Derrick Morton Founds FlowPlay With $500,000 in Angel Funding
Seattle PI has an article on Derrick Morton's FlowPlay, a startup that he describes as a "virtual world platform powered by casual gaming." which will launch in Summer 2007. Morton has raised about $500,000 in angel financing for the new company, with about one quarter of that coming from the founders. Angel investors include Michael Schutzler, the former senior vice president of games at RealNetworks, and Greg Fischbach, the founder of Acclaim Entertainment. The company has dozen employees. Morton is now focusing on raising VC funding. Morton left RealNetworks in September where he worked in the casual games business. Morton said he is basing FlowPlay on the success of ClubPenguin.com, a virtual world for youths between the ages of 8 and 14. FlowPlay by contrast will focus on older teenagers. ClubPenguin.com allows youngsters to sign up for free, but also charges monthly subscription fees of $5.95, reports the PI. FlowPlay also is investigating whether to adopt a one-time membership fee, which would allow members to set up virtual homes to store their virtual merchandise. It plans to derive additional revenue by allowing members who don't have enough virtual currency to buy items with a credit card or PayPal account. As in Second Life, users in FlowPlay will create avatars. In the FlowPlay world, players are rewarded with virtual currency based on how they perform in selected games.
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