Blitz Games Studios Limited was a British

video game developer A video game developer is 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 business with em ...

based in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

. Founded in 1990 by the Oliver Twins, who ran the company until its closure in 2013, it is best known for producing games such as ''

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'', ''

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...

'', ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'', ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...

'', and '' Karaoke Revolution''.

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 Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

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. Its first release was an

advergame An advergame (portmanteau of "advertisement" and "video game") is a form of advertising in video games, in which the video game is developed by or in close collaboration with a corporate entity for purposes of advertising a brand-name product. Whil ...

series created for the US

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

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 ''PowerUp Forever''Was mistakenly announced as ''Infinitum'' in the original press release. is a downloadable multidirectional shooter developed by Blitz Arcade and published by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, and the PlayStat ...

'', puzzler '' Droplitz'' and the

3DTV 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an active shutter 3 ...

-compatible beat 'em up '' Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao''.

Volatile Games

Volatile Games was responsible for the company's mature games. The division dates from 2006. The company and the division ended in 2013. Video games created by this division include ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarant ...

'', runner-up in the 2006

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

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. A proposed game, '' Possession'', was cancelled.

TruSim

''TruSim'' was the

serious game A serious game or applied game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to video games used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, he ...

s division. The idea was to bring commitment to training through video games. It is best known for its work on medical-related training programs including the award-winning Interactive Trauma Trainer.

BlitzTech

BlitzTech created and licensed the game development engine and toolchain.

Earlier divisions

Virtual Experience Company

Past projects include the

Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( ) is a ruined medieval abbey situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. ...

virtual tour A virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of videos, still images or 360-degree images. It may also use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, text and floor map. The phras ...

. The company was acquired by Blitz Games at the end of 2006 but was sold back to former owner Mike Gogan in May 2009.

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 TIGAbr>
* Warwickshire Employer of Choice Awards 2006 for creating an exceptional working environmen

Closure

On 12 September 2013, the company announced 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, with the demise of THQ, a major client, said by Philip Oliver to have hit the company particularly hard. The company is reported to have owed £2.2 million to staff and creditors. 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.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Blitz British companies established in 1990 Companies based in Leamington Spa Defunct companies of England Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game companies disestablished in 2013 Video game companies established in 1990 Video game development companies