OneBigGame Announces Chime, Upcoming Matsuura, Perry, Cecil Projects

Non-profit video game publisher OneBigGame has unveiled its first project: Chime, a rhythm-infused grid-based puzzle game developed by Brighton-based studio Zoe Mode and featuring music from musicians including Philip Glass, Moby, and Orbital's Paul Hartnoll. Along with the announcement of Chime, due this winter for Xbox Live Arcade, OneBigGame says it is already working on additional games from noted designers Masaya Matsuura (PaRappa the Rapper) and Charles Cecil (Broken Sword series), as well as Shiny founder Dave Perry. Formed in 2007 by Martin de Ronde, a co-founder of Killzone franchise developer Guerrilla Games, OneBigGame plans to partner with noted game developers for relatively short-term projects to benefit charitable organizations. The company has selected Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation as its charity partners. Zoe Mode, a subsidiary of Kuju Entertainment, developed Chime on a pro bono basis. Part of the appeal to game makers is that OneBigGame is looking for titles of relatively modest scope, allowing for affordable price points and creative flexibility, de Ronde told Gamasutra prior to the release. "These developers and designers can just go out and come up with something that has no commercial constraint, is something they've always wanted to create, is relatively easy to create in a couple months' time -- that's the whole idea," he explained. "Come play a game by your favorite game designer and, hey, by doing so, you're also generating money for charity," de Ronde continued, speaking in a Gamasutra interview that will run later this week. "That's ultimately the message we're sending out, and the results, I think, are mindblowing."