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Sports Interactive

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Sports Interactive Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1994; 30 years ago (1994)
Founders
Headquarters
London
,
England
Key people
Products
Number of employees
285[2] (2024)
ParentSega (2006–present)
Websitesports-interactive.com

Sports Interactive Limited is a British video game developer based in London, best known for the Football Manager series. Founded by brothers Oliver and Paul Collyer in July 1994, the studio was acquired by Japanese video game publisher Sega in 2006 and became part of Sega Europe.[4] In addition to its work on Football Manager, the studio has also created a number of other sports-management simulations, including NHL Eastside Hockey Manager and Championship Manager Quiz, and is the former developer of Championship Manager.

History

Founded by Paul Collyer and Oliver Collyer, the company is commonly abbreviated to "SI" amongst fans of their games.[citation needed]

In 2003, Sports Interactive split with former publisher Eidos Interactive and signed a deal with Sega to continue their flagship sports franchise under the new name, Football Manager. After the split, both parties kept their intellectual property. Sports Interactive kept the base code, the game database and programming of the game, whilst Eidos kept the rights to the Championship Manager franchise.[citation needed]

On 28 June 2012, Miles Jacobson and Ian Livingstone revealed why they split from Eidos Interactive and joined Sega. In a chat with GameHorizon, Jacobson thought that Beautiful Game Studios was brought in to take over Championship Manager, whilst Livingstone thought that Eidos Interactive brought Beautiful Game Studios to protect the firm in case Sports Interactive jumped ship. Jacobson commented, saying, "I'm sure there are two sides to this story, at the time we felt there was a lack of respect that we did for our work from Eidos. There seemed to be an attitude at the time in the industry that anyone could make games." He continued by saying, "Eidos wanted more control. We wanted more control. We were asking for high royalties. Eidos set up Beautiful Game Studios nine months before Championship Manager 4 was due to come out. They told me that BGS were making a platform game. I thought our number was up."[5]

He then further elaborated by saying, "I went for a curry with the CEO of Sega in Japan and Europe, and he made me an offer on a napkin, I kept telling them we were not for sale. I told them they would have to double the offer for me to even discuss it with Paul and Oliver Collyer."[5]

On 4 April 2006, it was announced that Sega Holdings Europe Ltd, holding company for Sports Interactive's publisher's Sega, had acquired Sports Interactive. When Sega acquired the company, it had 34 employees.[3]

In 2018, Sports Interactive relocated from Old Street in Islington to the Here East development in Stratford. Now occupying half of the first floor in the Press Centre, the studio now has 285 permanent employees in addition to more than 1,400 researchers worldwide for its Football Manager games.

The studio is closely linked with War Child and since 2006 has donated a percentage of each game sale directly to the charity. To date, this initiative has raised a total of more than £1.5m.[6]

The studio has begun developing partnerships with leading football clubs and other organisations in recent years. These include Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford FC, Burnley FC, Venezia FC and Stormzy's project Merky FC.[7]

On May 29th 2024, the studio launched a rebrand. Done in conjunction with design practice Monday Nights, the most significant element was the studio updating its logo for the first time since 2004.[8]

Games

Accolades

The Collyers were appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to the video game industry.[10] Miles Jacobson was appointed an OBE[11] the following year.

In 2021, Sports Interactive were won a 'Best Places to Work' Award at the GamesIndustry.Biz Best Places to Work Awards. They won the same accolade again in 2023.[12]

In 2022, the studio won the MCV/Develop Legend Award at the 2022 MCV/Develop Awards.[13]

In May 2024, the studio was nominated for both the Sustainability Star Award and Best Mobile Game at the Develop:Star Awards.[14] At the event on July 10th, Sports Interactive received the Develop:Star Award award, the event's lifetime achievement gong, in recognition of three decades of achievement and wider contribution to the games industry[15].

References

  1. ^ "Sports Interactive unveils new logo and brand identity - SI Games". www.sigames.com. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b "The Studio". Sports Interactive. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b Dring, Christopher (26 February 2018). "New look Sports Interactive names Disney veteran Matt Carroll as COO". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  4. ^ "The Final Boss". MCV. No. 942. Future Publishing. December 2018. p. 70.
  5. ^ a b Hall, Lee (28 June 2012). "Sports Interactive details split from Eidos after nine years of silence". Edge Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Sports Interactive - Our network and partners - War Child". www.warchild.org.uk. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ^ "News | Sports Interactive". www.sigames.com. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Sports Interactive | Creators of Football Manager". www.sports-interactive.com. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Eastside Hockey Manager is back!". Sports Interactive. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  10. ^ "No. 59282". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 14.
  11. ^ "Football Manager 2011 interview: Miles Jacobson". The Telegraph. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  12. ^ Contributor, GamesIndustry biz Staff (27 September 2023). "Here are the winners of the UK Best Places To Work Awards 2023". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 26 March 2024. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Wallace, Chris (13 May 2022). "Announcing the winners of the 2022 MCV/DEVELOP Awards!". MCV. ISSN 1469-4832. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Develop:Star Awards". www.developconference.com. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Develop:Star Awards". www.developconference.com. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
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