Eric Schiermeyer, co-founder of Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), has launched a new game studio called Luminary that will release its first genre-bending game soon. Greedy Goblins is the latest title to debut, with endless running through various levels, and the goal is to send goblins into a rival fortress and steal the maximum amount of gold. Players will be able to put hurdles on goblins’ paths and take revenge by launching attacks.
Promising new game
Both Schiermeyer and the new title look promising, as the Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) co-founder has an upper hand in analytics and has made efforts to integrate his expertise with good game design, says a report from Venture Beat by Dean Takahashi.
The new game allows users to train various kinds of goblins and then use them to steal gold from an enemy’s fortress. The main aim is so get gold and run to escape. Also users can build their own fortress to make it difficult for enemies to steal their gold.
“It’s a finite runner,” Schiermeyer said. “We’re calling it a strategic runner.”
Schiermeyer wants users to care so much about completing their runs that they are willing to spend money on other resources.
Why Schiermeyer left Zynga
Schiermeyer co-founded Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) along with Mark Pincus, who took the company to new heights with a billion dollars in revenue and 3,500 employees. Pincus was no match for the mobile revolution, however, and missed the opportunity miserably.
While Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) was growing into a massive company, Schiermeyer was reportedly not enjoying his time there as he was frustrated with internal politics and working so hard to achieve results that were not up to the standards he set. This led to the co-founder’s resignation, and he decompressed for a couple of years. He said this was his style of work as he works hard and then needs a long break to recharge.
Last August, Schiermeyer came up with Luminary with David Glenn, a former Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) employee and former Blizzard Entertainment developer, Amir Ebrahimi, who formerly worked at Naughty Dog, Activision, and Unity Technologies, and Marco Rizzo, a financial expert who also makes games.
