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Gamefam
American video game company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Gamefam Studios is an American video game company. It primarily utilizes Roblox as a video game development platform,[1] while also using Fortnite Creative and Minecraft as engines to create maps and minigames.[3] It has produced content for brands such as Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Speed Simulator), the National Football League, Hot Wheels, Doctor Strange, Kung Fu Panda, Samsung, and Puma and staged virtual concerts for musicians such as The Chainsmokers and Saweetie.[4][5]
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Gamefam was founded in 2019 in Los Angeles, California, United States, by Joe Ferencz, the current CEO. Ferencz was originally involved with bringing Hot Wheels into the Forza series and Rocket League, and while doing so, he was observing Roblox's success as a free-to-play video game platform.[6] Explaining his reason for founding Gamefam, Ferencz told TechCrunch, "Roblox truly is the Metaverse for this younger generation. What that means is that each game needs to have a very distinctive and attractive immersion to it, in a way that mobile free-to-play doesn’t."[1] The company is described by Ferencz as the "first and only fully-dedicated, professional game publishing company on Roblox"[7] and has recruited veteran game developers.[5]
In November 2020, Gamefam, with the partnership of Mattel, released Hot Wheels Open World on Roblox, which is a Hot Wheels-themed open world racing game.[8][9]
In October 2021, Gamefam partnered with WowWee to create toys for their popular Roblox game Twilight Daycare.[10]
In November 2021, Gamefam partnered with WildBrain to start integrating various brands into their portfolio of Roblox titles.[11]
Since then, they have launched the L.O.L. Surprise! integration in "Twilight Daycare." [12]
In March 2022, Gamefam announced they have raised $25 million in its Series A funding round, which was led by Konvoy Ventures and participated in by Play Ventures, Makers Fund, Bessemer Venture Partners and Galaxy Interactive.[13]
In April 2022, Gamefam, with the partnership of Sega of America, released Sonic Speed Simulator on Roblox, which is a Sonic the Hedgehog game.[14] Its launch was the largest on Roblox, with 70 million plays[15] and 275,000 concurrent players in the first week of its release, and it would reach 500 million visits in its first four months. Joe Ferencz called it "the No. 1 branded game of all time on Roblox".[5]
In October 2022, Gamefam partnered with Spin Master and Feld Entertainment to introduce Monster Jam into Roblox through a month-long integration within the "Car Dealership Tycoon" game.[16]
In February 2023, Gamefam partnered with Paramount Games Studio and Nickelodeon to develop official Roblox experiences for the SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchises, scheduled to launch later that year.[17][18]
In the same month, Gamefam collaborated with the National Football League (NFL), Intuit, and Warner Music Group to produce a virtual Super Bowl concert on Roblox, featuring hip-hop artist Saweetie in "Rhythm City", a music-themed social roleplay experience on Roblox. The concert premiered on February 10, 2023, and re-aired hourly until February 12, 2023, coinciding with Super Bowl LVII.[19][20][21]
In May 2023, Gamefam collaborated with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group to create "Cirque du Soleil Tycoon," a circus-themed tycoon game on Roblox. [22]
In September 2023, Gamefam collaborated with Spin Master to introduce the "Unicorn Academy" within "Twilight Daycare," aiming to engage fans of the Netflix show by airing the show within the Roblox game.[23]
In October 2023, Spin Master and Gamefam again partnered to bring Monster Jam content to "Car Dealership Tycoon."[24]
In August 2024, "Sonic Speed Simulator" became the first branded game on Roblox to surpass one billion visits.[25]
In October 2024, Gamefam and Spin Master partnered for the third consecutive year to bring Monster Jam content to "Car Dealership Tycoon."[26]
In January 2025, Gamefam collaborated with KIDZ BOP and Concord Records to bring their kid-friendly pop songs into “Really Easy Obby” game on Roblox. [27]
Creator Fund
In May 2024, Gamefam launched the Gamefam Creator Fund, a $5 million initiative aimed at supporting user-generated content (UGC) developers on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite. The fund provided selected creators with investments ranging from $10,000 to over $100,000, along with access to Gamefam's expertise in game design, monetization strategies, marketing, and analytics.[28][29] Reportedly, 25% of the fund is reserved for creators from underrepresented backgrounds as a commitment to fostering diversity within the gaming industry.[30]
Accusations of employee mistreatment
In December 2022, former employees accused Gamefam of underpaying their employees while crunching them, as well as laying some off before the holidays without much warning, which was reportedly against the contract. Because the employees reported working on Sonic Speed Simulator while being mistreated, the hashtag #SonicSweatshopSimulator trended on Twitter as a protest by fans. Gamefam released a statement denying the accusations and began banning users who brought them up in the Sonic Speed Simulator Discord server.[31][32] In April 2023, Gamefam settled with an employee after he had filed a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the company had violated the National Labor Relations Act by threatening retaliation against employees that spoke with coworkers about their salaries. The employee was paid $5,000 USD in bonuses and Gamefam was legally obligated to remind its employees of their rights.[4][33]
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 | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Some terminology may need to be changed, as most tycoons and simulators on Roblox are incremental games instead of true simulation games and "obbies" tend to be mere platform games. (May 2023) |
Gamefam's current Roblox games include:[34]
- Build-A-Bear Tycoon, an idle advergame for Build-A-Bear Workshop.
- Build to Survive Simulator, a round-based survival sandbox game.
- Car Dealership Tycoon, a car dealership-based tycoon game. (Partnership not ownership)
- Cirque du Soleil Tycoon[35]
- Deathrun, a round-based platformer game.
- Deliveryman Simulator, a delivery-based incremental game.
- Easy Obby, a platform game.
- Eating Simulator, an eating-based incremental game.
- Festival Tycoon
- Funky Friday, a rhythm game unofficially based on Friday Night Funkin'.
- Gym Tycoon, a gym based tycoon game.
- Harmony Hills (formerly Rhythm City)
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: You Have The Power!, a licensed game based on the 2021 TV series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- Hot Wheels Open World, a licensed Hot Wheels open world racing game.
- Junkbots Story, a licensed Hexbug story game based on one of their franchises, JunkBots.
- Little World, an insect adventure game.
- Maple Hospital, a hospital-based roleplay game.
- My Hero Academia Battlegrounds, a licensed My Hero Academia game[36]
- Ore Mining Tycoon!
- Polybattle, a first-person shooter.
- Red Light, Green Light, a game unofficially based on Squid Game.
- RoBeats, a rhythm game.
- Shadovis RPG
- Tower Battles
- Shoot Out, a western-themed third-person shooter.
- Slashing Simulator, a weapon-based simulator in which involves the use of katanas.
- Sonic Speed Simulator, a licensed Sonic the Hedgehog incremental platform game.
- Speed Run Simulator, a speed-based incremental game.
- SpongeBob Simulator, a licensed SpongeBob SquarePants game.[37][better source needed]
- Starving Artists, a donation-based game where players can create their own pixel art and sell it to other players.
- Super NFL Tycoon
- TMNT: Battle Tycoon, a licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.
- Tower of Misery, a round-based platform game.
- Twilight Daycare, a daycare roleplay game.
- Ultimate Driving, an open world racing game based in the Eastern United States.
- Ultra Power Tycoon
- Military Tycoon, a military shooter game that uses the Advanced Combat System framework which lets players build their own military base.
- Weapon Fighting Simulator
- Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon, a licensed Barbie game.[38]
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