| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interactive entertainment Computer and video games |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Founder(s) | Patrick Buckland Neil Barnden |
| Headquarters | Newport, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom |
| Products | Carmageddon Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers Risk: Factions |
| Employees | 50 |
| Website | www.stainlessgames.com |
Stainless Games is a British video game developer based on the Isle of Wight that specialises in developing downloadable games for Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade. They are most well known for developing the multimillion-selling Carmageddon franchise.
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Originally named Stainless Software, the company was founded in 1993 by industry veteran Patrick Buckland, and Neil Barnden, previously a senior designer at Conran and The Body Shop. Starting out with sub-contracted 3D engine work for Argonaut Games, and developing medical multimedia titles for the Times-Mirror Company, the company then went on to develop what later became Carmageddon for SCi. This was launched amidst much controversy over its violent content in 1997 but garnered high review scores thanks to its compelling gameplay and many ground-breaking features (including a fully featured physics engine - a world-first for video games). Stainless released a sequel, Carmageddon II in 1998. Subsequent versions of the franchise (including TDR2000) were contracted by SCi to other developers.[1]
In 2006 Stainless were sub-contracted by Blitz Games to code one of their three Burger King games, PocketBike Racer, although all design and contractual work was carried out by Blitz themselves.
The company has subsequently developed in the console download field, having eleven titles released or soon to be released on XBLA, plus two titles on PSN (PS3).
These include a range of Atari classic titles which feature both the original version running under an emulator, and a completely re-written evolved version. These have also been released on PSP as a single product in December 2007.
Electronic Arts released the Stainless developed PSP and DS title Scrabble in early 2009. This was available for the North American market only, for licensing reasons.
The company released Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers in June 2009 on XBLA. Developed over nearly two years in conjunction with Wizards of the Coast, the title broke sales records on Xbox Live Arcade (171,000 in the first month) and was well received by both critics and players.
Stainless has also licensed Buckland's 80's Mac classic Crystal Quest and has produced versions for XBLA and Vista.
On June 1, 2011, Stainless announced that they had reacquired the rights to the Carmageddon brand, and that a new - and completely independent - game was in development, named Carmageddon Reincarnation.[2]
In April 2011, it was announced by Wizards of the Coast that Stainless Games are working on the new updated client version of Magic the Gathering Online (commonly known as MTGO or MODO).[3]
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