Blitz Games Studios
Radiant Worlds | |
| Headquarters | , England |
|---|---|
Key people | |
Number of employees | 230+[1] (2009) |
| Divisions |
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| Website | www |
Blitz Games Studios Limited was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa. Founded in 1990 by the Oliver Twins, who ran the company until its closure in 2013, it is best known for producing games such as The Fairly OddParents, Bratz, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Biggest Loser, and Karaoke Revolution.[2]
Divisions
Blitz Games
Blitz Games created the games that the company first became well known for: family titles, often licensed on popular characters and existing intellectual property.
Blitz Arcade
Blitz Arcade was founded in 2006 with a team of 35 people. It was focused on developing downloadable titles of a small scope.
Volatile Games
Volatile Games was responsible for the company's mature games. The division dates from 2006.[5] The company and the division ended in 2013.[6]
Video games created by this division include
A proposed game, Possession, was cancelled.
TruSim
TruSim was the serious games division. The idea was to bring commitment to training through video games.[9] It is best known for its work on medical-related training programs including the award-winning Interactive Trauma Trainer.[10]
BlitzTech
BlitzTech created and licensed the game development engine and toolchain.
Earlier divisions
Virtual Experience Company
Past projects include the Tintern Abbey virtual tour.[11] The company was acquired by Blitz Games at the end of 2006 but was sold back to former owner Mike Gogan in May 2008.[12]
Blitz 1UP
In 2008 Blitz Games Studios launched the Blitz1UP programme to help independent developers bring their games to market. The programme provided free help and advice on all aspects of game production as well as crowd sourced QA. The programme was closed in 2011 and was replaced by IndieCity, an online indie game marketplace.
Games
Games created or published by Interactive Studios/Blitz Games Studios include:
Awards
2007
- Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2007 - Favourite Videogame – SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
- Edge award for Training and Development of young people
- ICT Excellence in Skills
- Blitz Games wins Develop Industry Excellence Award for Business Development
- Cannes Titanium Grand Prix Award for the Burger King games
- Golden Clio Award for Burger King games
2006
- Blitz Games CEO Philip Oliver named Best Industry Player by TIGA [1]
- Warwickshire Employer of Choice Awards 2006 for creating an exceptional working environment [2].
Closure
On 12 September 2013, the company announced that it was closing after 23 years of business.[13] The closure came as a result of the company struggling to raise money to support future development projects, with the demise of THQ, a major client, said by Philip Oliver to have hit the company particularly hard.[13][14] The company is reported to have owed £2.2 million to staff and creditors.[15]
The Oliver brothers along with the former company's
References
- ^ "Droplitz Drops in to PSN – PlayStation.Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ Warr, Philippa. "Blitz Games Studios announces closure after 23 years". Wired.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ Stuart, Keith (12 March 2009). "Blitz Games Studios: altruism, recession and the arcade business". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ "C3 Exclusive Interview | Seeing Double: The Oliver Twins (Blitz Games Studios) #1 at Nintendo Cubed3". Cubed3.com. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ "Volatile Games". MobyGames. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- ^ "U.K. Blitz Game Studios Closes After 23 Years". Volatile Games. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards". Bafta.org. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ 5:42PM PDT (25 August 2006). "Reservoir Dogs game banned in Australia - GameSpot.com". Uk.gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Playtime at work". Coventry Telegraph. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
- ^ "School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of Birmingham". Iecs.bham.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ "Ancient abbey's virtual world". BBC News. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- Serious Games. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
- ^ a b Lee, Dave (12 September 2013). "UK games developer Blitz Games Studios shuts down". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (12 September 2013). "There have been a lot of men crying, including me". Eurogamer. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ "Creditors owed £2.2m after games firm collapse". Birmingham Post. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
- ^ Crookes, David (29 July 2013). "UK-based Blitz Games Studios to close after 23 years - News - Gadgets & Tech". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- Gamasutra. Think Services. Retrieved 27 November 2013.