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Liverpool studio Playbox has repositioned some of its workforce to build dedicated tablet games, in a move described by the studio as forward-looking.
Playbox said it will build games for tablet devices specifically powered by Nvidia’s Tegra chip, such as the Samsung Galaxy tablet and the Motorola Xoom. Both these devices run on Google’s Android operating system.
“Having seen the huge surge in Android devices, and after our early talks with Nvidia about Tegra, we knew this was a market about to explode,” Playbox managing director Gary Nichols said.
“As a result, we realigned our studio to be one of the first companies to go to market with a Tegra-powered game title. Recent announcements from the likes of LG, Motorola and Samsung indicate that the tablet market is only going to keep growing, and it’s important for us to be one of the early adopters.”
The first of Playbox’s new Tegra games is Bang Bang Racing, a port of the XBLA and PSN title which is said to utilise Nvidia Physx technology on tablets.
Bang Bang Racing will soon be available on Tegra Zone, an Android app that is essentially a portal to other Nvidia-supported tablet games.
Mike Clarke, technical director at Playbox said the interest in Android tablets is growing.
“When we first started working on our technology, not many companies really understood what Tegra is or how it will change the market,” he said.
“But at my recent mobile gaming session at the Game Developers’ Conference, I was amazed at the interest that Tegra received, and it’s clear more developers are looking into Android and Tegra.”
Ashu Rege, vice president of content and technology at Nvidia, added: “Our top priority is bringing the best console-quality games and content to Android devices. Playbox brings a wealth of creativity and experience to game development, and they’ve brought a PlayStation 3-quality title to Tegra-powered super phones and tablets in record time.”
