Blitz Games Studios

Blitz Games Studios Limited was a video game developer located in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom best known for producing games such as The Fairly OddParents, Bratz, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Biggest Loser, and Karaoke Revolution.[2] It was founded by the Oliver Twins, Andrew and Philip Oliver, in 1990 as Interactive Studios. The twins had completed their first game in 1984 and started developing titles for video game publisher Codemasters in 1985.

Blitz Games Studios Limited
TypeVideo game developer
IndustryVideo games
SuccessorRadiant Worlds
Founded1990
HeadquartersLeamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Key people
Philip Oliver, Andrew Oliver, Richard Smithies
Number of employees
230+[1]
DivisionsBlitz Games
Blitz Arcade
Volatile Games
TruSim
Blitz Academy
BlitzTech
Websitewww.blitzgamesstudios.com

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: Underpants Slam. They also developed shooter PowerUp Forever, puzzler Droplitz and the 3DTV-compatible beat 'em up Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao.[4]

Volatile Games
Volatile Games
TypePublic
IndustryVideo games
SuccessorRadiant Worlds
Founded1990
HeadquartersWarwickshire, United Kingdom
ParentBlitz Games Studios
Websitewww.VolatileGames.com

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: Retribution 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.

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
  • Warwickshire Employer of Choice Awards 2006 for creating an exceptional working environment .

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. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  2. 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.
  3. Stuart, Keith (12 March 2009). "Blitz Games Studios: altruism, recession and the arcade business". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. "C3 Exclusive Interview | Seeing Double: The Oliver Twins (Blitz Games Studios) #1 at Nintendo Cubed3". Cubed3.com. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  5. "Volatile Games". MobyGames. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  6. "U.K. Blitz Game Studios Closes After 23 Years". Volatile Games. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  7. "BAFTA Awards". Bafta.org. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  8. 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.
  9. "Playtime at work". Coventry Telegraph. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  10. "School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering - University of Birmingham". Iecs.bham.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  11. "Ancient abbey's virtual world". BBC News. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  12. "The Virtual Experience Company Parts From Blitz Games Studios". Serious Games. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  13. LarryZ. (26 December 2007). "SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  14. Lee, Dave (12 September 2013). "UK games developer Blitz Games Studios shuts down". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  15. Yin-Poole, Wesley (12 September 2013). "There have been a lot of men crying, including me". Eurogamer. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  16. "Creditors owed £2.2m after games firm collapse". Birmingham Post. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  17. Crookes, David (29 July 2013). "UK-based Blitz Games Studios to close after 23 years - News - Gadgets & Tech". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
  18. Rose, Mike (27 November 2013). "Defunct Blitz Games Studios returns as Radiant Worlds". Gamasutra. Think Services. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
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