Amaze Entertainment

Amaze Entertainment

Amaze Entertainment's logo
Industry	Video game industry Interactive entertainment
Key people	Dan Elenbaas Todd Gilbertsen David Mann
Parent	Foundation 9

Amaze Entertainment was a video game developer from the United States that sold over 100 games in its ten-year history (selling nearly 40 million units), for several video game platforms, with headquarters located in Kirkland, Washington. Amaze was founded by serial entrepreneur Dan Elenbaas and his business partners Todd Gilbertsen and David Mann. Amaze’s primary focus was licensed games based on movie franchises, comic series, and original titles for established videogame franchises. Amaze grew to become one of the world's largest independent video game developers, with nearly 300 employees in four studios. Amaze was acquired by Foundation 9 on November 14, 2006.

In July 2009, Foundation 9 abandoned the Amaze Entertainment brand and renamed the Kirkland location after the former subsidiary, Griptonite Games. On August 2, 2011, Glu Mobile acquired Griptonite Games. Its staff of 200 "approximately doubles" Glu's internal development capacity.

Subsidiaries, divisions and affiliates

During its lifespan, Amaze Entertainment consisted of several subsidiary studios, including:

• Griptonite Games - Kirkland, WA
• Amaze Entertainment - Kirkland, WA
• The Fizz Factor - Austin, TX
• KnowWonder - Kirkland, WA
• Adrenium Games - Kirkland, WA
• Black Ship Games - Kirkland, WA
• Monsoon - Kirkland, WA

Games

Amaze Entertainment was widely known for developing games based on blockbuster movie licenses, including:

• Star Wars
• The Lord of the Rings
• Harry Potter
• The Chronicles of Narnia
• Shrek
• Spider-Man
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Over the Hedge
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Eragon
• Monsters vs. Aliens

Other well-known media franchises Amaze Entertainment has worked on include:

• Spyro the Dragon
• Crash Bandicoot
• Call of Duty
• The Sims
• Spore
• Bionicle
• Digimon
• Samurai Jack
• WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008

External links

• GameSpot.com covers news of acquisition
• Foundation 9 press release