Smith & Tinker

About Smith & Tinker

Smith & Tinker was an American electronic entertainment company established in February 2007, with its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. The firm was the brainchild of Jordan Weisman, a serial entrepreneur in the gaming industry, who was joined by co-founders Jeremy Bornstein, Lenny Raymond, and Kev Ray. Weisman's extensive background includes founding several successful game companies like FASA Corporation, WizKids, and 42 Entertainment, and creating iconic game franchises such as BattleTech, MechWarrior, and Shadowrun. The company's name was inspired by fictional characters from the "Land of Oz" book series, an artist and an inventor who created Tik-Tok the machine man, which was also reflected in the company's logo.

The company's initial strategy involved licensing the rights to Weisman's previous creations, including MechWarrior and Shadowrun, from Microsoft in October 2007. However, their primary focus shifted to creating original intellectual property. Their flagship project was Nanovor, an online battle game targeted at children aged 7-12. Launched in public beta in May 2009, Nanovor was a multifaceted entertainment experience. It combined a free-to-play online game with physical toys, animated webisodes, and a handheld gaming device called the Nanoscope, which allowed kids to take their digital creatures offline for face-to-face battles. The business model was a hybrid, aiming to capture revenue from both the toy and game markets, with backing from prominent investors like Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital, which contributed to a total of $29 million in funding.

Despite the ambitious concept, the Nanovor project, particularly the $50 Nanoscope device, struggled to gain traction, especially with the concurrent rise of the iPhone as a gaming platform. This led to a strategic pivot in late 2009, where the company discontinued the Nanoscope, reduced its workforce, and shifted focus to the burgeoning mobile gaming market. Following this change in direction, Smith & Tinker released several iOS games, including "Whirleo" and "Marvel KAPOW!," a game developed in partnership with Marvel Entertainment. Ultimately, after failing to secure funding for a new MechWarrior title, the company sold its license for the franchise to Piranha Games. Smith & Tinker ceased operations on November 8, 2012.