But going forward, the studio's primary focus is very much on original IP. The studio has now found a balance between work-for-hire and original IP, in a win-win situation where work-for-hire allows the studio to take more risk on the original IP front. That opened the doors to contract work, and that's actually become a bit of an ecosystem that we have within PlaySide.' 'It really started with our CEO Gerry and a couple of others who went to market with a game called Catch the Ark, which was an endless runner-style game, one of the first to iOS at the time. 'If there's a movie studio, we've probably worked with it! 'We've worked with Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, SkyDance, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network,' lists Ryan McMahon, general manager for PC and console at PlaySide Studios. The Melbourne-based studio started in 2011 as a pioneer in the free-to-play mobile space, and has grown to become the largest independent games developer in Australia with over 300 staff, going public in 2020. PlaySide won Studio of the Year at the Australian Game Developer Awards last month, an achievement crowning over a decade in game development.

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