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Blitz Games Studios

Topic: Company

 From HandWiki - Reading time: 4 min
Short description: British video game developer
Blitz Games Studios Limited
Formerly
  • Dizzy Enterprises Limited (1990–1994)
  • Interactive Studios Limited (1994–1999)
  • Blitz Games Limited (1999–2008)
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FateDissolved
SuccessorRadiant Worlds
Founded1990; 34 years ago (1990)
Founders
  • Andrew Oliver
  • Philip Oliver
DefunctSeptember 12, 2013 (2013-09-12)
Headquarters
Leamington Spa
,
England
Key people
  • Philip Oliver (CEO)
  • Andrew Oliver (CTO)
  • Richard Smithies (COO)
Number of employees
230+[1] (2009)
Divisions
  • Blitz Games
  • Blitz Arcade
  • Volatile Games
  • TruSim
  • Blitz Academy
  • BlitzTech
Websitewww.blitzgames.com

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.[3] Its first release was an advergame series created for the US Burger King chain. After that, Blitz Arcade turned its focus to downloadable titles and had success with its first game of this type: SpongeBob SquarePants. They also developed shooter PowerUp Forever, puzzler Droplitz and the 3DTV-compatible beat 'em up Invincible Tiger.[4]

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 Reservoir Dogs, runner-up in the 2006 BAFTA awards for Best Soundtrack.[7] Despite allowing the player to complete the game without firing a single shot, the game was considered so realistic in its depictions of violence that it was banned in Australia.[8] They released Dead to Rights on 27 April 2010.

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.[14] 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.[14][15] The company is reported to have owed £2.2 million to staff and creditors.[16]

The Oliver brothers along with the former company's COO Richard Smithies almost immediately formed a new company, Radiant Worlds, in the same town, and were reported to have recruited up to 50 former Blitz staff.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ "Droplitz Drops in to PSN – PlayStation.Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/06/29/droplitz-drops-in-to-psn. 
  2. ↑ Warr, Philippa. "Blitz Games Studios announces closure after 23 years". Wired.co.uk. https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-09/12/blitz-games-studio-closes. 
  3. ↑ Stuart, Keith (12 March 2009). "Blitz Games Studios: altruism, recession and the arcade business". https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2009/mar/12/gameculture-playstation. 
  4. ↑ "C3 Exclusive Interview | Seeing Double: The Oliver Twins (Blitz Games Studios) #1 at Nintendo Cubed3". Cubed3.com. http://www.cubed3.com/news/12810. 
  5. ↑ "Volatile Games". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/company/volatile-games. 
  6. ↑ "U.K. Blitz Game Studios Closes After 23 Years". Volatile Games. https://volatilegames.com/. 
  7. ↑ "BAFTA Awards". Bafta.org. http://www.bafta.org/site/page413.html. 
  8. ↑ 5:42PM PDT (2006-08-25). "Reservoir Dogs game banned in Australia - GameSpot.com". Uk.gamespot.com. http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6153207.html?sid=6153207. 
  9. ↑ "Playtime at work". Coventry Telegraph. 7 March 2008. https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/business/playtime-at-work-3100313. 
  10. ↑ "School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of Birmingham". Iecs.bham.ac.uk. http://www.iecs.bham.ac.uk/hit/sg_research.htm. 
  11. ↑ "Ancient abbey's virtual world". BBC News. 3 June 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/2958778.stm. 
  12. ↑ "The Virtual Experience Company Parts From Blitz Games Studios". Serious Games. 7 May 2008. http://seriousgames.ning.com/group/gamesandvirtualworldsforcultureandheritage/forum/topics/630751:Topic:40217. 
  13. ↑ LarryZ. (2007-12-26). "SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/spongebobunderpantsslam?q=spongebob%20slam. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lee, Dave (2013-09-12). "UK games developer Blitz Games Studios shuts down". bbc.co.uk. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24066065. 
  15. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (12 September 2013). "There have been a lot of men crying, including me". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-09-12-there-have-been-a-lot-of-men-crying-including-me. 
  16. ↑ "Creditors owed £2.2m after games firm collapse". Birmingham Post. 24 October 2013. http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/business/creative/2m-debts-leamington-based-blitz-games-6237612. 
  17. ↑ Crookes, David (2013-07-29). "UK-based Blitz Games Studios to close after 23 years - News - Gadgets & Tech". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/ukbased-blitz-games-studios-to-close-after-23-years-8814834.html. 
  18. ↑ Rose, Mike (27 November 2013). "Defunct Blitz Games Studios returns as Radiant Worlds". Gamasutra. Think Services. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/205800/Defunct_Blitz_Games_Studios_returns_as_Radiant_Worlds.php. 

External links



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