MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT, FINALIST
Trion Worlds is a leader in innovating the gaming industry — changing the way games are developed, played and sold.At the head of this charge is founder and CEO Lars Buttler. Prior to starting the Redwood City, Calif.-based company, Buttler was the vice president for global online at Electronic Arts — the world’s largest independent developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. Feeling limited by the company’s approach, Buttler decided to set off on his own to revolutionize the industry on a global scale.
Trion employs cloud-based development and publishing, responding to the industry shift to an online service model that allows for constant modification, scalability and fast response time. Focused on “connected gaming” — complex, highly produced persistent worlds for core gamers — Buttler’s team delivers high-quality, dynamic and massively social games operated as live services across the biggest game genres and devices.
Plowing ahead further, the company will launch its proprietary development platform, code named Red Door, this year, which will give developers the ability to create and publish games at the speed of the Web. This will allow designers to respond to player feedback in real time, as well as facilitate flexible monetization options.
Trion’s first and highly successful online game, Rift™, launched worldwide last March and shipped more than 1 million units in less than a year. The company has recently made exclusive agreements to launch the title in Korea, China and six Southeast Asian territories. In China, it will be the largest agreement to bring a Western game to the country.
With his company’s success, Buttler has attracted large investors, such as Time Warner and Comcast Ventures, enabling Trion to soon release its next titles, “End of Nations” and “Defiance.”
HOW TO REACH: Trion Worlds, www.trionworlds.com
