Anomaly developer launches storefront

The studio behind Anomaly Warzone Earth has launched a social media hub and storefront designed to connect consumers, press, and developers.

11 Bit studios has earned a top spot in the PC and mobile games space with titles like Funky Smugglers and the Anomaly franchise, but this new and unique venture seems destined to cement the team’s reputation for innovation regardless of whether the platform succeeds or dies young.

The platform, dubbed Games Republic, depends on and rewards bloggers for sharing the news about games with real cash, and provides developers with another revenue stream as well as a solid set of tools designed to help teams understand what their sales figures mean.

"We are not just another online shop with games – it’s more than that," read a statement from the company to Gamasutra.

"Game creators will use Games Republic to promote their games in a friendly environment."

Bloggers will receive a cut of all sales driven by their writing – a plan that might not be tuned to foster critical discourse but might appeal to the swarms of games bloggers who currently write for free.

Think of it as Steam fused with Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes.

"Video game evangelists are becoming more and more important for game developers, but we felt there is no real connection between these two groups," said project director Jakub Kowalski.

"Gamers watch Let’s Play materials, read enthusiastic blog posts and get extremely hyped, but then buy games elsewhere."