Turbulenz

Turbulenz is an emerging browser-based video gaming platform, that brings high quality, next generation games to the browser and other internet connected devices. Currently in beta and rumoured to be launching in late 2011, Turbulenz is an online social gaming network that allows instant access to a new generation of high quality online games, as well as social features such as leaderboards, badges, achievements and messaging. For game developers, Turbulenz provides access to this with an end-to-end platform for the creation, publishing and monetization of high quality games.
Turbulenz is a JavaScript Engine and has been built to embrace modern Web 2.0 standards such as HTML5 specifically WebGL. Turbulenz is therefore compatible with HTML5 and WebGL and, while the browsers of today require a Turbulenz browser extension to enable high performance physics, rendering and audio, browsers of the future will not require this extension and Turbulenz games will run natively in the browser.
Turbulenz currently provides support for browsers, and are apparently planning to support all internet-enabled devices such as Android and iOS devices, TVs and set-top boxes in future.
History
Turbulenz was founded in Guildford, UK in 2009 by James Austin, David Galeano and Gavin Shields. Blake Maltby was the first employee and has been with the company since it was founded.
Turbulenz was initially funded by angel investors, but in late 2010, Turbulenz announced it had raised over $5 million from undisclosed sources. In November 2010, Turbulenz announced that James Kydd, founder of Virgin Mobile, had joined the board. Turbulenz opened an office in Tokyo, Japan in November 2010, and in Austin, Texas, USA in January 2011.
Gaming Platform
Turbulenz.com is the home of the Turbulenz gaming platform, described by Turbulenz as a combination between a new gaming console and a social network. It is currently in beta, but gamers can sign up to be a part of it. According to the website, at www.turbulenz.com, gamers will be able to play high quality, next generation games instantly and directly in the browser anywhere in the world.
Features
Not a lot is known about what is coming, though features such as leaderboards, badges, achievements and messaging are all expected to be integrated into the games. Twitter and Facebook integration, allowing you to directly invite, challenge and compete with your friends is also rumored to form a key part of the feature list.
International Availability
Turbulenz will be available globally upon release. Because it is not a video streaming service, such as OnLive or Gaikai, there are no latency or server limitations on the site’s ability to serve games to gamers around the world.
Game Engine and Services
Turbulenz provides developers with an end-to-end solution for the creation, publishing and monetization of next generation-quality games. According to the website, this allows developers to focus 100% on the development of compelling content, with Turbulenz taking care of the rest.
Games
Turbulenz have not released many details of up-coming games, but there were rumored to be 4-5 titles under development as of March 2011. StrawDog Studios announced they were bringing out a browser version of Space Ark, their XBLA game, on Turbulenz in 2011. The game is currently in Beta on the Turbulenz website.
Turbulenz announced a developer funding program in December 2010 called Launch Pad.

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