Visual Sciences Limited (later branded as Visual Science) 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

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and founded in 1993 by former

DMA Design Rockstar North (Rockstar Games UK Limited; formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The studio is best known for creating the ''Lemmings (series), Lemmings'' and ''Grand ...

employee Russel Kay. Kay sold a

controlling interest A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the maj ...

in the studio to Tim Christian—who had previously been hired as a

non-executive chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, 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 gro ...

—in January 2005, with Christian becoming its

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. Following the cancellation of a project by

Vivendi Universal Games Vivendi Games (formerly known as CUC Software, Cendant Software, Havas Interactive, Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing and Vivendi Universal Games) was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was foun ...

and Visual Science's subsequent inability to secure further funding, the studio filed for

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

and laid off all staff in February 2006.

History

Visual Sciences was established in 1993 by Russell Kay, a former employee of

and the creator of DMA's 1991 game ''

Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also incl ...

''. In January 1999, the company began working closely with

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

(EA) on what became '' F1 2000''. EA subsequently acquired a 20% stake in Visual Sciences in June 2000, and the studio turned to working exclusively with the publisher. In 2003, Visual Science hired Tim Christian (a former

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizat ...

and

Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive, Inc. (Currently named Atari Interactive, Inc.) is the former video game subsidiary of board game and toy manufacturer Hasbro. Originally formed in 1995 and headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts, Hasbro Interactive initially ...

) and Andy Campbell (a former managing director of Red Lemon) as

and commercial director, respectively. During Christian's tenure in this role, Visual Science recorded high revenue growth and the addition of large

video game publisher A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer. They often finance the development, sometimes by paying a video game developer ...

s to its clients. By July 2004, the company had doubled its staff count to 75 in its

headquarters and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

satellite office. In January 2005, Christian acquired 55% of the company's shares—a

—from Kay. Christian became Visual Science's

, while Kay assumed the role of chief technical officer. In January 2006,

cancelled an unannounced project that Visual Science was developing, leaving the latter without funding. Visual Science had just moved into new Dundee offices for which it had not yet signed the lease. Christian informed the company's more than 100 staff to not leave personal belongings in the new building, fearing that the landlord could lock the team out as a result of the project's cancellation. Due to this, some employees believed that they were being laid off and the company shut down, but Christian stated that this was not the case and that Visual Science would be pitching the project to other companies. As Visual Science could not find replacement work for the cancelled project, it filed for

by early February, laying off all employees. Christian said that he was seeking to use the proceeds generated through the administration process to initiate legal action against Vivendi Universal Games, which he believed had terminated their contract baselessly. Some former Visual Science employees went on to found

Cohort Studios Cohort Studios was a Scottish video game developer based in Dundee. It closed down in 2011. Formed in 2006, by Lol Scragg, Darran Thomas and Bruce McNeish, Cohort's first project involved being contracted by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe ...

in 2006 and release its first game—'' Buzz! Junior: Dino Den''—in February 2008. Other ex-employees founded

Proper Games Proper Games Limited was a British video game developer based in Dundee. Paddy Sinclair founded Proper Games in early 2006 after the closure of his previous employer, Visual Science. In March 2011, the company underwent restructuring, which i ...

, also in 2006.

References

{{Authority control 1993 establishments in Scotland 2006 disestablishments in Scotland Companies based in Dundee Defunct companies of Scotland Video game companies disestablished in 2006 Video game companies established in 1993 Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom British companies disestablished in 2006 British companies established in 1993