Santa Monica, Calif. – Videogame and virtual world development company, Trilogy Studios, announced today the completion of its second round of independent equity funding, totaling $3.2 million. The funds will be allocated to expand the company’s virtual world and casual massively multiplayer online (MMO) businesses. Founders Michael Pole and Rick Giolito also named Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies and producer of There.com, to Trilogy Studios’ board of directors.
“We continue to leverage our extensive background of developing multi-million unit selling videogames to enhance the entertainment experience of virtual worlds and casual MMOs,” said Michael Pole, Chairman and CEO of Trilogy Studios. “Combining our decades of experience in traditional gaming with Makena’s leadership in social networking, we can provide media companies the opportunity to build a one on one relationship with their consumers while promoting and monetizing their content libraries and new entertainment properties in this exciting new medium”.
Trilogy Studios has a pedigree in top quality videogame development and has attracted a number of highly successful creative executives and developers who were responsible for some of the biggest interactive entertainment franchises, including Medal of Honor™, The Chronicles of Riddick™, The Hulk™, Aliens vs. Predator™, No One Lives Forever™, Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing, The Simpsons: Hit and Run, The Simpsons: Road Rage™, Empire Earth™, NASCAR™ and Knockout Kings™.
“Trilogy enables major media and brand companies the opportunity to monetize their content in the online space through micro-transactions, premium subscriptions, e-commerce, sponsorship and advertising”, said Rick Giolito, President of Trilogy Studios and former Vice President and Executive Producer of Electronic Arts, Los Angeles. “We’re having a successful run with MTV’s Virtual ‘Pimp My Ride,’ and we’ve received very promising feedback from established media companies looking to extend their film, television and music content into the virtual world space.”
Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies and producer of There.com has joined Trilogy Studios’ board of directors. With more than 25 years of experience in the ecommerce and online community building fields, Wilson has held executive positions at such esteemed technology companies as eBay, Inc. and Oracle Corporation. Trilogy Studios and Makena Technologies worked together to create MTV’s Virtual “Pimp My Ride” product.
About Trilogy Studios
Founded in 2005 by video game and entertainment industry veterans Michael Pole and Rick Giolito, Santa Monica, CA-based Trilogy Studios develops AAA quality Virtual Worlds and next generation console games. A pioneer in virtual world software development, Trilogy offers major media companies the opportunity to promote and monetize their content libraries and new entertainment properties in the online space, through micro-transactions, premium subscriptions, e-commerce, sponsorship and advertising. In 2007, Trilogy designed and launched MTV Networks’ most popular online virtual world to date, Virtual “Pimp My Ride.” Since the company’s inception, Trilogy has attracted some of the finest talent in the videogame industry from market-leading companies such as Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Rock Star Games and Vivendi Universal Games.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Trilogy Studios
Stacy Miles
Bender/Helper Impact
310-694-3106
stacy_miles@bhimpact.com
Michael Wilson & There.com
Aimee Yoon
Dotted Line Communications
646-678-4980
aimee@dottedlinecomm.com