The Only End-to-End Tool Set for XNA That Allows for Easy Creation of Games
for Xbox 360, Windows XP and Vista
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- GDC 2008 -- Digini, Inc., today
announced that it will be demonstrating the "Industry Preview" release of
its Blade3D game development tool set this week at the Game Developers
Conference 2008 being held in San Francisco, CA. Digini was founded to
democratize the development of games by simplifying the development process
and provide high-caliber tools at an affordable price for every level of
developer. To that end, Digini's Blade3D offers users a robust, stable, and
professional platform that's easy to use and scales up or down depending on
the needs of each customer. The "Industry Preview" release will be
available on March 15, 2008, with priority access being offered to existing
beta users and those who sign-up at the Game Developers Conference in San
Francisco. The commercial version is expected to go live in Spring 2008.
Built on the Microsoft XNA platform, the Blade3D game development tool
set is the first product to offer a truly integrated development platform
designed to remove traditional barriers in the production pipeline. By
leveraging and extending the platform, Blade3D games can be deployed with
no modifications on Microsoft XP, Microsoft Vista, Xbox 360 and any other
platform that XNA supports. The initial beta release is available now as a
free download from the Digini website (http://www.digini.com), and already
has more than 8,000 users around the world. After commercial release,
Blade3D will feature a low, monthly subscription-based pricing model that
scales for a broad range of users - from students studying game development
to independent developers to professional development studios.
Artists and designers will find Blade3D easy to work with (without
programmer intervention), while programmers will be able to develop
full-blown scenes on their own. Re-defining the creative art of building
games, Blade3D can be used for complete development of games, as well as
serving as a compelling "rapid prototyping" platform for testing game
mechanics. It also features runtime components that together allow rapid
creation of games.
Blade3D is structured to encourage the first-time game developer,
providing an easy-to-use creative environment. By logically organizing
features into specific functional areas, first-time artists, developers and
designers can easily learn their way around the system and start making
games in the first half-hour of using Blade3D. The product's object-based
system gives users the flexibility to create new systems and components
that hook directly into the framework without the need to recompile the
entire product and without affecting other systems already in place. By
treating various components in the system as separate objects, an artist or
designer (who does not know how to program) can simply drag them onto the
workspace and see a visual representation of that component. Much like a
simple chart or graph, artists can drag connecting lines from one object to
the next to provide straightforward and easy to understand interfaces
between game assets and logic. A full feature set is detailed at
http://www.blade3d.com.
"Blade3D lets studios and indies quickly and easily create and deliver
both casual and rich 3D games while others are still prototyping. We saw a
gap in the tools available to the game development community. It is our aim
to take the years of experience we have in tools development and apply this
to reduce the turnaround time in game production. By building our system on
top of XNA, Digini's Blade3D is the first product to target multiple
platforms from a single easy-to-use environment," said Christian Beaumont,
founder and CTO of Digini, Inc.
The pricing strategy for Blade3D makes it ideal for all levels of game
developers by ensuring no financial barrier to entry for any user. The
product will be offered with a monthly subscription model that offers a
variety of price points based on the sets of feature and services the
individual user wants. The company is also working on an educational
program to provide Blade3D to students, both directly and through a broad
range of educational institutions.
Company Executives and Background
Digini is run by a team of game industry veterans that have expertise
in all facets of game development, production and studio management.
Combined, Digini's principals have shipped more than 100 titles across most
major platforms. The company was founded by Christian (CTO) and Behnaz
Beaumont (VP of Product Development), a husband-and-wife team who spent the
last twenty years creating leading-edge development tools for companies
such as Microsoft and Motorola. In his 25+ years of experience, Christian
created the phenomenally successful library ATL and worked as Distinguished
Engineer at Motorola. Behnaz, with 15+ years of experience, was a key
member of the Visual Studio team at Microsoft, helping create many of the
tools and features in the product and acquiring multiple patents. As senior
developer for Motorola, she also created advanced 3D consumer products.
CEO Tony Garcia has been in the video game business for more than 25
years and has held many senior positions. Tony created the games division
at Microsoft in 1991 and propelled them to be a major player in the video
games industry. At Electronic Arts, Tony was the General Manager of
Electronic Arts Seattle, where he oversaw leading franchises such as "Need
for Speed" and "FIFA Soccer." Prior to his time at Microsoft, he was also
the director of development at LucasFilm, where he worked on such titles as
"Indiana Jones," "Fate of Atlantis" and "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe."
Jon Grande, who serves as President and COO, joined Digini after
serving as Vice President at Sigil Games Online, prior to its acquisition
by Sony Online Entertainment. During his 17-year tenure at Microsoft, Jon
created the group that became the hugely popular MSN Gaming Zone. He also
served as executive producer on several "Game of the Year" titles for PC,
Xbox, and Xbox 360 and managed relationships with several of Microsoft's
top development partners, including BioWare and Gas Powered Games.
Dmitry Shtainer, Digini's Vice President of Technology, has been
involved with some of the most highly acclaimed video games in the last 10
years. In his role as R&D manager at Crytek, he was responsible for raising
the bar in terms of technical excellence and visual realism in
next-generation video games and pioneered many of the advanced techniques
that made "FarCry," "Crysis" and "Inferno" award-winning, top-selling
titles.
About Digini, Inc.
Founded in 2004 and based in Issaquah, Washington, Digini, Inc., is the
creator of Blade3D, a powerful yet easy-to-use all-in-one game development
system for developers of all skill levels. The company also provides a
community hub and development environment for independent developers to
build rich, visually stunning games and 3D interactive projects for the PC
and Xbox 360 platform.
PR Contact for Digini:
Susan Lusty
206-331-4659
slusty@earthlink.net
This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information,
visit http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Digini, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.digini.com
http://www.blade3d.com
CONTACT:
Susan Lusty for Digini, Inc.,
+1-206-331-4659, slusty@earthlink.net
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