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Bloober Team

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Bloober Team S.A.
Company typePublic
NewConnect: BLO
ISINPLBLOBR00014
IndustryVideo games
Founded6 November 2008; 16 years ago (2008-11-06)
Founders
  • Peter Babieno
  • Peter Bielatowicz
Headquarters
Kraków
,
Poland
Key people
Peter Babieno (CEO)
Products
OwnerTencent (22%)[1]
Number of employees
>100[2] (2020)
Subsidiaries
  • Digital Games Services[3]
  • iPlacement[3]
  • Neuro-Code[3]
  • Feardemic[3]
  • Bloober Team NA[3]
Websiteblooberteam.com

Bloober Team S.A. is a Polish video game developer based in Kraków. Founded in November 2008 by Peter Babieno and Peter Bielatowicz, the company is best known for developing Layers of Fear (2016), Observer (2017), Blair Witch (2019), and The Medium (2021). In January 2018, Bloober Team received the Paszport Polityki award in the "Digital Culture" category.

History

Bloober Team was founded by Peter Babieno and Peter Bielatowicz.[4] The studio was originally part of Nibris, a developer set up in 2006, but sought to become independent through investor funding.[5] The studio formally launched on 6 November 2008, employing 20 people in Kraków offices.[5] Babieno became the chief executive officer for the company.[5] In October 2010, following Nibris' decision to exit the game development business and the cancellation of their only video game, Sadness, many of the company's developers joined Bloober Team.[6]

One of their first titles they developed was Music Master: Chopin for Microsoft Windows and iOS. Because it was released to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frédéric Chopin, the game contains several piano and vocal performances of Chopin's work.[7][8] In 2013, they released a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game Deathmatch Village for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It features cross-play interactivity between the two consoles and consists of three-on-three arena battles.[9][10]

One of the turning points in Bloober Team's history was the development of Basement Crawl, which debuted alongside the PlayStation 4. Following poor reception, the studio reworked the game by re-using the core game concept while introducing new graphics, game mechanics, story, and game modes. The resulting product, Brawl, was released in February 2015 to favourable reviews and was made available free of charge for owners of Basement Crawl.[11]

The developer received the Paszport Polityki award in the "Digital Culture" category on 10 January 2018.[12] A new project, codenamed Project Méliès, was announced on 8 March 2018.[13] In October that year, the title was announced to be Layers of Fear 2, to be released in 2019 by Gun Media.[14]

In 2009, Bloober Team founded a subsidiary limited liability company iFun4all sp. z o.o.[15] and later brought it to NewConnect stock exchange with the initial public offering occurring on 23 September 2016.[16] On 23 August 2019 company changed its name from iFun4all to Draw Distance.[17] Bloober Team remains the owner of 34.98% of the Draw Distance shares.[18]

After about a year of negotiations with various companies related to the acquisition, Bloober Team stated in March 2021 that they plan to remain as an independent company, though will look to do strategic partnering with one of these companies in the future.[19]

Bloober Team and Konami announced a strategic partnership in June 2021 to jointly share technology and game development towards video game titles.[20]

In October 2021, Bloober Team announced that Tencent became their majority shareholder with 22% of shares.[1] In May 2022, Bloober Team announced a "significant license and distribution agreement" with Sony Interactive Entertainment.[21]

During Summer Games Fest 2022, Bloober Team confirmed they were working on a new Layers of Fear, described as both a remaster and sequel of the original series, built using Unreal Engine 5.[22]

In October 2022, after months of rumors, Konami announced that Bloober Team is remaking Silent Hill 2. The studio is using Unreal Engine 5 and it will be a timed console-exclusive on PlayStation 5 while also releasing on Windows through Steam.[23]

Games developed

Year Title Platform(s) Genre(s) Ref.
2010 History Egypt Engineering an Empire iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Wii Strategy [24]
Hospital Havoc Nintendo DS Simulation [25]
Music Master: Chopin iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows Music [26]
2011 Double Bloob Nintendo DSi Action [27]
Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 Strategy [28]
2012 A-Men Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Puzzle [29]
2013 Deathmatch Village PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Multiplayer online battle arena [30]
A-Men 2 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita Puzzle [31]
2014 Basement Crawl PlayStation 4 Action [32]
2015 Brawl Android, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 [11]
2016 Layers of Fear Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Psychological horror [33][34]
2017 Observer Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S [35]
2019 Layers of Fear 2 Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One [14]
Blair Witch Amazon Luna, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One [36]
2021 The Medium Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S [37]
2023 Layers of Fears [38]
TBA Silent Hill 2 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 [39]

Cancelled games

  • Gender Wars: The Battle for iOS[40]
  • Future Fight, previously titled Gender Wars: The Battle, for iOS[40][41]
  • Last Flight for Wii[42]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tencent becomes Bloober Team's largest shareholder by acquiring 22% of its shares for $19.5 million".
  2. ^ Piejko, Wojciech (26 June 2020). "704: The Medium and Call of the Sea on Xbox Series X - Xbox Live's Major Nelson". Major Nelson.
  3. ^ a b c d e Babieno, Piotr; Rekieć, Konrad (31 May 2019). "BLOOBER TEAM S.A. – Sprawozdanie z działalności grupy kapitałowej – Za okres 01.01.2018-31.12.2018" [BLOOBER TEAM S.A. – Report on the activities of the capital group – For the period 01.01.2018-31.12.2018] (PDF). Bloober Team (in Polish).
  4. ^ "Bloober Team Breaks Down the Psychology of 'Hidden Horror' in New Video for >observer_". Gamasutra. 23 June 2017. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Elliott, Phil (6 November 2008). "Bloober team announces company formation". GamesIndustry.biz.
  6. ^ Sterling, Jim (19 October 2010). "Sadness developer Nibris no longer makes videogames". Destructoid.
  7. ^ Chalk, Andy (15 April 2010). "Classical Music Goes Guitar Hero in Music Master: Chopin". Escapist Magazine. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  8. ^ Smoszna, Krystian (15 December 2010). "Music Master: Chopin - Classic - recenzja gry". Gry Online. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. ^ Gilmour, James (1 February 2013). "F2P brawler Deathmatch Village to make Cross-Play a cost-free proposition". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ^ Bochenek, Michal (18 February 2013). "Deathmatch Village brings redneck MOBA action to PS3 and PS Vita". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  11. ^ a b Sanchez, Miranda (22 April 2015). "Brawl Coming to PS4 This Week". IGN.
  12. ^ Kłosiński, Daniel (10 January 2018). "Twórcy Observer ze studia Bloober Team laureatami Paszportu Polityki". Eurogamer.pl.
  13. ^ Wood, Austin (8 March 2018). "Project Méliès is the next game from Observer, Layers of Fear dev". PC Gamer.
  14. ^ a b Chalk, Andy (25 October 2018). "Layers of Fear 2 revealed, set to come out next year". PC Gamer.
  15. ^ "Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy nr 101/2009 (3204) - Pozycja 65841". National Court Register in Poland, entry for iFun4all.
  16. ^ "ESPI/EBI Report of the admission to trading". NewConnect.
  17. ^ "ESPI/EBI Report of the name change". NewConnect.
  18. ^ "ESPI Report 29/2020". Bloober Team investor relations portal.
  19. ^ Scullion, Chris (30 March 2021). "The Medium's studio has backed away from acquisition talks". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  20. ^ Saed, Sherif (30 June 2021). "The Medium dev Bloober Team working with Konami on new projects". VG247. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Bloober Team "enters into a significant license and distribution agreement with Sony Interactive Entertainment" (PS Plus?)".
  22. ^ "Bloober Team Reveals Horror Sequel That's Not Silent Hill". Kotaku. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Silent Hill 2 Remake Announced From Bloober Team, First Look at Pyramid Head". IGN. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  24. ^ Chan, Trevor (11 May 2011). "Egypt: Engineering an Empire Taking Over WiiWare and DSiWare". Nintendo Life.
  25. ^ Kaplan, Zach (26 July 2010). "Review: Hospital Havoc (DSiWare)". Nintendo Life.
  26. ^ Fletcher, JC (13 April 2010). "Music Master: Chopin is a music game for the classically inclined". Engadget.
  27. ^ Chan, Trevor (17 May 2011). "Double Bloob Now Bouncing on DSiWare Instead". Nintendo Life.
  28. ^ Elliot, Patrick (21 April 2011). "Bloober Team Working on NGP Launch Title". Push Square.
  29. ^ Latanicki, Olivier (17 October 2012). "A-MEN out today for PS3 with PS Vita Cross Play support". PlayStation Blog Europe.
  30. ^ Hillier, Brenna (18 February 2013). "Deathmatch Village beta due "really soon"". VG247.
  31. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (24 October 2013). "A-Men 2 announced for PS3 and Vita". Eurogamer.
  32. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (24 January 2014). "Basement Crawl brings its grindhouse flavor to Europe Jan. 29". Polygon.
  33. ^ Romano, Sal (25 October 2018). "Layers of Fear 2 announced". Gematsu.
  34. ^ Wales, Matt (25 October 2018). "Observer developer unveils its classic-cinema-themed horror Layers of Fear 2". Eurogamer.
  35. ^ Romano, Sal (31 August 2018). "Observer coming to Switch". Gematsu.
  36. ^ Billcliffe, James (10 June 2019). "Blair Witch returns to reclaim its camera-toting horror crown from Outlast". VG247.
  37. ^ "Bloober Team Announces Psychological Horror Game, the Medium, Coming to Xbox Series X in 2020". 7 May 2020.
  38. ^ "Bloober team announces Layers of Fears at Summer game Fest 2022, Layers of Fears, Coming to Xbox Series X in 2023". 2023.
  39. ^ McWhertor, Michael (19 October 2022). "Silent Hill 2 remake coming to PS5, PC". Polygon. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  40. ^ a b GamesIndustry International (29 April 2010). "Future Fight". GamesIndustry.biz.
  41. ^ Gilbert, Ben (9 February 2010). "Last Flight devs announce 'Gender Wars: The Battle,' an iPad strategy game". Engadget.
  42. ^ "Last Flight". Nintendo Life. 22 June 2013.
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