We all know the games industry moves fast, but it’s still amazing to think that – just 10 years ago – it was almost impossible for a developer to get their game in front of a large audience without total reliance on (and possible interference from) publishers and retailers. Back in 2008, Apple launched the App Store, and UK games industry veterans Ian Harper and Chris Dawson realized that this could be a way for them to bring their own creative ideas directly to a global audience of gamers without the need for middlemen.

They founded Future Games of London (FGoL) the next year, and the rest, as they say, is history. We recently visited their studio, located in an unassuming office building in the North London Borough of Islington, and chatted with managing director and co-founder Ian Harper to discuss FGoL’s beginnings, the wide and creepy appeal of sharks, and what’s next for the studio.

Starting with the original 2D Hungry Shark Part 1 in 2010, FGoL released a series of premium games before switching its model with the launch of Hungry Shark Evolution at the end of 2012. The studio found that new model allowed them to reach a far larger audience. In fact, Hungry Shark Evolution is now nearing 300 million downloads.

FGoL joined the Ubisoft family back in 2013, and launched their latest game – Hungry Shark World – earlier this year. Hungry Shark World sped past 10 million downloads within its first week, and continues to grow through regular updates and tweaks.

The latest of these updates, mentioned by Harper in the video, is the Shocktober update launched for Halloween. Along with a bunch of new spooky items and rewards, this update allows you to become a zombie shark, infecting others with your insatiable hunger for FLESH.

Feeling inspired? Embrace your inner selachimorpha by downloading Hungry Shark World from the iOS App Store, Google Play, or Amazon.

Stay tuned to UbiBlog for more on Future Games of London in the months ahead!

The post Future Games of London, Home of the Hungry Shark appeared first on UbiBlog – Ubisoft®.

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The Author

Phil is so incredibly old that his earliest gaming memories involve those late-70s TV Pong clone machines made by Binatone, typing BASIC games into the one-piece keyboard of a Sinclair ZX80 from magazine listings, and the static burble of Commodore 64 tape loading. He does Marketing things in Ubisoft’s Guildford office. He’s been at the company for 18 years. The numpty.

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