PlayFirst Signs Publishing Deal With Foundation 9

PlayFirst, a publisher of casual games, has announced a partnership with independent developer collective Foundation 9 to publish Backbone Entertainment's next casual game. Backbone is one of the members of the Foundation 9 group, which also includes The Collective and Digital Eclipse. The title from Backbone will make use of PlayFirst's proprietary game development engine, Playground SDK. No other details of the game such as title or release date were mentioned. Previous titles from Backbone include Death Jr. for PSP and Age of Empires: The Age of Kings for Nintendo DS. "With their reach and expertise, PlayFirst is the right partner to guide Foundation 9 toward hit status within the casual games market," said Foundation 9 co-president Andrew Ayre. "We chose PlayFirst for their expertise within the casual games space, demonstrated by their rapid ascent to the top of the publishing chain, and their unique ability to complement our talented team with theirs." "We've long admired Foundation 9 and Backbone for their creative energy, their technical know-how across diverse platforms and their boundless enthusiasm for making great games," said PlayFirst VP and executive producer Kenny Dinkin. "We are excited to collaborate with this proven development organization to launch their latest and greatest ideas into the world of casual games."