Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is 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

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...

s. They are known for their universally panned video game '' Ride to Hell: Retribution'', work with the ''NASCAR The Game'' franchise, and as a developer on various other racing titles and games.

History

Zeppelin Games (1987–1994)

The company founder, Brian Jobling, started creating games for the

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

at home in the early 1980s as a 14-year-old. With the money that he made, he started the company, Zeppelin Games, in November 1987 when he was 17. Zeppelin Games produced a large number of games for various home computer systems including Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum,

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

and

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and by the early 90s were also making games for

IBM PC compatible An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its subsequent models. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible computer uses an x86-based central p ...

s and consoles such as the Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES. Popular games included '' Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge'', ''International Tennis'', ''Universal Warrior'' and '' Sink or Swim''. They also worked with publisher Codemasters to produce the first two '' Micro Machines'' games and '' Pete Sampras Tennis''. The company, being primarily a budget publisher, operated several labels for different price ranges; among them were Cognito and Impulze for full-price releases, Zeppelin Premier and Zeppelin Platinum.

Merit Studios Europe (1994–1996)

The company was acquired by American company Merit Studios, Inc. in 1994 and became known as Merit Studios Europe. As well as developing their own games, the company was also responsible for the marketing and distribution of Merit's US games in Europe.

Eutechnyx (1996–present)

The company became Eutechnyx in 1996. After gaining registered developer and publisher status for the

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, the directors bought back the company from Merit with help from French publishers Infogrames. This started a 3-year agreement with Eutechnyx developing exclusively for Infogrames on the PlayStation and PC platforms. The end of this agreement meant that as of 2000, the company became a fully independent developer and currently releases games across many formats for publishing companies such as

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 ...

and

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

. Since 1996, the company has specialised in driving and racing games of many types, including licensed titles such as '' James Bond 007'', '' Max Power'', ''

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

'' and '' The Fast and the Furious''. As of 2009, Eutechnyx had studios in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

, England;

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

;

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

; and the United States. It employed almost 200 people. After the failure of ''Ride to Hell: Retribution'', the London studio was closed in June 2013. In June 2013, several employees were loaned to Ubisoft Reflections and in February 2014, a restructuring was announced, with the loss of 12 jobs, taking the headcount to 130. In 2012, sister company ZeroLight was formed at the Gateshead offices, to apply the realtime rendering technology developed for racing games to showroom and online configurators for car manufacturers. In October 2013, Darren Jobling replaced his brother Brian as CEO, to take on a more active role in development, with Brian becoming Executive Chairman. In July 2014, again after the failure of ''Warhammer 40k: Storm of Vengeance'', following another re-structuring an additional 19 members of staff were lost. In January 2015, their NASCAR license were given to Dusenberry Martin Racing, while Eutechnyx continued to develop their final NASCAR title, '' NASCAR '15'', for DMR; subsequent NASCAR titles by them (since renamed 704Games and purchased by

Motorsport Network Motorsport Network is an American media and technology company headquartered in Miami, Florida and London, UK. The company's proprietary brands, websites and OTT operations focus on motor racing and consumer automotive content serving and prese ...

) were developed by Monster Games (until the 2019 title '' NASCAR Heat 4'') instead. In July 2015, following commercially disappointing results from ambitious multiplayer online racing game ACR, a further 8 redundancies were made, with some of the 22 people announced as being added to sister firm ZeroLight, being relocated from Eutechnyx. In September 2016, Zerolight moved across the river from Eutechnyx' Gateshead office to LiveWorks, on the Quayside at Newcastle upon Tyne.

Games developed

as Zeppelin Games

* 1988 '' Zybex'' (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit) * 1988 '' Draconus'' (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit) * 1988 ''Las Vegas Casino'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit) * 1988 ''Speed Ace'' (Atari 8-bit) * 1989 '' Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga) * 1989 '' Kenny Dalglish Soccer Manager'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1989 ''The Living Daylights'' (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Domark) * 1989 '' Mirax Force'' (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Tynesoft) * 1989 ''Mountain Bike Racer'' (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, MSX) * 1989 ''Ninja Commando'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit) * 1989 ''Phantom'' (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Tynesoft/Micro Value) * 1989 ''Sidewinder'' (Atari 8-bit - re-release from Futureware) * 1990 ''Fantastic Soccer'' (C64, Atari 8-bit) * 1990 ''Fantastic American Football'' (ZX) * 1990 ''Edd The Duck!'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Amig], Atari ST) * 1990 ''World Soccer'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga) * 1990 ''Arcade Fruit Machine'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, PC) * 1990 ''Blinky's Scary School'' (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1990 ''Cavernia'' (Atari 8-bit) * 1990 ''Santa's Xmas Caper'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga) * 1991 ''Jocky Wilson's Compendium of Darts'' (C64, ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1991 ''Stack Up'' (ZX, Atari 8-bit, Amiga, Atari ST, PC) * 1991 ''Tai-Chi Tortoise'' (C64, ZX) * 1991 ''Titanic Blinky'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1991 ''Sharkey's Moll'' (ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1991 ''Mission Shark'' (Atari 8-bit - import from Polish developer LK Avalon ''Misja'') * 1991 ''Fred'' (Atari 8-bit - import from LK Avalon) * 1991 ''F1 Tornado'' (C64, ZX, CPC, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1992 ''Arnie'' (C64, Amiga) * 1992 ''Edd The Duck 2: Back with a Quack'' (Amiga) * 1992 '' American Tag-Team Wrestling'' (ZX, CPC, Amiga) * 1992 ''International 5-A-Side'' (C64, ZX) * 1992 ''International Truck Racing'' (C64, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1992 ''International Tennis'' (C64, ZX, Amiga, MS-DOS) * 1992 ''International Athletics'' (MS-DOS) * 1992 ''Match Of The Day'' (C64, ZX, Amiga, Atari ST) * 1992 ''Graeme Souness Soccer Manager'' (C64, ZX, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS) * 1992 ''Carnage'' (C64, Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS) * 1993 ''Fist Fighter'' (C64,Amiga) * 1993 ''Arnie 2'' (C64,

, MS-DOS) * 1993 ''

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

'' (C64, ZX) * 1993 ''Universal Warrior'' (Amiga) * 1993 '' Sink or Swim'' a.k.a. ''S.S. Lucifer: Man Overboard'' (Amiga, MS-DOS, SNES, Mega Drive) * 1994 ''International Soccer'' (Amiga, MS-DOS)

as Merit Studios Europe

* 1994 ''The Machines'' (PC) A revised port of ''Universal Warrior'' * 1994 '' Micro Machines'' (SNES, GB) * 1995 ''Frankenstein: Life or Death'' (PC) Developed by Junkyard * 1995 '' Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament'' (SNES) * 1996 ''CyberJudas'' (DOS) Published by Merit Studios, developed by D.C. True. Successor to ''Shadow President''. * 1996 ''Bud Tucker in Double Trouble'' (PC)

as Eutechnyx

* 1997 '' Total Drivin'' ( PS1) * 1998 ''Motor Mash'' (PS1, PC) * 1998 ''Max Power Racing'' a.k.a. '' C3 Racing - Car Constructors Championship'' (PS1) * 1999 '' Le Mans 24 Hours'' (PS1, PC) * 2000 '' 007 Racing'' (PS1) * 2000 ''TNN Hardcore TR'' (PS1) US only release. * 2001 '' F1 World Grand Prix 2000'' (PS1, PC) * 2002 '' Big Mutha Truckers'' ( PS2,

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 ...

, GameCube, PC) * 2004 '' Street Racing Syndicate'' (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC) * 2005 '' Ford Mustang: The Legend Lives'' (PS2, Xbox) * 2005 '' Ford vs. Chevy'' (PS2, Xbox) * 2005 '' Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder'' (PS2, Xbox, PC) * 2006 '' Cartoon Network Racing'' (PS2) * 2006 '' Hummer Badlands'' (PS2, Xbox) * 2006 '' The Fast and the Furious'' (PS2, PSP) * 2006 ''

Pimp My Ride ''Pimp My Ride'' is a staged American television series produced by MTV and hosted by rapper Xzibit, which ran for six seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2007. In each episode, a car in poor condition is both restored and customized. The work on th ...

'' (PS2,

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

) * 2007 '' Hot Wheels: Beat That!'' (PS2, PC, Xbox 360, Wii) * 2008 '' Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli'' (PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP) * 2009 '' Supercar Challenge'' (PS3, PSN) * 2010 ''Ferrari: The Race Experience'' ( PSN, Wii) * 2011 '' NASCAR The Game: 2011'' (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) * 2012 '' Auto Club Revolution'' (PC) * 2012 '' NASCAR The Game: Inside Line'' (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) * 2013 '' Ride to Hell: Retribution'' (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) * 2013 '' NASCAR: The Game 2013'' (PC) * 2014 '' NASCAR '14'' ( PS3,

, PC) * 2014 '' Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance'' ( PC,

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

, Android) * 2015 '' NASCAR '15'' ( PS3,

, PC)

References

External links

*
Eutechnyx on IGN.com

Zeppelin Games at World of Spectrum
{{Authority control Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne British companies established in 1987 Video game companies established in 1987 Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies 1987 establishments in England