4J Studios Limited is a British

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

based in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. It has a second office located in

East Linton East Linton is a village and former police burgh in East Lothian, Scotland, situated on the River Tyne and A199 road (former A1 road) five miles east of Haddington, with an estimated population of in . During the 19th century the populatio ...

. Founded in April 2005 by

VIS Entertainment VIS Entertainment Limited (formerly known as VIS Interactive) was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company was founded in 1996 by Chris van der Kuyl and Peter Baillie. In April 2003, VIS Entertainment acquired BA ...

alumni Chris van der Kuyl, Paddy Burns and Frank Arnot, the company is best known for porting ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...

'' to consoles and handheld platforms.

History

4J Studios was founded by Chris van der Kuyl, Paddy Burns and Frank Arnot on 19 April 2005, twelve days after van der Kuyl's previous video game venture,

, entered into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. All three were previously employed by that company, of which van der Kuyl as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. In November 2012, co-founder and

studio director Studio manager, studio director, or studio head is a job title in various media-related professions, including design, advertising, and broadcasting. Design and advertising A design or advertising studio manager's responsibilities will typically ...

Arnot announced that he had left 4J Studios to establish Stormcloud Games with co-workers Andy West and Pat McGovern. In March 2018, 4J Studios invested a "six-figure sum" in Puny Astronaut, a Dundee-based developer founded by

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

alumni. 4J Studios' van der Kuyl and Burns subsequently joined that company's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, of which van der Kuyl also became their

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. 4J Studios then opened an investment fund, Chroma Ventures, in March 2021, which absorbed the Puny Astronaut stake and invested in several other studios. In October 2022, 4J Studios announced its intent to start publishing games, starting with Puny Astronaut's ''Skye Tales'' in 2023.

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2005 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Dundee Privately held companies of Scotland Software companies of Scotland Video game companies established in 2005 Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies