Jordanian game company Quirkat is announcing their partnership with US game developer Breakaway Ltd. to release Tariq's Treasure, a mobile puzzle/strategy game for Arabic speaking Middle Eastern Gamers. This is the second game for both companies to partner in.
“The Quirkat and Breakaway partnership includes development, marketing and distribution of fun, high quality and culturally relevant entertainment products across the Middle East,” said Deborah Tillett, Executive Vice President of BreakAway, Ltd. ”With the successful release of Arabian Lords, the first PC game designed exclusively for the Arab world, we’ve realized the first step in our longer term objectives to transfer game development expertise and knowledge to the Middle East region.”
Tariq’s Treasure
The First Premium Tri-lingual Mobile Title Exclusively Released in the Middle East
Amsterdam, 6 February, 2008: Leading Middle East interactive entertainment services company Quirkat ™ and BreakAway Ltd., a leading US-based games developer, today announced the upcoming availability of Tariq’s Treasure on mobile handsets. This is the second game in a series of upcoming titles targeting Arabic speaking Middle Eastern gamers which comes as a result of a strengthening partnership between the two companies. This partnership, resulted in the release of Arabian Lords, the world’s first bilingual (Arabic, English) PC strategy game last autumn.
“The Quirkat and Breakaway partnership includes development, marketing and distribution of fun, high quality and culturally relevant entertainment products across the Middle East. With the successful release of Arabian Lords, the first PC game designed exclusively for the Arab world, we’ve realized the first step in our longer term objectives to transfer game development expertise and knowledge to the Middle East region”, said Deborah Tillett, Executive VP of BreakAway, Ltd.
Developed in Amman, Jordan by Quirkat’s games development studio, the game is already a highly anticipated sequel to the Arabian Lords phenomenal success story across the region. “The game is called Tariq's Treasure (Kanz Tariq), and is a puzzle/strategy title where the player must navigate through desert tunnels to rescue Tariq the traveler and recover his lost treasure. A host of quirky and funny monsters lie in the tunnels which our adventurer must overcome. The game is also High Score based and the user can submit their high score over GPRS to compete against the regional leaderboard”, said Mahmoud Ali Khasawneh, Quirkat’s CEO.
Tariq’s Treasure offers the choice between Arabic, English and French language gameplay experiences. The unique and innovative features of the game include: Rescuing Tariq the traveler from the mysterious and dangerous tunnels of the desert. Players can take on the role of an agent, archeologist or treasure hunter as they collect valuable jewels, meet and befriend helpful companions and fight dangerous creatures in their quest to defeat the ultimate enemy and rescue Tariq!
“BreakAway’s established experience and vast talent in all aspects of game design and gameplay has been of tremendous added value to our team at Quirkat” added Mahmoud Khasawneh. “Having the eyes and ears of seasoned games veterans with us along the way has had a very positive effect on our team and we hope this partnership continues to help us nurture local game development talent.”
Quirkat’s leading position as a mobile games distributor in the Middle East offers an established channel to games developers and publishers around the world for quality deployment and management of their mobile games portfolios in most Middle East markets. Over the last three years, Quirkat has built up an expansive knowledge base of the regional mobile VAS market; which is showing phenomenal growth; and in particular mobile gaming. As a result of agreements with regional mobile operators and its online games platform, Fuzztak (www.fuzztak.com) , Quirkat boasts a distribution network covering most major Middle Eastern markets.
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About Quirkat (www.quirkat.com)
Established in 2004, Quirkat is the Middle East's leading video gaming brand with offices in Dubai and Amman. Quirkat is the first of its kind in spearheading the development and publishing of regionally relevant content, by capitalizing on its knowledge of the region’s history, culture, social structures, religions and demographics
About BreakAway, Ltd. (www.breakawayltd.com)
Founded in 1998, BreakAway Games is a worldwide leading developer of entertainment and serious game software. With a client list that includes Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Buena Vista, Sierra Entertainment and Take 2 Interactive, BreakAway is a leading developer of award-winning strategy games. A three time Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 winner, BreakAway employs more than 100 people in its Hunt Valley, MD headquarters and its Corpus Christi, TX studio.
