ICT award for 'Flight Control' creator

Peter Dinham
Monday, 05 October 2009 09:10

IT Industry - Market

The Australian creator of the iPhone game, ‘Flight Control’, Melbourne-based developer and CEO of games studio, Firemint – Robert Murray – has won the Victorian State Pearcey Award from the not-for-profit Pearcey Foundation.


The Pearcey Award was established to encourage and reward fresh and innovative talent in the Victorian ICT industry and this year’s award was underwritten by Multi Media Victoria and the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Robert Murray is the owner, founder and CEO of Melbourne-based games development studio, Firemint, and was the original designer and developer of the Firemint created  iPhone game ‘Flight Control’, which is claimed to have been a worldwide “smash hit” for the studio. Murray also oversaw Firemint’s  production of "Real Racing", which Firemint claims is “widely acclaimed throughout the industry as by far the best iPhone racing game.”

Murray is also director of Film Victoria and a director of the Game Developers Association of Australia.

Victorian Government cabinet secretary, Tony Lupton, presented the award to Murray and said that “young entrepreneurs can create successful international businesses on platforms, like the iPhone, that are less than two years old.

”Robert Murray ran a risk and made a notable difference to the Victorian ICT community by employing more than 35 staff at his new venture and placing Australia at the forefront of this rapidly emerging gaming software industry.

The Pearcey Foundation was named after Trevor Pearcey, the architect and leader of the CSIRO team which constructed Australia’s first (and the world’s fourth) digital computer, CSIRAC, in 1949.