Black Rock Studio

Black Rock Studio
Former type Subsidiary of Disney Interactive Studios
Industry Video game industry
Founded 1998
Founder(s) Tony Beckwith
Defunct 2011[1]
Headquarters Brighton, United Kingdom
Products Video games
Owner(s) The Walt Disney Company
Parent Disney Interactive Studios
Website Official website

Black Rock Studio was a video game developer based in Brighton, England. The studio was founded by Tony Beckwith in 1998 as Pixel Planet. It was then acquired by the Climax Group in 1999 and was renamed Climax Brighton. In 2004, it became Climax Racing, as the Climax Group rebranded its studios.[2] On 28 September 2006, it was acquired by Buena Vista Games and was eventually renamed Black Rock Studio in 2007.[3] The last game the studio developed for the Climax Group was MotoGP '07, which was completed after its acquisition by Buena Vista Games. The name is derived from a district in Brighton.[4] In early 2011, the company faced lay-offs and was forced to abandon sequels for Pure and Split/Second. Despite good reviews for both games, Disney Interactive Studios turned down both sequels to focus on freemium content.[5]

On 30 June 2011, Disney Interactive Studios announced their intent to enter a consultation process on the proposal to close the studios. It was later confirmed that the studio has been shutdown and that several ex-employees have formed new studios, including Roundcube Entertainment, ShortRound Games and Boss Alien.[6]

Contents

Games

Developed as "Climax Brighton"

Name Platform(s) Release date(s)
Gumball 3000 PlayStation 2 2002
MotoGP Windows, Xbox 2002
Rally Fusion: Race of Champions GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox 2002
ATV Quad Power Racing 2 GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox 2003
MotoGP 2 Windows, Xbox 2003
The Italian Job GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox 2003
Hot Wheels World Race GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows 2003

Developed as "Climax Racing"

Name Platform(s) Release date(s)
ATV Offroad Fury 3 PlayStation 2 2004
Hot Wheels: Stunt Track Challenge GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows 2004
ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails PlayStation Portable 2005
MotoGP 3: Ultimate Racing Technology Windows, Xbox 2005
MotoGP '06 Xbox 360 2006
ATV Offroad Fury Pro PlayStation Portable 2006
ATV Offroad Fury 4 PlayStation 2 2006
MotoGP '07 Windows, Xbox 360 2007

Developed as "Black Rock Studio"

Name Platform(s) Release date(s)
Pure PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 2008
Split Second: Velocity PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 2010

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-01-split-second-dev-black-rock-to-close
  2. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/company/black-rock-studio
  3. ^ Michael French (2007-07-06). "Studio unveils new identity". MCV. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/27689/Climax-Racing-Studio-unveils-new-identity. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  4. ^ French, Michael (2007-07-06). "Climax Racing Studio unveils new identity". MCV. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/27689/Climax-Racing-Studio-unveils-new-identity. Retrieved 2009-01-11. 
  5. ^ Lay-offs at Split/Second Studio - Eurogamer
  6. ^ Robert Purchese (2011-07-01). "Split/Second dev Black Rock to close". Eurogamer.net. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-01-split-second-dev-black-rock-to-close. Retrieved 2011-07-01.