LETCHWORTH, UK: Blaze Entertainment is delighted to announce a trio of positive news stories, boosting plans to continue the growth of its Evercade and HyperMegaTech brands.
The first is announcing a big sales milestone – 1 million physical Evercade cartridges sold. This milestone has been achieved thanks to the continued growth of the Evercade platform, the quality of retro and indie game licences, and the recent hardware launches from both Evercade and the HyperMegaTech! brands encouraging sales.
The figure represents a massive milestone for Blaze as an independent UK company, highlighting that the demand for titles that helped form the video games industry – from early adopters to much younger players – and new modern-retro indie games is strong, especially with the collectability of Evercade’s physical cartridges echoing an era of tremendous growth and popularity in interactive entertainment.
Next is the appointment of games industry veteran Dominic Wheatley as Chairman. Wheatley is best known as the co-founder and CEO of games publisher Eidos, launching the incredibly successful Tomb Raider and Championship Manager franchises. He took over as CEO of the Catalis Group in 2012, building it up to over 2,300 staff across multiple countries. He is now a Director of the Catalis Group, which includes indie game publisher Curve Games and outsource service provider Testronic.
Wheatley’s experience within the gaming industry and connection to many successful franchises and ventures makes him a perfect appointment to join CEO Andrew Byatt and the Blaze Entertainment team and help the company grow into new markets.
The news of this appointment also comes alongside another milestone with the recent announcement of a partnership with Crystal Dynamics for the licence of the Tomb Raider franchise and the launch of the Evercade Tomb Raider Collection 1 physical cartridge. This cartridge has already become the fastest-selling cartridge in Evercade’s five-year history.
This new physical cartridge collection features the original three Tomb Raider games in their 32-bit release form for home console and is also bundled with the Evercade EXP-R and Evercade VS-R, the newest hardware from the brand, allowing fans to get into the premium Evercade retro gaming experience for under £100/$100.
“When I was introduced to the Blaze team and found what they had created I was so impressed. The design and power of the hardware and the slate of games they had managed to licence already was awesome. I got down on my knees and began to pray. When they asked me to join them I was like ‘Hell yeah!” – Dominic Wheatley, Chairman, Blaze Entertainment Ltd.
“The opportunity to bring Dominic on board with his experience and connections within gaming, alongside our growth milestones is almost serendipitous, especially with the success of our recent partnership with Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider franchise. I’m delighted that we’ve managed to steer Blaze Entertainment to this success and I look forward to even more possibilities and the chance to create more great products for everyone with this new appointment.” – Andrew Byatt, CEO, Blaze Entertainment Ltd.
Notes
Evercade was first released in 2020 as a handheld device with ten gaming cartridges of classic console licences. Since then it has grown to two other hardware devices (listed below) and now has over 50 physical cartridge collections and over 500 games across the entire ecosystem.
Evercade devices play games via emulation on bespoke cartridges. These physical releases play the games contained and come in a physical case with a full-colour manual, custom written by Blaze with controls, hints and tips, and interesting facts about the titles and developers.
Evercade emulates a wide range of systems (including 8, 16, 32, and 64-bit consoles, handhelds, THEC64, and Amiga home computers, and arcade games), as well as natively run games, and also highlights modern retro games created by indie developers, with support for five decades of gaming.
Evercade cartridges have three distinct colour schemes to highlight their content. Red-coloured boxes feature home console collections from multiple systems across five decades of gaming. Purple indicates Arcade game collections and Blue is for home computer collections.
The Evercade EXP-R is the newest handheld gaming system from Evercade. To be released in July 2024, this console allows you to play your carts on the go, features a TATE mode to play vertical orientation arcade games at their optimum screen size, and comes bundled with Tomb Raider Collection 1. This product is replacing the now-discontinued Evercade EXP.
The Evercade VS-R home console is the best way to play Evercade cartridge on your TV. Alsoto be released in July 2024, the console features a dual cartridge slot and support for up to four USB controllers for local multiplayer. The console also comes bundled with the Tomb Raider Collection 1 cartridge. This product is replacing the now-discontinued Evercade VS.
In 2023, Blaze Entertainment launched its new brand HyperMegaTech! to provide more retro gaming products aimed at a more casual market. The first two products, the Super Pockets also come with Evercade cartridge compatibility.
PRESS CONTACTS:
Evercade: press@evercade.co.uk
LINKS:
Evercade Website: http://evercade.co.uk
Evercade Blog: https://evercade.co.uk/blog
Evercade Cartridges list: https://evercade.co.uk/
About Blaze Entertainment
Blaze Entertainment, formed in 2018, are the creators of the Evercade – a retro gaming console that uses cartridges to deliver officially licensed curated collections of retro and retro-inspired video games. Launched in 2020, the Evercade line-up has grown to over 500 games and continues to grow, with partnerships including Capcom, Gearbox Software, Atari, Bandai Namco, Interplay, Codemasters, Team17, Crystal Dynamics, Rebellion, Toaplan, and many independent game designers and publishers. Based in the UK, the Evercade has found a passionate audience around the world of retro enthusiasts, offering a high-quality and low-entry gaming option providing nostalgia for gamers and a physical range of releases for collectors. In 2023, Blaze launched a second brand, HyperMegaTech! To create more retro and gaming-focused products for a more casual gaming market, starting with the Super Pocket console with licensed versions from Capcom and Taito. Find out more at www.evercade.co.uk.
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