Magmic Games co-founders John Criswick, left, and Nicholas Reichenbach. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

If people didn't already have enough reason to be stuck to their BlackBerrys, Magmic Games' launch of the famed New York Times Crosswords as an application for the popular smartphone promises to keep businesspeople typing away at their miniature keyboards long after punching out their time clocks.

The Ottawa-based mobile games maker announced it would be making the game, officially licensed by the New York Times and the first fully featured crosswords mobile application for the BlackBerry, available in advance for AT&T subscribers between Oct. 2 and Jan. 1, 2009. Following that date, the company will be offering the game across most U.S. and Canadian carriers and on Bplay.com, Magmic's online BlackBerry game shopping portal. "Magmic Games and Bplay are thrilled to bring one of the most popular and respected media brands to the world of smartphone gaming," stated Nicholas Reichenbach, Magmic's executive vice-president of publishing. "We've succeeded in replicating the already famous crosswords gameplay into a highly engaging mobile experience."

The company said the game will "closely mirror the print publication experience," and will include a dynamic news feed which imports daily news headlines from NYTimes.com.

Magmic, launched in 2002, has more than 100 gaming titles across a variety of mobile platforms, including such popular games as Guitar Hero, Texas Hold 'em and Monopoly, and partners with entertainment companies such as PopCap Games, Konami and Sony.

To read more about Magmic and its plans to conquer the mobile gaming world, click on 'We're going for top 10 in the world.'