Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Blitz Games Studios

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Former type
  
Video game developer

Defunct
  
12 September 2013

Founder
  
Andrew Oliver

Ceased operations
  
September 12, 2013

Industry
  
Video games

Number of employees
  
230+

Founded
  
1990

Blitz Games Studios wwwblitzgamesstudioscommediagfxpagescareers

Key people
  
Philip Oliver, Andrew Oliver, Richard Smithies

Divisions
  
Blitz Games Blitz Arcade Volatile Games TruSim Blitz Academy BlitzTech

Headquarters
  
Leamington Spa, United Kingdom

Blitz Games Studios Limited was a video game developer located in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom best known for producing games based on franchises such as iCarly, SpongeBob SquarePants and Bratz. It was founded by the Oliver Twins, Andrew and Philip Oliver, in 1990 as Interactive Studios. The twins themselves had completed their first game in 1984 and started developing titles for video game publisher Codemasters in 1985.

Contents

The company announced in September 2013 that it was closing following problems raising finance for new projects.

Divisions

Blitz Games

  • Created the games that the company originally became well known for: family titles, often licensed on popular characters and existing intellectual property.

    • Blitz Arcade

  • Created downloadable games. 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.

    • Volatile Games

  • Responsible for the company’s mature games. Video games created by this division include Reservoir Dogs, runner-up in the 2006 BAFTA awards for Best Soundtrack. 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. They released Dead to Rights: Retribution on 27 April 2010.

    • TruSim

  • Blitz Games Studios "serious games" division. It is best known for its work on medical-related training programs including the award-winning Interactive Trauma Trainer.

    • BlitzTech

  • Created and licensed game development engine and toolchain.

    • Blitz Academy

  • The in-house training system and educational outreach programme

    • Former divisions

    Virtual Experience Company

  • Past projects include the Tintern Abbey virtual tour. The company was acquired by Blitz Games at the end of 2006 but was sold back to former owner Mike Gogan in May 2008.

    • 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 market place.

    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 [1]
  • Warwickshire Employer of Choice Awards 2006 for creating an exceptional working environment [2].

    • Closure

    On 12 September 2013, the company announced via a statement on its website that it was closing after 23 years of business. The closure came as a result of the company struggling to raise money to support future development projects. The demise of THQ, a major client, was said by Philip Oliver to have hit the company particularly hard. 50 of the firm's 175 staff were said to be joining a new business set up by the Oliver brothers to continue to work on some of Blitz's former projects. On 27 November 2013, Gamasutra reported the formation of Radiant Worlds, a new company headed by the Oliver brothers. The new company was said to have recruited a number of former Blitz staff including the former company's COO.

    References

    Blitz Games Studios Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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