MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Self-described UK ‘super developer’ Rebellion, one of the largest independent studios in Europe, has been popping open the champagne following a winning streak in the UK PSP charts.
The firm’s The Simpsons Game for EA, Alien vs Predator for Sierra and Star Wars: Renegade Squadron for LucasArts have all secured places in the listing, as well as doing the business in sales rankings globally.
Rebellion also developed the best-selling Wii and PS2 SKUs for The Simpsons title, which has been a top 10 game in the UK since Christmas.
The commercial success comes after an intense growth phase over the past 18 months for the studio, acquiring Core Design, Strangelight and Awesome. Now the team at the Oxford HQ are preparing to move into new custom-built premises in the city later this year, while the company will soon be announcing its next-gen projects.
Jason Kingsley CEO and creative director commented: "Being Independent does allow a number of options in our approach to producing games. Using The Simpsons Game as an example, we produced a multi-format game of one of EA’s global IP’s within the designated time scale and on budget, due in most part, to our flexibility and in-house technology. Also, being an Independent meant we were respected by the brand owners and able to provide unbiased views and opinions throughout the development of the game which ultimately helped maintain its quality and direction. This is especially true when looking at the success of our other PSP games at the moment."
Chris Kingsley CTO continued: "We have our own method of game development and we’re happy to say it is working wonderfully! Every one of our games released in 2007 went Top 10, a fact we’re very proud of. From the studio acquisitions, staff recruitment and restructuring which has been implemented year-on-year, all of our efforts are coming to fruition. Our next big step is the move to our purpose built studio in Oxford later this year. From there, our aim is to maintain the influx of new and exciting talent to our studios, build on our relationships with our partners and to complete our next-gen games for 2008 and 2009."
Brother Jason concluded: ‘It seems as if every month a successful studio is being bought and brought into the publisher fold and in time we could run the risk that the industry loses the vitality and innovation that independent studios offer. So for this month we’re proud to be flying the UK Independent flag."
