Former Activision and Call of Duty Veterans Create Social Gaming Startup U4iA Games

Video game industry veterans Chris Archer and Dusty Welch recently joined forces to create new gaming studio U4iA Games. The goal of U4iA is to allow hardcore gamers and video game fans to interact on developing and existing social media platforms, from Facebook to mobile phones to various networking sites.

The studio is located in Bellevue, Washington, and the U4iA team is currently working on an online-only free game that is labeled a “first-person social game.” Welch, a former SVP at Activision is the current CEO of the gaming studio. Archer is the Chief Creative Officer. The duo have already worked on games such as Guitar Hero, Spider-man and Call of Duty.

U4iA believes that there is a new type of video game player emerging – the hardcore social gamer. The hardcore social gamer is a player who spends just as much time logging hours on Xbox Live and PSN as he does networking and socializing on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon.

Welch states that his company hopes to create high-quality social games like Riot Games’ popular League of Legends, a PC game where users play for free but use actual cash to purchase virtual goods. Welch also feels that serious gamers are moving to new platforms, such as social networks and mobile phones.

“Many studios are making casual games for a core audience,” Archer, U4iA’s CCO and 20-year industry veteran, said. “We’re making core games for a social audience.”

“We think the hardcore gamers are going to start looking for the core games on the social and mobile networks now,” Welch added.

U4iA has already raised $1.4 million in seed funding and has acquired 14 employees. How do you see the future of gaming and social media continuing to intersect?

Abigail Elise is a freelance video game/geek culture writer, blogger and vlogger. She currently lives in New York City. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can learn more about her on her site.