New Game Company Fortis, Founded by Top Games Executives, Sets on a Mission to Create Responsive Game Worlds, Meaningful Social Experiences

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03/02/2022 - 07:00 AM

Sands to Fully Finance Fortis to Build a World Class Global Developer and Publisher for the Distributed Work Era

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Founded by industry veterans, Fortis is a new global video game developer and publisher with a mission to create meaningful social experiences through interactive entertainment. With more than 150 employees already on board and a powerhouse leadership team of entrepreneurs and executives from Electronic Arts, WB Games, Zynga, Smule and more, the company plans to continue its rapid growth. Fortis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of global destination resort developer Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS).

The founding team includes Steven Chiang, who serves as Fortis’ president. Chiang is the former EVP, Worldwide Studios, WB Games, co-founder of EA Tiburon, and President of Studios, Zynga. Shawn Foust, Fortis’ chief operating officer, is a former WB Games executive and Plexchat CEO. Calvin Lau, a former lead designer on multiple top grossing games, is serving as the company’s chief product officer.

“Our view is that we are at the beginning of a massive new opportunity for games to make their greatest and most positive impact on global culture, and the human experience,” said Steven Chiang, co-founder & President, Fortis. “Fortis’ mission is to create worlds that matter, that are deeply social, across different platforms and genres, and to help build meaningful relationships and healthy communities through games. We have the financial backing and long term commitment of Sands, an experienced executive team, and the talent of a swiftly growing worldwide team to realize our vision.”

Fortis will focus on creating the next generation of the games-as-service model, pushing forward game design and social mechanics to enable digital societies and enduring group experiences that foster relationships and memories. The founders believe online social experiences can be more positive and meaningful, and that games can become the primary form of social entertainment. Fortis games will bring deep social play to a diverse set of titles across new and under-explored genres in the current landscape.

“At Sands, we believe interactive entertainment is the world’s most accessible medium to provide people with fun and rewarding social experiences,” said Patrick Dumont, Sands president and COO. “As a group of entrepreneurs and executives from some of the most impactful companies in video games, the leadership team at Fortis brings together the right talent and experience to create a new kind of game company built from the ground up for a new era. We are prepared to invest at scale for the long-term to help Fortis break through as a company of consequence.”

As part of its long-term strategy, Fortis has been building its team through acquisitions and hiring globally. The company has recently acquired three development teams: Doppio Games in Portugal; Oktagon Games in Brazil, and Metagame in Romania.

Fortis is a game company building on the opportunities that are created by the technology and cultural shifts of a new era. The company will leverage the endless possibilities enabled by streaming, new communication platforms and the broadest-ever accessibility of high quality game experiences worldwide. Fortis operates as a unified global studio, designed to tap into talent across the world, regardless of location.

About Fortis
Fortis is a video game developer and publisher dedicated to building the best social experiences in games. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands, Fortis has teams across the world, with teams in the US, UK, Canada, Portugal, Brazil and Romania.

About Sands (NYSE: LVS)
Sands is the world’s preeminent developer and operator of world-class destination resorts that drive valuable leisure and business tourism and deliver significant economic benefits, sustained job creation, financial opportunities for local businesses and community investment to make our host regions ideal places to live, work and visit.

Sands’ portfolio of properties include the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao and Sands Macao in Macao SAR, China, through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd.

Sands is dedicated to being a model corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of serving people, planet and communities, and our corporate responsibility performance has led to recognition as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies and inclusion on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for World and North America. To learn more, visit www.sands.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond the company's control, which may cause material differences in actual results, performance or other expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions; our ability to invest in future growth opportunities and produce future returns; new ventures; government regulation; and other factors detailed in the reports filed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. Las Vegas Sands Corp. assumes no obligation to update such information.