Asylum signed as first ‘Q on Wii’ user

A UK studio which has cut its teeth making games based on big licences like Bob the Builder, Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo has become the first to licence Qube’s Q middleware for the Nintendo Wii.

London-based Asylum Entertainment will use the technology for two upcoming titles.

Q, unveiled at GDC, is pitched as fully-customisable cross-platform middleware.

"We took a good look at technology engines for the Wii and Q is by far the best we have seen," commented Simon Bailey, Asylum MD. "Qube has mastered the use of certain Wii technology features that other developers don’t properly utilise. That allows Asylum to offer quality, speed to market and price advantages for our publishers.

"Q’s flexibility has helped us unify our production process right across the studio. Now we can move IP and game mechanics across hardware platforms quickly and with a lot less fuss. This makes accurate milestone planning possible and frees up time for polishing and balancing our games."

Qube CEO Servan Keondjian added: "My message has always been that Q’s multi-platform compatibility, flexibility and the fact that it’s completely customisable means that Q represents the future of middleware. Because of this we believe that Q is the only available solution that truly can standardise development across a whole studio."

"So I am very excited about what Asylum are doing. We say ‘Q sets you free.’ Asylum have discovered just that and they are reaping the rewards already."