Beautiful: SGN Teams Up With The Ballona Creek Renaissance For An Afternoon Cleanup

This past February, SGN took the opportunity to get involved in their local community and volunteered an afternoon to help clean up Ballona Creek.

More than 20 SGN-ers, including Chris DeWolfe and Joshua Yguado, joined the Ballona Creek Renaissance and the Culver City High School BCR Club to collect trash, recyclables, and hazardous waste that otherwise would have flowed down to the ocean directly, further harming our environment and wildlife. In less than two hours, the team collected over 135 pounds of trash!

For the SGN crew, it was educational to understand the link between the cigarette butt thrown onto the street and the trash that endangers fish, birds, and other aquatic animals. The cleanup is symbolic, representing just a tiny fraction of the trash in the creek, but it raises awareness.

Snapchat Runs Its First App-Install Ad, and It’s for Mobile Game Cookie Jam

Proud to be pioneering this new format with Snapchat! 

Snapchat is getting closer to forking over the data that advertisers want, and the stats will be coming in the form of mobile app-install ads.

Today, a short video ad promoting SGN’s mobile game Cookie Jam is running within iHeartRadio’s Discover channel—the app’s hub of daily content from publishers. The promo is a shorter version of a 30-second commercial Cookie Jam created in September with actor Ken Jeong, who plays a giant cookie. Read the rest here!

New Game Alert: Genies & Gems!

Please welcome the newest member of the SGN family, Genies & Gems!  It’s time to pump up the GEM for our newest match-3 puzzle game, Genies and Gems! Help Jenni the genie and her fox, Trix as they journey through mystical worlds, recovering lost relics, gold bars, and enchanted keys.

Download it from Google Play, iOS Store, or play on Facebook!

iOS: https://appsto.re/us/nADI9.i

GP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sgn.geniesandgems.gp&hl=en

FB: https://apps.facebook.com/geniesandgems/?fb_source=search

USC Visits SGN

Great having USC Marshall School of Business’s top gaming talent over for a tour of SGN headquarters to learn about what we do (and to enjoy some snow cones)!

‪#‎GoTrojans‬ ‪#‎FightOn‬!

Sugar Smash: Book of Life Reaches 1,000 Levels!

Team SGN celebrates Sugar Smash: Book of Life‘s 1,000th level with churros and pinata smashing!

‪#‎LifeAtSGN‬

Shoes for the Homeless

SGN shoes! This past month, Team SGN participates in the Shoes for the Homeless drive, a company that is committed to providing shoes to those in need, free of charge, in the Los Angeles communities. For more info on what this organization does, check out www.shoesforthehomeless.net.

Way to go Team SGN! ‪#‎LifeAtSGN‬

SGN San Diego Joins an Hour of Code

SGN San Diego participates in An Hour of Code at the Casita Center of Science and Technology!

During the Hour of Code week (December 7-13, 2015), engineers from SGN San Diego volunteered at Casita Center Elementary School to teach 4^th and 5^th graders about programming.

The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Their vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.

The engineers talked about their work on Cookie Jam and other games, and then walked through programming exercises on Code.org. They also helped the students work through Hour of Code exercises, teaching them about branching, looping, and other programming concepts.

Because you’re never too young to learn how to code! To learn more about #HourOfCode check out https://code.org/

Best of 2015 – Game On!

SGN is proud to have three games listed among the Best of 2015 for iTunes and Google Play!

Congrats to Cookie Jam for being listed as one of iTunes Best of 2015 Top Grossing Apps!

For the Google Play store we are excited to have our very own Panda Pop and Juice Jam listed as one of the Best Games of 2015!

SGN at USC Demo Day

USC may be better known for its football team, but did you know that quite a few of SGN-ers are proud Trojans?

This past Wednesday, SGN was invited to represent at the USC School of Cinematic Arts Demo Day, an exhibition where students in the joint Advanced Games Course have the opportunity to premier their newest and most innovative games from the semester.

The games shown at Demo Day represented an incredible collaborative effort between the students from the Interactive Media & Games program, the Computer Science Games program, the Art and Music Schools, Animation program, and more.

SGN also represented that day at the career fair where we most likely would have taken the prize for most colorful and represented display booth…

Fight on!

Welcome SGN Seattle!

We are super excited to welcome SGN Seattle (previously known as Fat Rascal) to the SGN family! The Fat Rascal team is a great cultural fit with SGN, and we couldn’t have asked for a stronger team to establish SGN’s presence in Seattle, a hotbed for gaming talent. 

Fat Rascal was founded last year by a group of game-industry veterans, including alumni of development teams at Zynga, Electronic Arts, Microsoft and PopCap.

SGN and Maker Studios Team Up for a Canned Food Drive

This past November, SGN partnered with Maker Studios to host a canned food drive for the LA Food Bank. We smashed our goal of collecting 400 pounds of food and ended up with almost 1,000 pounds of food collected!

For more info on LA Food Bank’s initiatives, check out: https://www.lafoodbank.org/

Movember and Beyond – SGN Does Good

During the month of Movember (the month formerly known as November), SGN is excited to be a part of the Movember foundation, a global charity committed to men living happier, healthier, longer lives.

So what is Movember? The Movember Foundation is a global charity committed to men living happier, healthier, longer lives. Since 2003, millions have joined the men’s health movement, raising $650 million and funding over 1,000 programs focusing on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health, and physical inactivity.

Team members from San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Diego, and Culver City banned together to form the SGN Soul Patches. And we’re going beyond just getting scruffy for the month – for the first time, SGN’s Mo Sistas (and our follicle-y challenged Mo Bros) are joining the cause by participating in the MOVE challenge.

SGN is excited for this campaign because it kicks off our Do Good initiative as a team. We have a lot of charities and fundraisers that we are going to be involved in down the pipeline, including:

• Holiday Canned Drive – SGN partners with Maker Studios and pledges to collect over 400 pounds of items for the LA Food Bank.
• Shoes for the Homeless – SGN Culver City will host a shoe drive in December to collect gently used shoes to help the homeless and less fortunate. All of the shoes stay in local communities so it’s a great way to work with neighboring organizations like Shoes For the Homeless.
• Ballona Creek Renaissance – SGN Culver City partners with BCR, a Culver City-based non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating the long-term renewal of Ballona Creek and its watershed.
• An Hour of Code – SGN offices host an #HourOfCode, the largest learning event in history.

Mondays at the Mission

The homeless conversation changes when it’s about kids – plain and simple.

A while back, I had the pleasure of meeting entrepreneur and author Christopher Kai, who created “Mondays at the Mission” over 4 years ago, and on Monday, November 9th, I had the privilege of speaking at Mondays at the Mission for the second time.

Christopher gave us a short tour of the shelter before class started. Mondays at the Mission is the only homeless youth program of its kind at Union Rescue Mission, the largest private shelter in the U.S. The weekly career and life skills classes have helped hundreds of homeless students stay in school, find jobs, and attend college. He works incredibly hard to uplift and instill value in the lives of the countless young people who go in and out of these doors.

I was invited to come back and wanted to do something more creative with the kids this time. At SGN, we get to play games and make them all day – I’m lucky to be able to say that every day at work feels like play. It’s easy to say that in my position but I really believe it. I also believe that school and after school activities gives you a chance to explore what you are passionate about; whether it be football, art, or video games…when it feels like play instead of work, that’s when you become successful.

So enough with the “pep talk…” it was time to play some games! At SGN we do something between each of our studios called Game Jam session. Even the most creative people get a block sometimes and it’s a great opportunity for a diverse set of game developers to come together and prototype experimental ideas into playable games. Why not play a live action “game jam” to show the kids how it’s really done? We split up into three groups with me being the guest judge on best game. The kids were shown items from the mystery table, which included marshmallows, cards, dice, yarn, silly putty, and other random items. They had 15 minutes to come up with a new game to play using only two of the items from the table, then “pitch” me their new game idea. These kids were great – their enthusiasm to play and learn games was overwhelming.

It puts everything into perspective when you work all day in your office, then drive down to Skid Row, ground zero of our homeless epidemic. Kids are kids, wherever you are and we could stand to learn a lot from their resilience and optimism, even when their surroundings tell them otherwise. I have so much respect for everyone at Union Rescue Mission and Mondays at the Mission. Thank you for letting us be a part of such an incredible program with devoted volunteers!

If anyone is interested in volunteering, please visit their Facebook page or email Christopher Kai directly at Chris@christopherkai.com