Studios Category Partner STUDIOS: INDEPENDENT STUDIO
Blitz Games Studio
Now in its 21st year, the well- known studio has lately established itself as one of the leading Kinect developers with a number of titles that have pushed the capabilities of the device. The company has also demonstrated it support for indie developers by setting up the Indie City portal, which has already attracted around 600 developers with over 250 games now live on the site.
Bossa Studios
Having expanded its employee numbers from four to forty, the developers behind Monstermind grown in line with its B-movie inspired creation. It’s already a Facebook pioneer, and recently snapped up the rights to make a game based on the Merlin TV show.
CCP
Despite growing larger in the last few years, CCP remains committed to interacting with its passionate gaming community via a constant stream of development blogs, meet ups and the annual Eve Online Fanfest. The arrival of free-to-play Dust 514 in the summer will mark the company’s first PS3 title.
Crytek
The Frankfurt studio has showcased its ever-evolving CryENGINE 3 and its advancements now include AI Systems, UI Actions and various improvements for serious games developers. The studio has also ventured into new waters with the smartphone puzzler Fibble: Flick ‘n’ Roll and games-as-service shooter Warface, a huge hit in Continental Europe.
Frontier Developments
Having successfully embraced the capabilities of the Kinect, the longstanding Cambridge based studio has released a range of popular family-friendly titles that has seen consumers play with ‘Kinectimals’ and explore Disneyland. Recent Lost Winds 2: Winter of the Melodias, a sequel to former Develop Award winner, has helped to showcase Frontier’s advanced IOS rendering techniques.
Mediatonic
The past year has seen a wave of changes to this London based studio as its profile has grown. Selected by UKIE to represent the UK games industry at government forums, the studio is now working on a global scale, employing 40 people to deal with its range of popular titles including Robot Unicorn Attack: Evolution, a game, which registered 600,000 players in only three weeks.
40 | Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2012
Preloaded
With a focus on transforming the image of educational games, this studio has worked alongside a range of other studios with partnerships including work with Channel 4 and the BBC. Earlier this year, it was also selected by Birmingham City Council to build a game for its ambitious new £189 million library.
Rovio Entertainment
Having sent its incredibly popular birds to Space and with plans in the pipeline to catapult them to the big screen, this independent studio continues to confound its critics, with the announcement of plans to form a new studio in Stockholm – hiring up to 30 new staff in the process – drive Angry Birds further into merchandise, and even open a theme park.