Black Rock Studio
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009) |
Formerly |
|
---|---|
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 1998 |
Founder | Tony Beckwith |
Defunct | 2011[1] |
Fate | Liquidation |
Successor | Library: Disney Interactive |
Headquarters | , |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
Number of employees | 300 |
Parent |
|
Website | Official website |
Black Rock Studio Limited was a British video game developer based in Brighton, England. It was a division of Disney Interactive Studios. The studio was founded by Tony Beckwith in 1998 as Pixel Planet. It was acquired by the Climax Group in 1999 and was renamed Climax Brighton. In 2004, it became Climax Racing, as the Climax Group rebranded its studios.[2] On 28 September 2006, it was acquired by DIS (formerly known as Buena Vista Games in that time) and was eventually renamed Black Rock Studio in 2007.[3] The last game the studio developed for the Climax Group was MotoGP '07, which was completed after its acquisition by Buena Vista Games. The name is derived from a district in Brighton.[4] In early 2011, the company faced lay-offs and was forced to abandon sequels for Pure and Split/Second. Despite good reviews for both games, Disney turned down both sequels to focus on freemium content.[5]
On 30 June 2011, Disney Interactive Studios announced their intent to enter a consultation process on the proposal to close the studios. It was later confirmed that the studio has been shut down and that several 300 ex-employees have formed new studios, including Studio Gobo, West Pier Studio, Roundcube Entertainment, ShortRound Games, and Boss Alien.[6]
Games
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
as Climax Brighton | ||
2002 | Gumball 3000 | PlayStation 2 |
2002 | MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology | Windows, Xbox |
2002 | Rally Fusion: Race of Champions | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
2003 | ATV: Quad Power Racing 2 | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
2003 | MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology 2 | Windows, Xbox |
2003 | The Italian Job | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
2003 | Hot Wheels: World Race | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows |
as Climax Racing | ||
2004 | ATV Offroad Fury 3 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable |
2004 | Crash 'n' Burn | Xbox, PlayStation 2 |
2004 | Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge | Xbox, PlayStation 2, Windows |
2005 | MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology 3 | Windows, Xbox |
2006 | MotoGP '06 | Xbox 360 |
2006 | ATV Offroad Fury 4 | PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable |
2007 | MotoGP '07 | Windows, Xbox 360 |
as Black Rock Studio | ||
2008 | Pure | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 |
2010 | Split/Second | PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 |
References
- ^ "Split/Second dev Black Rock to close". July 2011.
- ^ "Black Rock Studio".
- ^ Michael French (6 July 2007). "Studio unveils new identity". MCV. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ French, Michael (6 July 2007). "Climax Racing Studio unveils new identity". MCV. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
- ^ Lay-offs at Split/Second Studio - Eurogamer
- ^ Robert Purchese (1 July 2011). "Split/Second dev Black Rock to close". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
External links
- Companies based in Brighton and Hove
- Former subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company
- Video game companies established in 1998
- Video game companies disestablished in 2011
- Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
- Video game development companies
- Defunct companies of England
- 1999 mergers and acquisitions
- 2006 mergers and acquisitions
- United Kingdom video game company stubs