Hawaii's Five Game Developers

Last month, I blogged about an Entertainment Software Association report that said the Hawaii video game industry had added $23 million to the local economy. The report said that the revenue was generated by five “Interactive Entertainment Software Locations.”

I asked if anyone knew who those five developers were. Local "renaissance chick" Traci Toguchi also wanted to know who they were. But she went the extra mile and asked the ESA. She got her answer today, and passed it along:

1. Aloha Island (Honolulu)

2. Avatar Reality (Honolulu)

3. Blue Planet Software (Honolulu)

4. JAMDAT Mobile Hawaii (Honolulu)

5. Maui Games (Kihei)

Now, JAMDAT Mobile Hawaii was headed by Henk Rogers, who is also the head of Blue Planet Software (both companies focused on licensing Tetris.) I'm pretty sure JAMDAT no longer exists. Meanwhile, Rogers is also co-founder of Avatar Reality. So three of the five game developers included in the ESA report are closely intertwined.

As for the other two? The last update on the Maui games site is from April 2006. And Aloha Island's latest update is from April 2007.

Suffice it to say, I'm sure that the lion's share of the 165 people the ESA says work in our video game industry work for Henk Rogers.

I'm confident, however, that there are more game developers in Hawaii than the five counted by the ESA. Heck, I'd say the folks behind the "Bartleby's Book of Buttons" iPad app could count as game developers. But if you can think of any other local company focused on video games, I'd love to hear about them.