The word is out and the press is covering Battle Punks!

Check out all the latest Battle Punks coverage on our Press Page.

The wait is over and punks everywhere are joining the the battle! Battle Punks is in Open Beta. Get your own punk and join us in battle, now!

The Gravity Bear Facebook Fans have continued using their keen powers of observation to figure out just where o where Gravity Bear is hiding. Congratulations to the latest winners:

Contest #11 – Hydra! Winner: Cheryl Jonathan-Warpinski

Contest #12 – Tuna Roll! Winner: Chris Hardway

Congratulations, everyone! Be sure to check out our latest WOWIGB on Gravity Bear’s Facebook Page!

Gravity Bear has been traveling to strange and mysterious places!  We have had a lot of fun with the guesses and we have a long list of very observant winners:

Contest #3 -Clothespin!  Winner: Conrad

Contest #4 – Sock Monkey!  Winner: Terri Ann Johnson

Contest #5 – Bear in a Pool!  Winner: Beverly Myshrall

Contest #6 – Umbracle Garden, Spain!  Winner: Darren Bolland

Contest #7 – Baby’s Eye!  Winners: Julianne Jacoboni & Beverly Myshrall

Contest #8 – Bird Feeder!  Winner: Andre Mansi

Contest #9 – Praying Mantis Hive!  Winner: Susan Fickett Keeney

Contest #10 – Weevil!  Winner: Ken Holst

Congratulations, everyone! Be sure to check out our latest WOWIGB on Gravity Bear’s Facebook Page!

Hey all. The results are in for our Thanksgiving Logo Contest!

Winner:

Stephen Trusty’s entry:  Gravity Bear pie!

Congratulations Stephen!  This entry is currently featured on our Facebook Fanpage.  Stephen will also get access to our Friends and Family Alpha.

Runners-Up:

Second Runner-Up:

Congratulations to Jason Sereno, Christopher Eugster and Vicki Dixon!  Great stuff!

All our Runner-Ups will get early access to our closed beta.

Contest #1 11/11/09 – 11/17/09

Eiffel Tower

Winner:  Andreas Brynervall!!

Guessed it on the second day!!!

Correctly guessed "Eiffel Tower" off this photo! Wow!!

Contest #2 11/18/09 – 11/24/09

Eiffel Tower

Winner:  Brian Wanbaugh

Guessed it on the 5th day!

Brian correctly guessed "Pork Sandwich" off this picture!

Gravity Bear unveils its first social fighting game on Facebook

Game startup Gravity Bear is unveiling its first original game for Facebook today. Battle Punks is a “3-D social game” that will debut this holiday season.

The game is set in a variety of fantasy locations, combining in-depth game design with social networking. As such, it’s one of a new generation of Facebook games that aims to deliver a better experience than the simpler two-dimensional games such as FarmVille that dominate Facebook today. Players create avatars and enter them into combat against others in a bid to become the scrappiest fighter in a kingdom.

Emeryville, Calif.-based Gravity Bear, which came out of stealth mode last month, will likely get some attention because social gaming is so hot. Last week, the leaders in the market made a lot of news. Electronic Arts bought social gaming firm Playfish for as much as $400 million; Playdom raised $43 million in venture capital, while market leader Zynga raised $15 million. Even though these hot companies are growing fast, the Facebook market can still accommodate new entrants. Crowdstar, for instance, managed to score big with its Happy Aquarium game, which has 27 million users.

In the game, players battle their way through towns, forests, swamps and more. The character creation tool is advanced enough that players can create one-of-a-kind characters. In battles, players can win weapons, spells, experience points, and treasure. But the company is making a bet that its 3-D graphics will dazzle users, who are more accustomed to lame but fast graphics on the social network.

The game will debut with analytics technology from SQLstream, which measures activity in an app and will allow Gravity Bear to tweak the game to suit the tastes of users.

The company was founded in 2008 by Phil Shenk, one of the many game veterans who came from the diaspora of Flagship Studios, a San Jose, Calif.-based game studio which imploded a year ago. Veterans from Flagship went on to form Runic Games, which we chronicled today, and they joined Cryptic Studios to work on Star Trek Online. Gravity Bear has six employees.

Gravity Bear announces debut title Battle Punks

New Social Games Company Blasts Out of Hibernation to Deliver Unique Social Gaming Experience

Emeryville, California – November 18, 2009 – Gravity Bear, a new breed of social games company, announced today its debut title, Battle Punks, an original game application built for the Facebook® Platform. Primed to launch this holiday season, Battle Punks is the first 3D social game of its kind.  Set against a vibrant tableau of fantasy locations, it combines stellar game design with the latest in social networking technology. Players will take their custom-created avatars on a heroic journey, proving themselves in boisterous combat against millions of other avatars in a bid to become the toughest, scrappiest fighter in the kingdom.

Battle Punks delivers a raucous journey where players tromp and battle their way through festive towns, shadowy forests, gloomy swamps, and beyond. Using an advanced character creation tool, players craft one-of-a-kind personas, then throw-down against anyone in the Battle Punks community, in order to win prized weapons, spells, experience and treasure. Strategically outfitting their characters before each fray, players choose from their armory of collected Battle Items, in order to give their dauntless champion the best tools for the job.

“Our goal with Battle Punks is to help people have fun and deeply memorable experiences with their friends through games”, said Phil Shenk, Co-Founder and CEO of Gravity Bear, “This is the primary mission of Gravity Bear, so our first title is designed from the ground up to be a shining example of that philosophy of community and fun. We can’t wait to build a new community of people who simply love games as much as we do.”

In Battle Punks, players can test their mettle in a beautifully realized world unlike anything currently available on social networks. Using a sophisticated 3D engine to render both characters and environments, the Battle Punks Universe is filled with colorful environments, towns and characters. Battle Punks introduces a bold new look to the exploding world of social gaming.

Helping optimize the game experience behind the scenes are the innovative technologies from strategic partner SQLstream. Their application allows developers to monitor and analyze metrics in real-time, which will be a huge benefit to the deployment and growth of Battle Punks. With SQLstream’s tools in their arsenal, Gravity Bear has the power to connect with gamers as never before.  With the explosive growth of the social games space, Battle Punks is uniquely positioned to bring something new and unique to all kinds of gamers– casual, hardcore or anywhere in between.

Developed by Gravity Bear, Battle Punks is currently scheduled to enter open beta during the 2009 holiday season on the Facebook Platform.

For more information on Gravity Bear, please visit: http://www.gravitybear.com/

For more information on Battle Punks, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gravity-Bear/89961808421

Hey all!  Our weekly “Where O Where is Gravity Bear?” contest has been kicked off!

You can cast your vote on our Facebook fanpage.    Click Here to vote now!

A new contest will go up every Wednesday at 9am PST.  A new photo will be revealed very day until someone gets the correct answer!  Good lucks!!  =D

Where is Gravity Bear?

Hi everyone! Its contest time!!! Our first contest is The Thanksgiving Logo Contest.

The rules are simple: Design a Thanksgiving Day version of the Gravity Bear logo! Be as creative as you want…Post all entries on our wall, and add to the Thanksgiving Logo Contest album. You can use either logo… Safe for work entri…es only please!

Winner will get the logo posted on our website and our Facebook Page,
get their name and logo featured on our website, and will get early
access to our closed beta.

1st and 2nd runners up will get a mention on our website (as runners up) and will get early access to our closed beta.

Fans are encouraged to comment and like the entries that they love!

Contest will end on Thursday November 19th at 11:59pm PST.

Final winners will be announced on Monday November 23rd at 6:00pm PST.

See our facebook page for more details and to see all the latest entries!