Climax Studios
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Genre | Video games |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder | Karl Jeffery[1] |
| Headquarters | Portsmouth, UK |
Number of employees | 120 |
| Parent | Independent |
| Website | Official website |
Climax Studios is a British video game developer based in Portsmouth, known for various ports, a cancelled MMORPG based on the Warhammer license and several games from the Silent Hill franchise.
History
Climax Studios was formed in 1988.[1] In the late 90's the company ported two of Blizzard Entertainment's popular games to consoles. Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, along with its official expansion pack Beyond the Dark Portal, was released for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn as Warcraft II: The Dark Saga in 1997,[2] a PlayStation port of Diablo followed in 1998.
In 2002 Climax began working on a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop's Warhammer franchise titled Warhammer Online (not to be confused with Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning).[3] In 2004 Games Workshop decided that the project was becoming too expensive and stopped funding it. Climax attempted to finish the game by funding it on their own but soon after the project was cancelled.
In 2004 Climax released Sudeki, an action RPG heavily inspired by JRPGs for the Xbox, that was later ported to Windows. It had a mixed or average reception.[4] A sequel to Sudeki was informally announced through the company's job posting board but was eventually cancelled.[5]
In 2006 Konami announced that Climax Studios was working on the next entry in the popular Silent Hill franchise of horror games after the original team behind the series, Konami's internal development team Team Silent, had been disbanded. It was titled Silent Hill: Origins and exclusively announced for the PlayStation Portable. In October 2007 the game was released to critical acclaim.[6] In 2008 a PlayStation 2 version of the game followed.
In 2009 it was announced that Climax Studios was working on another Silent Hill game for Nintendo's Wii console titled Shattered Memories.[7] The game was announced as a remake of the original Silent Hill game, although the term "re-imagining" was used to emphasize that it was going to provide a completely new experience. Later versions for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable were also announced. In 2009 the game was released for the Wii to positive reviews[8] and in 2010 for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable to positive[9] and mixed reviews.[10]
Climax Studios also co-operated with Microsoft Studios and Sony Computer Entertainment to develop Bloodforge and Smart As for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation Vita respectively. The former received negative reviews from critics while the latter received mixed reviews from critics.[11][12] Climax Studios is currently working on Assassin's Creed Chronicles, a new installment in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise.[13]
Games
| Title | Platform(s) | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warcraft II: The Dark Saga | PlayStation, Sega Saturn | 1997 | Console ports only |
| Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs | Nintendo 64 | 2000 | Action strategy |
| MotoGP 2 | Xbox, Windows | 2003 | Racing |
| Serious Sam: Next Encounter | PlayStation 2, GameCube | 2004 | First person shooter |
| Sudeki | Xbox, Windows | 2004 | Action RPG |
| ATV Offroad Fury 3 | PlayStation 2 | 2004 | Racing |
| MotoGP 3: Ultimate Racing Technology | Xbox, Windows | 2005 | Racing |
| ATV Offroad Fury 4 | PlayStation 2 | 2006 | Racing |
| Silent Hill: Origins | PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 | 2007 | Survival horror |
| Silent Hill: Shattered Memories | Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable | 2009 | Survival horror |
| Rocket Knight | Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows | 2010 | Platformer |
| Bloodforge | Xbox 360 | 2012 | Hack and slash |
| Smart As | PlayStation Vita | 2012 | Puzzle game |
| Assassin's Creed Chronicles | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows | 2015 | Platformer |
Awards
- 2009: IGN Best Wii game of E3 (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories)[14]
- 2009: IGN Best Wii graphics technology of E3 (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories)[14]
- 2009: IGN Best Wii adventure game of E3 (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories)[14]
References
- 1 2 "Climax Studios Games". IGN. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
- ↑ "Warcraft II: The Dark Saga Review". GameSpot. 30 September 1997. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ Justin Olivetti (12 July 2011). "The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Climax's Warhammer Online". Joystiq. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Sudeki for Xbox reviews". Metacritic. Metacritic. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Sudeki 2: About This Game". IGN. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Silent Hill Origins for PlayStation Portable reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ Mike Fahey (4 June 2009). "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Re-Does Wii, PS2, And PSP". Kotaku. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for Wii reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for PlayStation 2 reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for PlayStation Portable reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Bloodforge for Xbox 360 reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Smart as... for PlayStation Vita reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ Michael McWhertor (31 March 2015). "Assassin's Creed Chronicles is now a trilogy, goes to China, India and Russia". Polygon. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Nintendo Wii Best of E3 2009". IGN Entertainment. 2009-06-11.