Adelaide game developer Mighty Kingdom to show its serious side

GAMES and mobile applications developer Mighty Kingdom will use its time on the Entrepreneurs Week platform on July 9 to reveal details about a new project that promises to drive social change.

NEW ADELAIDE - profile picture of Mighty Kingdom's Dan Thorsland at Rundle Mall - pic Mike Burton

GAMES and mobile applications developer Mighty Kingdom will use its time on the Entrepreneurs Week platform on July 9 to reveal details about a new project that promises to drive social change.

General manager Dan Thorsland wouldn’t reveal much except to say that it would be an “amazing project” that would fit well within the session on serious gaming, which will explore games for social impact and serious uses.

“It’s a very important project that has the backing of a national social support company and will be improving lives, he said.

He said the global debate and divide over the impact of games is “simply generational”. “Boomers who didn’t grow up playing computer-based games have very high levels of mistrust around the industry and consumer culture.

“Younger people who have grown up with it understand its part in entertainment time and social time.”

“As for the debate that games create mass killers and NBN congestion, I simply don’t see any factual evidence of either.”

One the state’s fastest growing companies, Mighty Kingdom is close to launching its new digital game Kitty Keeper for the US market, targeted at the “pet parent” market.

Earlier this year, it won a $480,000 grant from the state government’s Future Jobs Fund this year.

The company, which has 35 full-time staff last year signed what was believed to be an Australian-first deal with Lego and is also known for its Shopkins: Welcome to Shopville game, which in 2015 hit the top 10 charts in the iTunes and Google Play app stores in the US, Australia and the UK.

The global gaming industry was growing well — worth around US$116 billion in 2017 — creating opportunities for established SA developers.

“We are absolutely winning in the global market, because we have the talent, and a great place to work (Game Plus on Pirie Street).

“Our challenge is competing with regions that have strong industry support from both local and federal governments. SA has yet to find a consistent way to support the local game industry … and it is slowing our growth,” Mr Thorsland said.