Core Design
Rebellion (Derby) Ltd (formerly Core Design Limited) was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Core Design in October the same year. The company was acquired by umbrella company CentreGold in December 1994, which in turn was acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996. Following the latter acquisition, Core Design was re-organised as a subsidiary of Eidos Interactive, while other CentreGold components were either closed or sold off. In May 2006, the Core Design personnel and assets were acquired by Rebellion Developments, and the company became Rebellion Derby, which was then shut down in March 2010.
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 The entrance of 55 Ashbourne Road in Derby where Core Design was located during the development of the original Tomb Raider. | |
| Formerly | Core Design Limited (1988–2006) |
|---|---|
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Founded | 13 May 1988 |
| Defunct | 17 March 2010 |
| Headquarters | , England |
| Products | Rick Dangerous series Chuck Rock series Thunderhawk series Tomb Raider series Fighting Force series |
Number of employees | 5 (2010) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | core-design.com |
History
Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was founded in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith, Kevin Norburn and Greg Holmes. Most were former employees of Gremlin Graphics.[1] The studio was part of distribution company CentreGold when it was acquired by Eidos Interactive in 1996.[1] Heath-Smith regarded the acquisition as a relief, commenting, "The funding of development is so expensive that I doubt we could have continued to fund ourselves as an independent company."[2] Eidos subsequently sold most of CentreGold, but retained U.S. Gold, the owners of Core Design.
The company is widely known for the Tomb Raider series. The first game was created by Toby Gard and Paul Douglas, released in 1996, and followed by several sequels. The success of the first Tomb Raider has been credited with making Eidos Interactive a major force in the industry,[2] and turned Eidos's 1996 pretax loss of $2.6 million into a $14.5 million profit.[3] In September 1997, Sony Computer Entertainment's U.S. arm, SCEA, signed an exclusivity deal with Eidos[4][5] to keep the franchise on their consoles. The agreement was extended to include Tomb Raider III. Fourth and fifth games in the franchise, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider Chronicles respectively, followed.
After the critical failure of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness in 2003, parent company Eidos put Crystal Dynamics, another Eidos-owned studio, in charge of Tomb Raider franchise development.[6] This prompted key members of the Core Design management team and several others to leave the company and establish a development company of their own, Circle Studio.[7]
In May 2006, Eidos announced that independent developer Rebellion Developments had acquired Core Designs' assets and staff,[8] while the Core brand and intellectual property, including Tomb Raider, remained in Eidos' possession.[9][10]
In June 2006, Crystal Dynamics was confirmed to have a PSP anniversary edition of the original Tomb Raider in development.[11] Remnants of the Core Design team (under the banner of Rebellion) went on to work on several titles in years since, including Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and Rogue Warrior.[12] Starting in January 2010, due to an expiring lease on Rebellion Derby's offices, Rebellion Developments started seeking restructuring opportunities for the studio.[13] As no other possibility than closure was found, Rebellion Derby was closed down effective on 17 March 2010.[14]
Games developed
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Action Fighter | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum |
| 1989 | Dynamite Düx | |
| Rick Dangerous | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| Saint and Greavsie | Amiga | |
| Switchblade | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| 1990 | Torvak the Warrior | Amiga, Atari ST |
| Corporation | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS | |
| Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| Axel's Magic Hammer | Amiga, Atari ST | |
| Skidz | ||
| Impossamole | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Turbografx-16 | |
| Rick Dangerous 2 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| CarVup | Amiga | |
| 1991 | War Zone | |
| Chuck Rock | Acorn, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sega CD, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, SNES | |
| Heimdall | Acorn, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Sega CD | |
| Frenetic | Amiga, Atari ST | |
| 1992 | Doodlebug | |
| Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck | Amiga, CD32, Sega CD, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Master System | |
| Curse of Enchantia | Amiga, MS-DOS | |
| Hook | Sega CD, Sega Genesis | |
| Premiere | Amiga, CD32 | |
| The Adventurers | Amiga | |
| Thunderhawk | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Sega CD | |
| Wolfchild | Amiga, Atari ST, Sega CD, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, SNES | |
| Jaguar XJ220 | Amiga, Sega CD | |
| Wonder Dog | ||
| 1993 | Asterix and the Great Rescue | Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Master System |
| Encore | MS-DOS | |
| Blastar | Amiga | |
| Blob | ||
| Cyberpunks | ||
| Darkmere | ||
| 1994 | Corkers | |
| BC Racers | Sega 32X, 3DO, Sega CD, MS-DOS | |
| Heimdall 2 | Amiga, CD32, MS-DOS | |
| Universe | ||
| Banshee | Amiga, CD32 | |
| Dragonstone | ||
| Battlecorps | Sega CD | |
| Soulstar | ||
| Bubba 'n' Stix | Amiga, CD32, Sega Genesis | |
| 1995 | Skeleton Krew | |
| Asterix and the Power of the Gods | Sega Genesis | |
| The Big Red Adventure | Amiga, MS-DOS | |
| Shellshock | MS-DOS, PlayStation, Saturn | |
| Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 | ||
| 1996 | Tomb Raider | |
| Blam! Machinehead | PlayStation, Saturn | |
| The Scottish Open: Virtual Golf | ||
| 1997 | Swagman | |
| Fighting Force | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation | |
| Tomb Raider II | ||
| 1998 | Ninja: Shadow of Darkness | PlayStation |
| Tomb Raider III | Classic Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation | |
| 1999 | Fighting Force 2 | Dreamcast, PlayStation |
| Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation | Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation | |
| 2000 | Tomb Raider Chronicles | |
| Tomb Raider | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword | |
| Project Eden | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 | |
| Thunderhawk: Operation Phoenix | PlayStation 2 | |
| 2002 | Herdy Gerdy | |
| Tomb Raider: The Prophecy | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2003 | Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 |
| 2005 | Smart Bomb | PlayStation Portable |
| 2007 | Free Running | PlayStation Portable |
References
- Moss, Richard (31 March 2015). ""It felt like robbery": Tomb Raider and the fall of Core Design". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Rider, David; Semrad, Ed (December 1997). "British Invasion". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 101. Ziff Davis. pp. 168, 175.
- Newsweek staff (9 November 1997). "Lara Croft, The Bit Girl". Newsweek Inc.
- "Sony Computer Entertainment America Signs Exclusive Deal with Eidos for Tomb Raider Franchise; Lara Croft Videogames to Be Exclusive to the PlayStation for Game Consoles" (Press release). Foster City, Calif.: Sony Computer Entertainment America. 18 September 1997. Archived from the original on 17 May 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- "Sony Computer Entertainment America Signs Exclusive Deal with Eidos for Tomb Raider Franchise; Lara Croft Videogames to Be Exclusive to the PlayStation for Game Consoles". Business Wire. CBS Interactive Business UK. 18 September 1997. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- "Lara leaves UK". BBC News. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- Fox, Fennec (15 July 2003). "Tomb Raider Co-Creator Steps Down". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- Gibson, Ellie (16 June 2006). "Rebellion acquires Core Design staff and assets". GamesIndustry.biz.
- Elliott, Phil (16 June 2006). "Rebellion finalizes Core buyout". GameSpot.
- "History of the company". Core Design.
2006: The company is acquired by Rebellion (Rebellion Derby), but Eidos retains the name and IPs. Rebellion Derby closed its doors later in 2010.
- McWhertor, Michael (17 June 2006). "PSP: Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition Cancelled, Announced". Kotaku.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- Robinson, Martin (14 January 2010). "Aliens vs. Predator Campaign Hands-on". ign.com. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- https://www.mcvuk.com/development/rebellion-confirms-restructure
- https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rebellion-confirms-derby-closure-cuts-at-oxford-studio