Core Design
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Fate | Liquidated [1] |
| Successor | Rebellion Derby |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Defunct | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Derby, United Kingdom |
Key people | Jeremy Heath-Smith, Adrian Smith, Gavin Rummery, Toby Gard |
| Products | Video games |
| Owner |
Eidos (brand, intellectual property)[2] Rebellion (staff, assets) Since 2006 |
| Website |
Official Site archived until 2008 |
Core Design Limited (stylised as CORE Design) was a British video game developer best known for Chuck Rock, Rick Dangerous and Tomb Raider franchises. It was owned by British publisher Eidos Interactive for most of its history. The studio closed in 2006.[1]
History
Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was founded in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith, Kevin Norburn and Greg Holmes. Most were former employees of Gremlin Graphics.[3] The studio was part of distribution company CentreGold when it was acquired by Eidos Interactive in 1996.[3] Eidos subsequently sold most of CentreGold, but retained U.S. Gold, the owners of Core Design. Core had a brief history of producing titles for the Sega consoles,[3] such as Thunderhawk for Mega-CD and the original Tomb Raider game for the Saturn.
Tomb Raider
The company is widely known for the Tomb Raider series, created by Toby Gard and Paul Howard Douglas, which was released in 1996 and followed by several sequels. The success of Tomb Raider and its subsequent sequels played a huge part in keeping Eidos Interactive financially solvent. After the successful[4] Saturn debut of the original Tomb Raider a full month and a half ahead of the PlayStation version, Sony decided to use the brand to boost sales of its own console. In September 1997, Sony's U.S. arm, SCEA, signed an exclusivity deal with Eidos[5][6] to keep the franchise on their consoles. The agreement was extended to include Tomb Raider III. The fourth and fifth games in the franchise, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider Chronicles respectively, were released for Sega Dreamcast.
Later years
In 2003, after Core's Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was met with mixed critical reviews and limited commercial success, parent company Eidos put Crystal Dynamics, another Eidos-owned studio, in charge of Tomb Raider franchise development.[7] This prompted three key members of the Core Design team and several others to leave the company and establish a development company of their own, Circle Studio.[8]
Sale to Rebellion
In May 2006, Eidos announced that independent developer Rebellion Developments had acquired Core Designs' assets and staff,[1] while the Core brand and intellectual property, including Tomb Raider, remained in Eidos' possession.[9][10]
In June 2006, Crystal Dynamics was confirmed to have a PSP anniversary edition of the original Tomb Raider in development.[11] Remnants of the Core Design team (under the banner of Rebellion) went on to work on several titles in years since, including Shellshock 2: Blood Trails and Rogue Warrior.[12] The Derby studio was closed by Rebellion in March 2010[3] due to an expiring lease and the inability for the company to find a financier for the studio.
Games developed and published
According to GamesTM, Core Design had "over fifty successful titles under its belt such as Rick Dangerous, Curse of Enchantia and Premiere. However, the company is best known for creating and milking Tomb Raider series for all its worth."[13]
| Year | Game | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Action Fighter | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum |
| 1989 | Dynamite Düx | |
| Rick Dangerous | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| Saint and Greavsie | Amiga | |
| Switchblade | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| 1990 | Torvak the Warrior | Amiga, Atari ST |
| Corporation | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS | |
| Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Computer Game | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| Axel's Magic Hammer | Amiga, Atari ST | |
| Skidz | ||
| Impossamole | Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Turbografx-16 | |
| Rick Dangerous 2 | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum | |
| CarVup | Amiga | |
| 1991 | War Zone | |
| Chuck Rock | Acorn, Amiga, Amiga CD32, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Sega CD, Game Gear, Genesis, SNES | |
| Heimdall | Acorn, Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Sega CD | |
| Frenetic | Amiga, Atari ST | |
| 1992 | Doodlebug | |
| Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck | Amiga, CD32, Sega CD, Game Gear, Genesis, Master System | |
| Curse of Enchantia | Amiga, DOS | |
| Hook | Sega CD, Genesis | |
| Premiere | Amiga, CD32 | |
| The Adventurers | Amiga | |
| Thunderhawk | Amiga, DOS, Sega CD | |
| Wolfchild | Amiga, Atari ST, Sega CD, Game Gear, Genesis, SNES | |
| Jaguar XJ220 | Amiga, Sega CD | |
| Wonder Dog | ||
| 1993 | Asterix and the Great Rescue | Game Gear, Genesis, Master System |
| Encore | DOS | |
| Blastar | Amiga | |
| Blob | ||
| Cyberpunks | ||
| Darkmere | ||
| 1994 | Corkers | |
| BC Racers | 32X, 3DO, Sega CD | |
| Heimdall 2 | Amiga, CD32, DOS | |
| Universe | ||
| Banshee | Amiga, CD32 | |
| Dragonstone | ||
| Battlecorps | Sega CD | |
| Soulstar | ||
| Bubba 'n' Stix | Amiga, CD32, Genesis | |
| 1995 | Skeleton Krew | |
| Asterix and the Power of the Gods | Genesis | |
| The Big Red Adventure | DOS | |
| Shellshock | PC, PlayStation, Saturn | |
| Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 | ||
| 1996 | Tomb Raider | |
| The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga | Saturn | |
| Blam! Machinehead a | PlayStation, Saturn | |
| Virtual Golf | ||
| 1997 | Swagman | |
| Fighting Force | PC, PlayStation | |
| Tomb Raider II b | ||
| 1998 | Ninja: Shadow of Darkness | PlayStation |
| Tomb Raider III b | Mac, PC, PlayStation | |
| 1999 | Fighting Force 2 | Dreamcast, PlayStation |
| Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation | Dreamcast, PC, PlayStation | |
| 2000 | Tomb Raider Chronicles | |
| Tomb Raider | Game Boy Color | |
| 2001 | Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword | |
| Project Eden | PC, PlayStation 2 | |
| Thunderhawk: Operation Phoenix | PlayStation 2 | |
| 2002 | Herdy Gerdy | |
| 2002 | Tomb Raider: The Prophecy | Game Boy Advance |
| 2003 | Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness | Mac, PC, PlayStation 2 |
| 2005 | Smart Bomb | PlayStation Portable |
| 2007 | Free Running | |
| a Released in North America as Machinehead. b Released on the PlayStation system. | ||
References
- 1 2 3 Gibson, Ellie (16 June 2006). "Rebellion acquires Core Design staff and assets". Gamer Network.
- ↑ Elliott, Phil (16 June 2006). "Rebellion finalizes Core buyout". GameSpot.
- 1 2 3 4 Moss, Richard (31 March 2015). ""It felt like robbery": Tomb Raider and the fall of Core Design". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- ↑ Newsweek staff (9 November 1997). "Lara Croft, The Bit Girl". Newsweek Inc.
- ↑ "Sony Computer Entertainment America Signs Exclusive Deal with Eidos for Tomb Raider Franchise; Lara Croft Videogames to Be Exclusive to the PlayStation for Game Consoles" (Press release). Foster City, Calif.: Sony Computer Entertainment America. 18 September 1997.
- ↑ "Sony Computer Entertainment America Signs Exclusive Deal with Eidos for Tomb Raider Franchise; Lara Croft Videogames to Be Exclusive to the PlayStation for Game Consoles". Business Wire. CBS Interactive Business UK. 18 September 1997. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
- ↑ "Lara leaves UK". BBC News. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ↑ Fox, Fennec (15 July 2003). "Tomb Raider Co-Creator Steps Down". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ↑ Elliott, Phil (16 June 2006). "Rebellion finalizes Core buyout". GameSpot.
- ↑ "History of the company". Core Design.
2006: The company is acquired by Rebellion (Rebellion Derby), but Eidos retains the name and IPs. Rebellion Derby closed its doors later in 2010.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (17 June 2006). "PSP: Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition Cancelled, Announced". Kotaku.com. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ↑ Robinson, Martin (14 January 2010). "Aliens vs. Predator Campaign Hands-on". ign.com. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
- ↑ gamesTM Issue 5, p. 71. Imagine Publishing