Press the start button on
Play Eternal, Philadelphia's newest game development company. Play Eternal hopes to create titles that are easy to pick up, play and, perhaps most important, put away. Lou Tranchitella, CEO of Play Eternal and father of three, says that while his company's larger target demographic is men aged 15 to 45, Play Eternal wants to think outside the XBox to create action for aging gamers in their 30s and 40s who have jobs, families and activities that take life beyond the screen. Tranchitella explains that Play Eternal AAA action adventure titles are slated to provide 10 to 12 hours of in-game time, whereas traditional titles in the genre may take up to 60 hours of play to resolve. The far lower price point of Play Eternal games is commensurate with shorter play. Forget lengthy tutorials and introductions, says Tranchitella, whose own gaming life now centers around casual games like Bejeweled, as increasing real life responsibilities prohibit full immersion.
Launched this week, Play Eternal hopes to be at the forefront of a growing trend for the city. "Two of the best game schools are Drexel and Penn," says Tranchitella, who notes that
Drexel RePlay is ranked third in the nation for game development by the Princeton Review, and Penn has the only
graduate program for game developers, but degreed gamers end up leaving the city for companies elsewhere.
Play Eternal's four principals are Tranchitella, COO Michael Worth, Chief Creative Officer Brandon Van Slyke, and Albert Vazquez, who is the company's Chief Technology Officer. While Play Eternal is not at liberty to discuss specific games under development, Tranchitella says the appeal to publishers is in both time and money: a shorter production interval between concept and finished product, and direct delivery to the consumer by download to console or PC, bypassing expensive packaging.
Play Eternal is a virtual company for now, but in the next month or so will announce a move into office space in University City. "Both Mike and I have family roots in Philadelphia," says Tranchitella, who grew up here and plans to position Play Eternal at the forefront of the city's growing gamer business community.
Source: Lou Tranchitella, Play Eternal
Writer: Sue Spolan