Former Bizarre and Splash Damage devs launch online gaming service Fireteam

A new online service called Fireteam, made up of former Splash Damage, Bizarre and Rackage developers Arnout van Meer, Ben Hopkinson and Stephen Gaffney, has launched, and it aims to provide an online service suite to console, free-to-play, mobile and PC developers.

The service's suite provides APIs that plug directly into gaming engines such as Unreal and Unity for Xbox 360, PS3, Windows, Mac, IOS, and Android.

“We believe players deserve a great online experience, reliability, performance, more content and connectivity,” said Stephen Gaffney, CEO of Fireteam. “Together, we’ve gained years of experience integrating online services into some of the worlds’ best-selling multiplayer games. We’re now really happy to be completely dedicated to building this as a service and platform.”

“As with many developers, at Splash Damage we often outsourced this component to a multitude of varying specialist providers, most of which have since been acquired. Now, with significant planning and research, we’ve launched this as a separate venture to Splash Damage. This specifically allows us to focus on improving the quality of online services,” said Arnout van Meer, Fireteam’s chief technical officer “Because we’re going to help improve how smoothly games are launched and operate, we’re pleased to be offering our services to Splash Damage as one of our first customers.”

The firm said it will give developers a "single solution to easily integrate" online features into games, including: matchmaking, transmedia connectivity across other devices, friends-features, player stats, and an in-game store. It operates on a "secure and scalable global platform" which retains each development's community through a white-label service.

“We’re here to help publishers and developers add a rich suite of features that help attract, engage and retain players,” added Ben Hopkinson, director of operations, “And we know Publishers will love the increased revenue that is a direct result of increased player engagement; players get more content that they want, they invite more friends, and together they spend more on your games.”

Fireteam is also in the market for software engineers, front-end web designers, and a producer to strengthen its ranks. Click the link to apply.