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iPhone's F.A.S.T. Sells 400,000 Units
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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September 24, 2009
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As social game developer SGN announced a roster of new hires, the company also confirmed that to date it has sold 400,000 units of the air combat game F.A.S.T. on iPhone.
The game, whose title is short for Fleet Air Superiority Training, launched on June 7 this year, and currently sells for 99 cents. The game particularly takes advantage of the iPhone's accelerometer, allowing players to tilt the iPhone or iPod Touch to control jets engaged in air dogfights. The game earned strong reviews from enthusiast press.
SGN, short for Social Gaming Network, is also behind Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo games such as (fluff)Friends, iBaseball, and iBowling. The company claims that "at least one SGN game has been downloaded on a third of all iPhone and iPod touch devices in existence."
The game maker, founded in March 2008, also said that it has hired a slate of new employees, all vets of the video games industry. The top hire is Randy Breen, who is now serving as SGN's COO. Breen was with EA pre-IPO, SGN said, joining the company in 1986 when there were just 100 employees. He also worked at LucasArts and Emotiv Systems' chief product officer.
Another new SGN hire is Randy Angle, who will lead development of SGN's games. Angle is credited in games including Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Blood Wake.
Other hires include art director Margaret Foley-Mauvais (formerly EA), executive producer Dan Brazelton (ex-Crystal Dynamics, Total Entertainment Networks), and director of global communications Adriana Gascoigne (ex-hi5).
Additional recent hires include CTO Eric Huynh (ex-Vivendi Games) and chief creative officer Eric Lindstrom (ex-Crystal Dynamics).
SGN said its current iPhone game library has seen over 13 million unique downloads.
SGN CEO Shervin Pishevar said he hopes the new hires will help "capitalize on [SGN's] position within the booming social gaming industry."
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I never knew the secret to high sales was pissing off your customers so much.
It is worth noting that there still are a lot of positive reviews for the game, though. The average rating is only 3.5 stars though, which half as many 1 star reviews as 5 star reviews, and the rest spread somewhat evenly between 2, 3, and 4 star reviews.