Bella Sara Online, is a horse-themed online world with over 1.6 million registered users geared towards girls. Developed by Danish social worker Gitte Odder Brændgaard, horse-themed trading cards are imprinted with a code unlocking virtual horses on a website - think of it as Webkinz meets Black Beauty and Unicorns and you get the picture. With such a lucrative business venture booming with children obsessed with all things equine, Hidden City Games needed someone with enough experience in the industry to continue pointing them in the right direction. Enter Joshua Howard stage left.
Naming Joshua Howard senior VP of Bella Sara Online is a smart move on Hidden City Games’ part, as Howard has over 15 years of experience at Microsoft where he was group manager for the casual gaming studio Carbonated Games, which he started at Microsoft. Prior to that he was the lead program manager for MSN Games/Zone.com.
Peter Adkison, the CEO of Hidden City Games, who helped launch the Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering trading card phenomena, had this to say about Howard’s newest position: “Joshua Howard, with his experience running a casual games studio and perspective as a father of two girls, is a clear choice to lead the evolution of BellaSara.com. BellaSara.com captures the magic of the brand in a safe and engaging experience, and Howard will expand it into a robust online destination rich in features and fun.”
Adkison would know - in the past he founded Wizards of the Coast, which he eventually sold to Hasbro in 1999 for nearly USD 500 million.
You know, I never knew this game existed. Little girls love horses, and my 8 year-old cousin Olivia is no exception. Her mother is always looking for something constructive online for her to occupy herself with that is safe, and interesting. This may just be the thing that she is looking for, and other mothers as well - I wish they had games like this when I was a child. Then again, I am still obsessed with horses, so I may have to go check it out.
Yeah, right. I can’t really see a grown woman playing with little girls online unless she was playing with her own children - otherwise it just sounds like a “Catch a Predator” episode in the making.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
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