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Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG Form Joint Venture to Create Interactive Entertainment Properties

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Microsoft Corp. and DreamWorks SKG have announced a joint-venture agreement to form a new software company, DreamWorks Interactive, designed to produce interactive and multimedia entertainment properties. The company will be headquartered in Los Angeles, with a sister development and production facility in Redmond, Wash. Initially, the company will focus on adventure games, interactive stories, and other forms of multimedia software for families, with titles to be shipped in time for the 1996 holiday season.

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG will each contribute 50 percent of the funding required to build the new company, DreamWorks Interactive.
  • The company will focus on developing a broad product line, including adventure games, interactive stories, and other forms of multimedia software for families.
  • DreamWorks Interactive will use tools from SoftImage, a company within Microsoft's advanced technology division, to create new titles.
  • The company will begin hiring employees immediately from the software, animation, and film industries, with several Microsoft employees expected to join as early as April 1.
  • A search is currently underway for a chief executive officer to head the new company.
  • Microsoft will continue to develop premier interactive information and entertainment software products under the Microsoft Home brand.
  • DreamWorks Interactive will distribute its products through Microsoft, with titles expected to be shipped in time for the 1996 holiday season.
  • The joint venture will allow DreamWorks Interactive to attract the best and brightest talent in the interactive field, with the potential to create extraordinary new consumer products.
  • The partnership between Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG will pave the way for the development of new forms of entertainment that combine storytelling and technology.

Statistics:

  • Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG will each contribute 50 percent of the funding required to build the new company, DreamWorks Interactive.
  • The company will begin hiring employees immediately from the software, animation, and film industries.
  • DreamWorks Interactive expects to ship its first titles in time for the 1996 holiday season.
  • The company will use tools from SoftImage, a company within Microsoft's advanced technology division, to create new titles.
  • The partnership between Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG will leverage the resources and expertise of both companies to create new forms of entertainment.

Sources:

  • Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and DreamWorks SKG press release, "Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG Form Joint Venture to Create Interactive Entertainment Properties," March 22, 1995.
  • Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and DreamWorks SKG joint-venture agreement.
  • SoftImage, a company within Microsoft's advanced technology division.
  • DreamWorks SKG, a multifaceted entertainment studio formed in October 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen.
  • Microsoft, Encarta, and Cinemania are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
  • Magic School Bus is a trademark of Scholastic Inc.
  • Flight Simulator is a trademark of Bruce Artwick.

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