SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, mobile games leader Pocket Gems is officially launching the first interactive mobile story platform, Episode, in the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore. Episode lets players discover and interact with fun animated mobile-first stories that are shaped by the their decisions in the plot. Pocket Gems is also announcing the launch of a writer’s portal in the platform where authors can create a screenplay and see it brought to life as an interactive animated story. Episode’s mobile audience has already played over 10 million chapters during the app’s testing phase. Each chapter takes about as long as reading a comic book to complete.
With the launch of Episode, Pocket Gems is continuing its growth as a mobile entertainment company that’s anchored in gaming. Gaming will remain the company’s primary focus as it continues to explore innovative new categories of mobile entertainment. Pocket Gems had its best-ever annual revenue of $82 million in 2013, a 32 percent increase in revenue from 2012, with successful game launches including Animal Voyage: Island Adventure and Campus Holiday.
“Entertainment is by far the most successful category on mobile and it's almost completely games,” said Daniel Terry, co-founder and chief creative officer of Pocket Gems. “Historically the mass entertainment audience enjoys story-based content like movies, TV, and books. Episode brings the same kind of rich, story-based content to the modern mobile audience. It fits mobile user habits by offering stories that can be enjoyed in short or long sessions with engaging graphics and interactive plot progression.”
Pocket Gems is also announcing the launch of a writer’s portal in Episode where anyone, regardless of their animation or development experience, can easily turn their screenplay into a story with rich animation and a complex story tree. The platform will give contributors the opportunity to get their story in front of millions of potential mobile audience members. Episode will also feature works from established writers. Stories by authors that have worked on CW’s Supernatural, Marvel Comics, and the Poseur series will be featured in Episode.
During the testing phase over the past couple months, Episode’s mobile audience has already played over 10 million chapters, averaging about 300 chapters every minute.
Episode will be free to download and feature daily free content for its audience. It will also offer avid readers additional chapters to download as episodic content. Each story is sculpted by the user’s decisions which ultimately determine the outcome.
“While gaming will always be at our core, we’re very excited to release a product that falls into an entirely new genre of mobile entertainment,” said Terry. “This platform combines aspects from TV, novels, and games to give its audience an experience that they haven’t seen before.”
About Pocket Gems:
Pocket Gems is a mobile entertainment company anchored in gaming that was founded in 2009. Since pioneering free-to-play mobile games, Pocket Gems’ titles have been downloaded more than 150 million times across iOS and Android. A top-grossing developer with games like Tap Paradise Cove and Animal Voyage: Island Adventure, Pocket Gems has grown to 175 people. To learn more about Pocket Gems, visit www.pocketgems.com.
