Dovetail Games

Dovetail Games
Private
Industry Video game industry
Founded 2008 (as RailSimulator.com Ltd)
Founder Paul Jackson, Tim Gatland, Charlie McMicking
Headquarters Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom
Key people
 Paul Jackson, Tim Gatland, Charlie McMicking, Steve Bainbridge, Duncan Best
Products RailWorks
RailWorks 2: Train Simulator
RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012
Train Simulator 2013
Train Simulator 2014
Train Simulator 2015
Dovetail Games Fishing
Owner Private investors
Number of employees
 100+
Website www.dovetailgames.com

Dovetail Games (DTG), a trading name of RailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), is a British video game developer and publisher. It was formed in 2008 by Paul Jackson (formerly VP at Electronic Arts and Director General of ELSPA, now UKIE), Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking. It originally produced the RailWorks franchise, now called simply Train Simulator.

Developed for the PC, Train Simulator is available both as a boxed product from video game retailers and as a download via Valve's Steam platform.

History

RailWorks' predecessor, Rail Simulator, was developed by Kuju Entertainment, the same company that developed Microsoft Train Simulator with Microsoft. With the release of Rail Simulator in October 2007, Kuju Entertainment finished development and disbanded the development team, turning its attention to the next project.

Knowing the potential of their proprietary game engine, and with backing from Fund4Games (Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking), a new company was set up called Rail Simulator Developments Ltd (RSDL) from some of the core members of the initial development team with the specific aim of fulfilling continued development of the brand and supporting users and third-party developers with add-on projects. RSDL produced two patches to the core simulator, developed and released add-ons, helped the release of third-party products, and visited exhibitions to promote the simulation and provide support for users via several community websites.

In April 2009, the formation of a new company was announced.[1] Jackson, Gatland and McMicking went on to set up RailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), employing many of the original creative team, along with Steve Bainbridge (previously of Electronic Arts and GAME stores) and Duncan Best (previously British Academy Video Games Awards, ELSPA and Director of the London Games Festival).[2]

Development switched to a new version of the software called RailWorks which would be released on Steam. This change heralded a break from Electronic Arts being the publisher in Europe and rights over the source code for Rail Simulator being transferred to single ownership by RailSimulator.com Ltd.[3] After improving the software, they launched RailWorks in June 2009. The company has released yearly updates since then, with the latest version, Train Simulator 2015, being released in September 2014.

On 9 December 2013, it was announced that RailSimulator.com has changed its name to Dovetail Games.[4] The company said that it was in the early stages of developing a range of completely new simulation products to sit alongside Train Simulator, and this broader perspective required a new company name.[4]

Dovetail Games announced on 1 July 2014 its first new simulation product; a fishing simulation game titled Dovetail Games Fishing, utilising Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 architecture and slated for a PC release in late 2014, with more formats to follow. The company also announced that it is laying the foundation to using Unreal Engine 4 in future versions of Train Simulator.[5]

On 9 July 2014, Dovetail Games announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft to release Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition on Steam in late 2014, titled Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition. It also announced that it will be developing and producing all-new flight simulation software based on Microsoft's flight technology, expecting to bring a release to market in 2015.[6] Following the announcement, the company announced on 25 July 2014 that it will be working in partnership with Flight One Software (Flight1), a developer and publisher of flight simulation content, to deliver a range of Flight1 add-ons for the forthcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition.[7] On December 9, 2014, Dovetail Games announced the launch date of Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition would be December 18, 2014.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Paul Jackson announces RailSimulator.com". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. F4G Development 4 LLP. 9 April 2009. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Official RailWorks Website | RailSimulator.com | Corporate". RailSimulator.com. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Rail Simulator 2: RailWorks Interview". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. F4G Development 4 LLP. 3 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jackson, Paul (9 December 2013). "RailSimulator.com becomes Dovetail Games". Engine Driver. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Dovetail Games Announce a New Breed of Fishing Simulator". Dovetail Games. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Dovetail Games Licensing Deal with Microsoft Takes Flight". Dovetail Games. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Dovetail Games & Flight1 Software Partner for FSX Launch on Steam". Dovetail Games. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  8. ↑ http://www.dovetailgames.com/news/2014/dec/9/dovetail-games-clears-microsoft-flight-simulator-x-steam-edition-for-takeoff-on-december-18

External links