Fuel Industries was a Canadian online interactive and marketing agency. Founded in 1999 by Mike Burns, Jeff Doiron, Dave Ozipko and Brian Nesbitt, Fuel Industries employed over 150 people and had offices in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Overview

Fuel Industries won a number of awards including Digital Entertainment & Media Excellence Awards for Advergame of the year as well as numerous Digital Marketing Awards and Flash in the can awards. Fuel Entertainment was a division of Fuel Industries specializing in the development of Fuel's own entertainment properties, such as SparkCityWorld.com, a gaming portal and virtual world for preteen girls, and ''Sideway: New York'', a graffiti-themed video game released on the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

. Mike Burns had the idea for the girl-themed virtual world on his twin girls' birthday, as it said in the newspaper.

Growth

Fuel Industries

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

s doubled in 2006 from the previous year, and has continued to grow into a custom production shop and creative studio. Andrew Wing was appointed the Co-CEO of the company in 2011, to lead alongside Mike Burns. In 2015, Fuel announced the creation of its Playground division, an internal lab focusing on emerging technologies and innovation. In 2017 Fuel declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

Recognition

Fuel Industries received numerous awards for both its work in advergaming and branded entertainment. In 2012, Fuel won best in Branded Entertainment at the Digi Awards for its work with McDonald's Europe on its virtual world Happy Studio. In 2008, Fuel won Gold at the London International Awards for its work on Sexy Subaru with Tribal DDB, as well as several FWA awards and three shortlists for Flash in the Can Awards. In 2007, Fuel won Best Game, Best Canadian Studio and Best Convergence at Flash in the Can. The same year, Fuel became a

Webby Awards The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

Honoree for its work on the ''American Dad Vs. Family Guy Kung Fu'' advergame. In 2006, CEO Mike Burns was a recipient of the

Ottawa Business Journal The ''Ottawa Business Journal'' (OBJ) is a regional business publication serving Canada's National Capital Region. In addition to a digital website, obj.ca, ''Ottawa Business Journal'' boasts a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 cop ...

's Forty under 40 award - recognizing him as one of silicon valley north's most noteworthy up and coming entrepreneurs. In 2012 Mike Burns and Ryan Valley (Director of Sales) re-located to the Los Angeles office. On May 28, 2013, the

Alamogordo Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), Sac ...

City Commission (in the state of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

) granted Fuel Industries six months of access to a landfill rumored to contain Atari video games. The purpose is to film a documentary about the burial and to excavate the dump site. On April 26, 2014, hundreds of Atari E.T. The Extraterrestrial game cartridges were unearthed, mixed in with trash and dirt scooped by a backhoe. Atari: Game Over won Best Documentary at the 2015 Streamy Awards

References

External links

Official Website (Archived)Online Marketing Agency
{{Authority control Companies based in Ottawa Online mass media companies of Canada 1999 establishments in Ontario Advertising agencies of Canada Defunct video game companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 1999 Marketing companies established in 1999