EXCLUSIVE: Digital agency Soap Creative has created its own mobile game called Diggin’ Dogs as an alternative revenue stream for the business.
Soap, which has roots in game development, has been working on the project for the past 18 months, although it began life as an internal “game in a day” test in 2007. The agency will own the intellectual property for Diggin’ Dogs.
Soap co-founder Ashley Ringrose told AdNews: “If Diggin’ Dogs proves successful we’ll be able to fund our own Skunk Works-style game studio within the larger agency, something we have wanted to do for many years. We started Soap in 2002 around games. It’s been a unique selling point for the agency over the years and in some ways it’s also our future.
“Large enough revenue from the game will also put less reliance on client ‘fee for service’ work. We’re not turning our back on the agency relationship, just trying to control our destiny a little more.”
The digital agency has created several branded games for its clients including World’s Biggest Pac-Man for Microsoft and Namco Bandai, which has attracted over four million visitors to date. The agency has also created games for Sony, Corona, Vodafone, Ferrero and Warner Bros.
The game hit the app store yesterday and is available on iPhone and iPod Touch devices for 99 cents. An iPad version is due out in two weeks while a free ‘lite’ version will be released in the coming week. The game is published through through EA Games-owned Chillingo.
This article first appeared in the 10 February 2012 edition of AdNews. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.
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