BBC Multimedia was a division of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

which dealt with the publishing of computer-game versions of well-known BBC television programmes.

History

The Multimedia division was founded in 1995 and mostly focused on

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

software for

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and

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

. The company attended E3 2002 by announcing its first game for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

, '' Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction'', set for a November 2002 release, as well as a game adaptation of the CBBC series ''

Ace Lightning ''Ace Lightning'' is a children's television series co-produced by the BBC and Alliance Atlantis. The series was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom, but also aired in other countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand a ...

'' for the PlayStation 2, with both games also on Microsoft Windows and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

. Other CD-ROM games announced this time were ''Bob the Builder: Bob Builds a Park'', set for a July 2002 release and ''Tweenies: Messy Time'', set for an October 2002 release. In July 2002, the company launched a budget range called ''Favourites'', consisting of pre-school games. On 5 November 2002, the company announced a ''

Fimbles ''Fimbles'' is a British children's television series created and produced by Novel Entertainment. The series has 200 episodes, airing from September 23, 2002 to September 24, 2004 with repeats airing until early 2012 on CBeebies. The Fimbles a ...

'' CD-ROM for a June 2003 release. On February 6, 2003, the company announced the ''Ace Lightning'' video game for March. At

E3 2003 E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final ...

, the company announced a video game based on '' FightBox'' for PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance for a pre-Christmas release window to tie-in with the show's airing. The game adaptation was one of the many side-projects done for the ''FightBox'' IP, which was mostly worked on by Runecraft. After the company went out of business, the BBC acquired the developer's offices and some of their staff, and re-structured it under the "Gamezlab" name. The company also showcased their ''Fimbles'' CD-ROM, in addition to a game based on '' Tiny Planets'', a ''Bob the Builder'' game - ''Bob's Castle Adventure'' for a July 2003 release, and an ''

Engie Benjy ''Engie Benjy'' is a British stop motion animated pre-school children's television show, broadcast on ITV's children's strand, CITV. The titular character is a blue-haired mechanic who fixes problems with the help of his friends and an assortme ...

'' CD-ROM for a September 2003 release. In October, the company announced the ''FightBox'' video game for February 2004. On November 24, the company announced a ''

Balamory ''Balamory'' is a Scottish live-action children's programme on CBeebies for pre-school children, about a fictional small island community off the west coast of Scotland, named ''Balamory''. Four series were produced from 2002 to 2005 by BBC Sco ...

'' CD-ROM for 2004. In January 2004, ''Balamory'' was announced for the following month. A compilation release titled ''Playtime!'' was announced. In February, the company announced a video game based on '' Spooks'' for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows, for a late 2004 release window. On 2 November 2004, Global Software Publishing announced acquiring exclusive distribution rights to BBC Multimedia's library. This move was done so BBC Worldwide could refocus BBC Multimedia as a video game licensor instead of being a publisher. Shortly before this, BBC Worldwide closed down Gamezlab and cancelled the upcoming ''Spooks'' video game. BBC Multimedia was closed in 2006 after sales declined in its boxed product business.

Games

Gamezlab

References

External links

* {{BBC, state=collapsed

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

Video game publishers Video game companies established in 1995 Video game companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom

History

Games

Gamezlab

See also

References

External links