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Ubisoft Leamington

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FreeStyle Games
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2002; 22 years ago (2002)
HeadquartersLeamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK
ProductsDJ Hero series
Guitar Hero series
Number of employees
50
ParentActivision (2008–present)
Websitewww.freestylegames.com

FreeStyle Games is a British video game development company with approximately 50 staff based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. The company was originally formed by ex-Codemasters and ex-Rare staff in late 2002.

History

Their first title B-Boy, a game of competitive break-dancing, was published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and has so far been released in Europe (2006) and in Korea (2007), also in North America (2008) by publisher Evolved Games and distributed by Southpeak Games.[1] B-Boy features Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew, as well as many other well known B-boys from around the World. It won the IGN best of E3 2006 award for best PSP music game,[2] and was nominated for two others.

In 2007, FreeStyleGames developed two titles in the Buzz! Junior series published by Sony Computer Entertainment - Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam and Buzz! Junior: Monster Rumble. Both games were co-developed with Liverpool based developer Magenta Software. In Robo Jam, Magenta Software made twenty out of the twenty six mini-games. While in Monster Rumble, FreeStyleGames made twenty out of twenty six.

Purchase by Activision

On 12 September 2008, FreeStyleGames was purchased for an undisclosed sum by Activision following a period of commercial cooperation, mainly involving localised downloadable content for the Guitar Hero series.[3] FreeStyleGames will continue to operate as an independently run development studio.

The first game the company developed under Activision's ownership was DJ Hero, a spin-off of the Guitar Hero series.[4] In April 2016, it was announced that around 50 staff were made redundant as part of a reshuffle by Activision.[5]

Games developed

Independent company

Year Title of game Platform(s)
2006 B-Boy PlayStation 2
2007 Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam PlayStation 2
2007 Buzz! Junior: Monster Rumble PlayStation 2

Under Activision

Year Title of game Platform(s)
2009 DJ Hero PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
2010 DJ Hero 2 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
2012 Sing Party Wii U
2015 Guitar Hero Live PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U
2015 Call of Duty Online Microsoft Windows
2016 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare PlayStation 4, Xbox One

References

  1. ^ "B-Boy to Release in the U.S." IGN. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  2. ^ "PSP Best of E3 2006 Awards". IGN. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  3. ^ Faylor, Chris (12 September 2008). "Activision Buys Music Game Dev. FreeStyleGames, Will Create Guitar Hero DLC and New Music Title". Shacknews. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  4. ^ Pigna, Kris (14 September 2008). "New 'DJ Hero' Rumors Emerge". 1UP. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  5. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-01-layoffs-at-guitar-hero-live-dev-but-freestyle-games-to-remain-open
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