Business & Tech

Royal Oak Studio Gets $78K in Digital Media Tax Incentives

Pixofactor received state tax incentives on Friday to develop digital golf game.

Pixofactor Entertainment, a Royal Oak development studio for games, received a $78,440 digital media tax incentive from the state of Michigan on Friday.

Pixofactor received the state money to develop a mobile application for “Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.” The state previously approved incentives for a Wii Game component and interactive website experience based on Hogan’s 1957 book.

“Ben Hogan’s ‘Five Lessons’ is the most successful sports instructional book of all time,” said Pixofactor CEO Sean Hurwitz. “Hogan was said to have the perfect swing. We hope to have the Wii component ready by Christmas. The website should be up in 30 to 60 days and the mobile app should be ready in 60 to 90 days.”

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Hurwitz said the Royal Oak studio has been busy. Designers recently worked on iPhone and iPad educational apps for Judy Moody & The Not Bummer Summer, which was released in conjunction with the summer motion picture of the same name.

“My 8-year-old daughter volunteered to be a tester on that project,” Hurwitz said.

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The company is also working on an edgy mobile app called Zorro that will work for Apple and Android platforms.

Hurwitz says the company’s future in Royal Oak looks bright.

“The game industry is exploding,” he said. “Game consoles like X-Box, PlayStation and Wii did something like 50 billion dollars in sales — twice as much as the movie industry. That figure doesn’t include games made for phone and pads.”

He said when when you factor in games for Facebook, the mobile space is really opening up.

“The mobile apps are eroding the console companies,” Hurwitz said.

Pixofactor has about 30 employees in its Sixth Street office, not including interns and contractors. They recruit talent from across the country, many of whom find houses or apartments in Royal Oak.

“We went out and found some guys who left Michigan to find work,” Hurwitz said. “They couldn’t wait to get back.”

“We love being in Royal Oak,” he said. “We do a thing called Whiskey Wednesdays where we invite industry folks to come to Royal Oak. We’ll all meet in one of the bars."

Hurwitz said his staff also "loves all the lunch choices they have." 

Pixofactor has been located in downtown Royal Oak for three years.


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