Gamelab

Zimmerman and Lee (with audio by Michael Sweet) created a game called BLiX, which was named a Finalist (and eventually won Best Audio) at the 2000 Independent Games Festival{{cite web |url=http://www.igf.com/2000finalistswinners.html |title=The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival - 2000 Finalists & Winners |access-date=2009-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210091619/http://www.igf.com/2000finalistswinners.html |archive-date=2010-02-10 }} at the Game Developers Conference, Zimmerman and Lee then incorporated gameLab and used an advance on BLiX royalties from their exclusivity deal with Shockwave.com to open an office in downtown Manhattan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130740/a_man_for_all_seasons_gamelabs_.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510024108/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130740/a_man_for_all_seasons_gamelabs_.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 10, 2012|title = A Man for All Seasons: GameLab's Eric Zimmerman Talks Design, Trends|date = 16 June 2005}} gameLab released 34 video games on multiple platforms between 2000 and 2009, published by companies like LEGO, HBO, PlayFirst, VH-1, and iWin, plus eight massively multiplayer social games created exclusively for and played at the yearly Game Developers Conference from 2001 to 2008.

In 2004, gameLab released the award-winning Diner Dash, a strategy and time management game published by PlayFirst,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/technology/27casual.html|title = On Screens, but Not Store Shelves: Casual Games|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 27 June 2005|last1 = Marriott|first1 = Michel}} then-director of game design Frank Lantz and students in his Big Games class (including gameLab employees Greg Trefry and Mattia Romeo) at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program created Pac-Manhattan, a real life version of Pac-Man played in the streets surrounding NYU, which was one of the earliest and most influential pervasive games, covered by the New York Times{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/09/fashion/09GAME.html|title=Quick, After Him: Pac-Man Went Thataway|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 May 2004|last1=John|first1=Warren St}} and receiving worldwide press.{{Cite web|url=http://www.pacmanhattan.com/press.php|title = Pac Manhattan}} In 2005, gameLab employees Trefry, Romeo, Nicholas Fortugno, and Catherine Herdlick plus co-founder Lee co-founded [http://comeoutandplay.org/ Come Out & Play], an annual festival of new original big games played in the streets of New York City,{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24037|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110134335/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24037|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 10, 2009|title = Report: Come Out and Play -- Inside New York's Outdoor Game Festival}} Lantz left to co-found the game studio area/code, which was acquired by Zynga in 2011 and became Zynga New York, and is now the director of New York University's [http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/ Game Center].{{Cite web|url=http://gamecenter.nyu.edu/people|title = People}}

In 2007, gameLab spun off the non-profit Institute of Play to promote game design and play as educational tools for students. Within six months of its founding, Institute of Play received a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to develop Quest to Learn, a New York City public school designed around game design principles.{{Cite web|url=http://www.instituteofplay.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/MACARTHUR+NYC+School+Press+Release.pdf|title=Institute of Play at the Connected Learning Alliance}} In 2009, supported by another grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, gameLab partnered with Katie Salen and released the award-winning game and community site Gamestar Mechanic. gameLab closed in 2009 and sold its assets to Arkadium.https://venturebeat.com/2009/09/29/arkadium-acquires-gamelabcom-game-development-firm/

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Category:Defunct video game companies of the United States

Category:Video game companies established in 2000

Category:Video game development companies