Ideas flow for UCD start-up

A cascading stream of creativity allied with a unique software offering has a Dublin-based start-up eyeing a slice of the multi-million euro mobile gaming market, following the launch of its first product.

The technology developed by the NovaUCD-based Physical Liquid is a breakthrough for the mobile gaming market that allows developers to incorporate liquids into their games at a fraction of the cost and time previously required — think Angry Birds with a water canon and much cheaper, co-founder and creative director, Sam Warner says.

“Our games, while being great games at their core, are fundamentally designed from the ground up to be enjoyable experiences and in fact are advertising a product or service to you.

In short, the product becomes the game, the game becomes the product,” says Mr Warner.

The recently self-launched 2D liquid physics plugin that has seen strong sales demand to date is just one part of its wider range of capabilities, he says.

Founded by Mr Warner, his business partner David Feely and mathematics and applied physics graduate Michael Garland, Physical Liquid is a company looking to carve its own niche in the market and blur the lines between mobile gaming and advertising in the process.

Part of making that aspiration a reality is landing its first large-scale deal. While Mr Warner is coy on the details, he admits that they are discussing projects with some “very large multinationals”.

Added to the novel liquid- imitating technology the company has developed, its geo-location-based analytics engine funnels data to firms using its software which shows who, where and when people are using the product and adds another layer of value to its strategy.

As well as the support the company has received from Nova — the UCD incubation hub — Mr Warner is full of praise for the country’s wider start-up environment, lauding the role of Enterprise Ireland and the country’s many incubation centres.

It’s within that ecosystem that Physical Liquid’s aspirations have flourished — as evidenced by Mr Warner’s summation of its goals.

“We want to be the ‘go-to people’ for creating bespoke, high-quality advergames; the world leader in this new, exciting and ever-evolving space.”