Oliver Twins

The Oliver Twins are two British brothers, Philip and Andrew Oliver, known for their work as video game developers.

They began to professionally develop computer games while they were still at school, contributing their first type-in game to a magazine in 1983. They worked with publishers Codemasters for a number of years following their first collaboration Super Robin Hood, most notably creating the Dizzy series of games and many of Codemasters popular Simulator Series. At one point during the 1980s it was reported that 7% of all UK games sales were attributable to the Oliver Twins.

In 1990 they founded Interactive Studios which later became Blitz Games Studios. In October 2013 they founded Radiant Worlds,[1] based in Leamington Spa, UK, with long time friend and colleague Richard Smithies.

History

Philip and Andrew Oliver first began programming computer games while at school (Clarendon School in Trowbridge[2] ), having their first game published as written code in Computer and Video Games magazine in 1983.[3] Their first full release game, Super Robin Hood for the Amstrad CPC, was published in 1985 by Codemasters.

Codemasters

The Codemasters publishing relationship led to the origin of the Dizzy series and the Simulator series. Whilst with Codemasters, they were responsible for over 10 UK number one best sellers and over 3 million sales.[4] In 1986, it was reported that an estimated 7% of all UK games sales were attributable to the Oliver Twins.[4]

Interactive Studios (Blitz Games Studios)

In 1990, at the age of 22, they started Interactive Studios, later called Blitz Games Studios.[5] Apart from their own games, the Oliver Twins were also responsible for porting a number of other prominent games to the Sega platforms, including Theme Park and Syndicate.

After 23 years, Blitz Games folded in 2013, with the loss of 175 staff, and owing millions to creditors.[6]

Radiant Worlds

In October 2013 they founded Radiant Worlds,[1] based in Leamington Spa, UK, with long time friend and colleague Richard Smithies to develop SkySaga: Infinite Isles for Korean-based Smilegate. SkySaga is an ambitious online voxel based game based on an original concept by Philip Oliver developed during his Christmas 2011 holidays.

Unreleased Dizzy Games Rereleased

In 2015 The Oliver Twins released a game lost for 22 years[7] they had forgot they had made titled "Wonderland Dizzy"[8]. The game was originally made for the NES, to celebrate finding this lost game, the game was released online and given its own Wonderland Dizzy website where users can play the game for free.

In 2016 The Oliver Twins released the lost dizzy game "Mystery World Dizzy"[9] which was originally scheduled for release on the Nintendo in 1993.

First Dizzy Game in Over 20 Years

In May 2017 The Oliver Twins announced they would be working on a new Dizzy game[10], the first Dizzy game the twins have worked on for over 20 years.

Leadership

Both of the Olivers take an active role in supporting the UK games industry. Philip Oliver is one of the founders of developers' trade body TIGA and has served as an active board member (currently a director) since its inception in 2001.[11] He is also a director on the board for e-skills UK.[12]

The brothers received honorary doctorates in 2008 from Coventry University (in business administration (DBA) and technology (DTech) for Philip and Andrew respectively) in recognition of their contribution to the growth of the electronic games industry both regionally and internationally,[5] and were honoured as Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts in 2010.[13]

After Philip attended the launch of the UK Government's Next Gen Report (also known as the Livingstone-Hope Report) in February 2011 about challenges faced by the UK Games industry, he established Made in Creative UK [14] which with Andrew they run as a not for profit campaign to raise awareness of the world class game developers and digital creatives developers based in the UK. The campaign has over 350 supporting companies and many high-profile supporters, including Sajid Javid MP (Culture Secretary & Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills) [15]

The Oliver Twins' early games and story inspired many people to develop video games as a career, and this was captured in Chris Wilkins and Roger Kean’s book Let’s go Dizzy: The Story of The Oliver Twins [16] published December 2016 through Fusion Retro Books.

A video shot at the launch of the book entitled Videogame Legends – Computerphile [17] prompted Markus Persson ‘Notch’, the creator of Minecraft, to tweet that he was one of those inspired by the Oliver Twins games “I grew up loving and being inspired by their work.” [18]

Games published

Codemasters

Later games

Games created or published by Complex Software, Interactive Studios, Blitz Games Studios, and Radiant Worlds:

References

  1. 1 2 Develop
  2. ↑ Clarendon School in Trowbridge
  3. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/ukbased-blitz-games-studios-to-close-after-23-years-8814834.html
  4. 1 2 with the Oliver Twins from GIGnews.com
  5. 1 2 Lockley, Greg (16 August 2013). "Blitz Games Studios founders honoured by Coventry University". Mcvuk.com. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Creditors owed £2.2m after games firm collapse". 24 October 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  7. ↑ Times, Tech (2015-10-27). "Classic NES Game ‘Wonderland Dizzy’ Thought Lost For 22 Years Released For Free". Tech Times. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  8. ↑ Metro.co.uk, GameCentral for (2015-10-26). "Oliver Twins discover lost Dizzy game they forgot they made". Metro. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  9. ↑ Serrels, Mark. "24 Years Later, You Can Finally Play This Lost NES Game About A Puzzle-Solving Egg". Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  10. ↑ "A brand new Dizzy game is coming to the ZX Spectrum Next! | Flickering Myth". Flickering Myth. 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  11. ↑ "News Article". TIGA. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  12. ↑ "House of Commons – Education Committee: Written evidence submitted by E-Skills UK". Publications.parliament.uk. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  13. ↑ Richardson, Richardson (20 May 2010). "Royal Society of Arts welcomes Blitz studio heads to its ranks". Develop. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  14. ↑ "MadeinCreativeUK.com". website. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "News Article". Develop. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  16. ↑ "Let’s go Dizzy: The Story of The Oliver Twins".
  17. ↑ "YouTube video :Videogame Legends – Computerphile".
  18. ↑ "Tweet by Notch 23 Dec 2016".
  19. ↑ Develop Online News Story
  20. ↑ LarryZ. (26 December 2007). "SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam! for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
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