IOMO was a pioneering European mobile game developer and publisher based in Hampshire, England. IOMO was founded by John Chasey, Glenn Broadway and Andrew Bain in 2000. Initially a developer, the company was very successful in the early stages of the mobile game industry and worked with the majority of mobile technologies and customers across the whole value chain. This ranged from pre-installed titles developed for handset manufacturers and carriers, creation of branded titles for mobile games publishers and self-published original titles.
The first public announcement mentioning IOMO is in May 2001 when Nokia announced development of seven WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) titles by IOMO for the Nokia Mobile Entertainment service, one of the first platforms designed for carriers to be able to host and bill for games content. IOMO also worked on SMS titles including TxtDating which launched on O2 in the UK.
As the industry moved away from WAP and SMS to Java ME titles, in May 2003 IOMO acquired mobile game studio Covert Operations Ltd for an undiclosed sum.
The peak of IOMO's success came in 2004 when in addition to winning the Develop Industry Excellence award for the second year running, IOMO were developers of half the games in the Top 10 charts for two different UK operators.
January 2004 the Vodafone Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Tomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, Pub Pool, Tomb Raider: The Osiris Codex and Monopoly.
November 2004 the Orange UK Top 10 games charts included five titles developed by IOMO; Pub Fruity, Colin McRae Rally 2005, Monopoly, Golf Club and Pub Darts.
In March 2004 IOMO partnered with Kayak Interactive to demonstrate the first live multiplayer pool tournament between Java ME and BREW handsets on at the GDC Mobile day of the 2004 Game Developers Conference.
This success culminated when on 1 December 2004 it was announced that InfoSpace had acquired IOMO for approximately $15 million in cash.
In January 2005 an N-Gage version of the classic Snakes, developed by IOMO was launched. The title had universally positive reviews averaging a Metacritic score of 85.
As a studio within the InfoSpace group, IOMO games were published under the InfoSpace brand. However, on 25 January 2007, InfoSpace announced it was exiting the content space and had sold its US games studio to Twistbox Games with IOMO to follow.
On 6 August 2007 IOMO was closed and staff from IOMO formed a new mobile game developer, FinBlade, and a new mobile middleware developer, Metismo.
2002 Nokia Mobile Challenge - Entertainment Category - Foto Fun Pack 2003 BAFTA Nomination - Scooby Doo 2003 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile Studio 2004 BAFTA Nomination - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 20052004 BAFTA Nomination - Colin McRae Rally 20052004 Develop Industry Excellence Award - Best Mobile/Handheld Studio 2006 Edinburgh International Entertainment Festival Edge Mobile Award - Dirty Sanchez Adventure Race on Nokia 5140iFoto Fun Pack on Motorola RAZR V3GemGemPanic on Sony Ericsson T610 (Vodafone live! handsets only)Golf on Motorola RAZR V3Jedi Trainer on Nokia handsetsMonopoly on Motorola V525/V600Munkiki's Castles on Nokia 3410Skydiver on Nokia 3510i and Nokia 5500Snakes 2 EX on Nokia 3300 and othersStuntman on Motorola V525/V600Triple Pop on Nokia 7210 and othersFootball Challenge published by InFusio007: Hoverchase published by VodafoneActivision Anthology published by InFusioAquastax published by InfoSpaceColin McRae Rally 2005 published by Digital BridgesDBI 3D Golf published by Digital BridgesDirty Sanchez published by InfospaceFight Club published by SuperscapeFight Club 3D published by SuperscapeFinding Nemo published by Airborne/Disney InteractiveFPR Superbikes published by InfoSpaceGolf Club published by IOMOLe Mans 2006 published by InfoSpaceMonopoly published by iFoneNow Quiz published by InfoSpaceChase H.Q. published by NokiaPub Arcade published by IOMOPub Darts published by IOMOPub Fight published by IOMOPub Fruity / Pub Slots published by IOMOPub Pool published by IOMOPub Pool 3D published by IOMOPursuit Squad published by IOMOScooby-Doo: Jeepers Creepers published by Digital BridgesSlot Racers published by InfospaceSteve Davis Snooker published by IOMOStuntman published by iFoneThief: Deadly Shadows published by Eidos New MediaTiger Woods PGA Tour Golf published by EA/Digital BridgesTiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 published by EA/Digital BridgesTiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 published by EA/Digital BridgesTomb Raider: Puzzle Paradox published by Eidos InteractiveTomb Raider: The Quest for Cinnabar published by Eidos New MediaTomb Raider: The Osiris Codex published by Eidos New MediaTomb Raider: The Elixir of Life published by Eidos New MediaTony Hawk's Project 8 published by InfospaceTony Hawk's Proving Ground published by InFusioTreasure Planet published by Airborne/Disney InteractiveTrickshot Pool published by InfospaceUrban Freestyle Soccer published by Acclaim EntertainmentTxtDating published by Digital BridgesSnakes published by NokiaFoto Fun Pack published by IOMOFoto Puzzle published by IOMOBlinker Thinker published by NokiaDial-A-Word published by FroghopInfiltrator published by NokiaFortune Cookie published by gameplay.comMagic 8-Ball published by gameplay.comNumbaRumba published by NokiaRunway published by NokiaThief: Constantine's Sword published by Digital Bridges/Eidos New MediaPass The Egg published by VodafoneStrikeOut! published by NokiaTamacutie published by AspiroThe Love Game / The Dating Game published by AspiroThunderbirds published by Digital BridgesTicTacToe published by gameplay.comWAP Fishing published by NokiaWAP Hunter published by NokiaWAPPet published by gameplay.comWapundrum published by NokiaWentworth Golf published by Digital Bridges/Empire Interactive
