Uken Games

Canadian video game developer

Uken Games

Company type| Private
Industry| Video games
Founded| 2009
Founders| Chris Ye & Mark Lampert
Headquarters|

Canada

Number of employees

| 90+ (2019)
Website| wwww.uken.com
Uken Games office in Toronto

Uken Games is an independent game studio based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1][2] The company was founded in 2009 by Chris Ye and Mark Lampert to build cross platform social and mobile games for iOS and Android.[3][4][5] In 2011, the company was the recipient of the Digi Award for Canada’s Most Promising New Digital Company.[6] Uken was in the top 10 of Deloitte's Fast 50[7] and #13 in their Fast 500 for 2014,[8] after being one of Deloitte's "Companies-to-Watch" in 2013.[9] Uken was certified as a Great Place to Work[10] and was recognized as one of Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers in 2017.[11] Uken partnered with Sony to develop Jeopardy! World Tour which was released in May 2017. Subsequently in March 2018, Uken also developed and released a second trivia title Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? which became the top trivia game on mobile. In 2020, Uken released Ava’s Manor, a solitaire game where users renovate and decorate the manor while discovering mysterious clues and dabbling in a romantic love story.

The studio also hosts numerous developer events including meetups for the Toronto Unity Developers,[12] ReactJS,[13] PhoneGap Toronto,[14] DevOps Toronto,[15] AngularJS Toronto[16] and Go TO.[17] Uken regularly sponsors TOJam (Toronto Game Jam)[18] and Level Up Showcase.[19] They hosted MolyJam’s Toronto chapter in 2012 and 2013,[20] and were a sponsor of Gamercamp 2013[21] and the UTGDDC Game Jam.[22]

Uken participates in various fundraising efforts for organizations such as the Movember Foundation, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Canadian Red Cross disaster relief, American Red Cross disaster relief, Free the Children, Sunnybrook Cancer Research, Extra Life Marathon for Sick Kids, Camp Oochigeas (Sporting Life 10K) and Daily Bread Food Bank. Since the beginning of 2011, Uken’s charitable contributions total over $215,000

## Current Titles

[edit]

Year | Game | Platforms

|
|

iOS | Android | Facebook
2020 | Ava's Manor | Yes | Yes |
2018 | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? | Yes | Yes |
2017 | Jeopardy! World Tour | Yes | Yes |

## Past Titles

[edit]

Year | Game | Platforms

|
|

iOS | Android | Facebook | BlackBerry | WP8
2014 | Titans | Yes | Yes | Yes |  |
2012 | Bingo Pop | Yes | Yes | Yes |  |
2011 | Mighty Monsters | Yes | Yes |  |  |
2011 | Crime Inc | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2011 | The Streetz | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2010 | Forces of War | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2010 | Age of Legends | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2010 | Dark Galaxy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2010 | Villains | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes
2009 | Superheroes Alliance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Crow, David. "Uken Games – Caution: highly addictive games". Startup North. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
2. ^ "Harper Government Helps Launch Canadian Start-Ups in Dynamic New York City Market". The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
3. ^ Ingram, Mathew. "Uken Games Lets You Take Your Game With You". Gigaom. Archived from the original on October 16, 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
4. ^ Keenan, Edward. "Red-hot Uken Games expects to grow from 27 to 40 staff this quarter in global power play". Yonge Street. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
5. ^ Shevchik, Leigh. "Case Study: New Relic Helps Uken Games Build a Global Gaming Business". New Relic. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
6. ^ "The winners of the 2011 Digi Awards are..." Techvibes. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
7. ^ "Toronto company tops this year's Fast 50 list". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
8. ^ "Deloitte's 2014 Technology Fast 500™ Ranking" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
9. ^ "2013 Companies-to-Watch winners". Deloitte. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
10. ^ gptwcanada. "Certified Companies - Great Place to Work® Canada". www.greatplacetowork.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
11. ^ "Top Employer: Uken Studios Inc". content.eluta.ca. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
12. ^ "Sharing and Learning with the Toronto Unity User Group". Unity Technologies. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
13. ^ "ReactJS Meetup". ReactJS Toronto. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
14. ^ "PhoneGap Performance Tips and App Showcase". PhoneGap Toronto. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
15. ^ "MySQL 5.6 & MySQL Tricks". DevOps Toronto. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
16. ^ "Toronto AngularJS Summer Social". AngularJS Toronto. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
17. ^ "Go Talk". Go TO. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
18. ^ "Toronto Game Jam 2016 | Sponsors". www.tojam.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
19. ^ "Sponsors". Level Up Showcase. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
20. ^ "MolyJam Toronto". Retrieved 30 October 2013.
21. ^ "Gamercamp: Canada's Game Festival November 1, 2, and 3, 2013 Toronto". Gamercamp. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
22. ^ "UTGDDC Game Jam". University of Toronto Game Design & Development Club. Retrieved 3 December 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Uken Games on App Annie
* As game market gets crowded, Toronto's Uken may have found the sweet spot
* Inside one of Toronto's fastest-growing gaming companies
* Uken Games raises $12,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
* Two Canadian Gaming Studios Raise $180,000 for Philippines Disaster Relief
* Canadian Gaming Startups Raise $180K for Typhoon Haiyan Relief
* Uken Games lets customers choose its charitable causes
* How to Stay Hyper-Competitive: Secrets from Uken Games
* A Canadian entrepreneur in New York: tapping global markets with government help
* Canadian students show off their games at Level Up 2013
* The Genesis of a Gaming Studio
* CCBC prepares project focused on educational games