History
Ideaworks Labs was founded in 1998, and originally traded as Ideaworks3D as a spin-off from the London Business School's iLab. Its initial contracts, based on graphics R&D projects, were technology licences to the likes of Intel and Autodesk, as well as the development of proprietary vector graphics tools such as Vecta3D and Optimaze, a Flash compression tool. The Company built a reputation for innovation in graphics on low-power devices, where groundbreaking projects included porting a PS1 version of Tomb Raider to the Compaq IPAQ.
Ideaworks3D moved seriously into mobile gaming with Nokia's 2004 N-Gage launch, developing 4 of the launch titles along with their innovative multi-player and network features. This was followed by numerous awards for quality and innovation in mobile gaming, including two BAFTA awards in 2004 and 2005, as well as contracts from Electronic Arts to develop the highly successful Sims 2 Mobile and Need for Speed (U2 & Most Wanted) franchises. In the same year Ideaworks3D started developing mobile titles for publishers in Japan, with Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode (Square Enix), and Metal Gear Solid Mobile (Konami) launched in 2008.
As early as 2004, the Company realized that deploying complex gaming content and applications across multiple hardware platforms and operating systems required a fundamentally different technical solution to manual porting, which has proved uneconomic for both developers and publishers. The Company's Airplay SDK is the definitive commercial solution to this problem. Airplay has been integrated with ARM Holding's own development tools and optimized for (among others) Texas Instruments' mass-market multi-media chips in order to create the world's most efficient native mobile application development environment, capable of delivering the highest performance products. The first commercial version of the Airplay platform was launched in February 2008. The Company has two operating units: "Labs" (the Airplay team) and "Studio" (the content team); collaboration is tight between the two units, ensuring that Airplay is always meets current market demands and is fully battle-tested.
In September 2009, Ideaworks3D became Ideaworks Labs and Ideaworks Game Studio. The two units of the company continue to work together on the development of Airplay; and Ideaworks Game Studio pushes the boundaries of technology to create state-of-the-art games for multiple platforms.
Milestones
Technology Release Dates
- February 2008
- - Airplay fully supports OpenKODE 1.0 on far more platforms than any other provider.
- October 2006
- - Airplay 3.0 released for commercial licensing. Airplay 3.0 supports Win32, Symbian OS (6.1, 7, 8, 9), BREW, Windows Mobile, Linux, Mobile Linux, WIPI, ARM RTSM.
- October 2006
- - Ideaworks3D integrates ARM's RealView RVCT 3.0 compiler, and RTSM desktop ARM simulator, into Airplay SDK.
- October 2006
- - Airplay optimised for Texas Instruments' OMAP 2420 and OMAP 2430 platforms.
- July 2005
- - Airplay 2.0 used internally to deliver the award-winning "Need For Speed Underground 2" on Verizon's V-CAST BREW gaming service. Airplay 2.0 supports Win32, Symbian OS (6.1, 7, 8), BREW, PocketPC, Linux.
- October 2003
- - Airplay 1.0 used internally to deliver N-Gage launch titles including "Tomb Raider" and "Tony Hawks Pro Skater". Airplay 1.0 supports Win32, Symbian OS (6.1) and PocketPC.
- October 2003
- - Nokia launches original "N-Gage Arena" connected mobile gaming service, based on Ideaworks3D's Airplay 1.0.
- March 2002
- - Ideaworks3D launches "Optimaze", a revolutionary vector compression tool to reduce Flash file sizes.
- June 2001
- - First Ideaworks3D mobile game published - "Tomb Raider" for PocketPC.
- May 2000
- - Ideaworks3D licences 4 Java games to Motorola; Caveman, Genome, Burnout & Skid.
- March 2000
- - Ideaworks3D launches "Vecta3D", a tool to converts 3D models into vector images and animated Flash movies.