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Mobile developer and publisher Nifty Games has opened its first internal development studio in Chicago, Illinois. The new studio will be led by David Michicich, a 25-year games industry veteran.
The new studio follows recent announcements that Nifty Games is partnering with the National Football League, the NFL Player Association, National Basketball Association, and the National Basketball Players Association, and THINK450 to work on its mobile sports titles.
“There may not be a better suited city in the world to develop mobile-first, authentic sports games than Chicago,” said Jon Middleton, CEO of Nifty Games. “Nifty Games Chicago’s development team have worked together to build licensed sports games for decades, while also bringing additional extensive mobile free-to-play sports game expertise under the Nifty Games banner.”
Michicich has spent 25 years in the games industry, having formerly co-founded sports game developer Robomodo and has held leadership roles at Electronic Arts, Studio Gigante & Reliance Entertainment. He also has worked on franchises such as Fight Night, Tony Hawk, and WWE Mayhem and Wrestlemania XXI.
“The opportunity to spearhead the Nifty Games Chicago studio is tremendous,” stated Michicich. “The ability to start a studio with a group that has worked together for years, doing what we love, is incredibly unique. There is a deep pool of talented developers residing in Chicago who are truly passionate about sports. We aim to build the best sports focused mobile studio to bring fun and competitive, mobile-first games to sports fans globally.”
