Realtime Worlds
| File:Rtw.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video games |
| Founded | 2002-2010 |
| Headquarters | Dundee, Scotland, UK |
Key people | Gary Dale (CEO) Dave Jones (Creative Director) Tony Harman (President) Ian Hetherington (Chairman) |
| Products | Crackdown (2007) APB (June 2010) |
Number of employees | 100 |
| Website | http://realtimeworlds.com/ |
Realtime Worlds Ltd is a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland.
Foundation
It was founded in early 2002 by David Jones (formerly of DMA Design) who developed the popular franchises Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and Lemmings.[1] Much of the initial workforce was previously employed at Rage Software, as Rage Games (Scotland). During this period the core team who would go on to form Realtime Worlds developed first-person shooter game Mobile Forces for Microsoft Windows. Upon the demise of Rage Software, Dave Jones bought out Rage Games (Scotland) to form Realtime Worlds.[2]
Realtime Worlds is currently the largest independent game developer in Scotland with over 200 employees as well as a small Boulder, Colorado office.[citation needed]
On 17th August 2010 it was confirmed that Realtime Worlds had entered administration with Begbies Traynor.[3]
Development
In 11 December 2006, New Enterprise Associates announced an investment of 30 million US dollars into Realtime Worlds.[4]
The first release under the name Realtime Worlds was the critically acclaimed Template:Vgy action-adventure, third-person game, Crackdown, an Xbox 360 exclusive title.[1] They are presently developing a massively multiplayer online game for Microsoft Windows, titled APB (All Points Bulletin), which released in Template:Vgy and could generate upwards of "hundreds of millions of pounds".[5]
In 2007, at Develop magazine's Industry Excellence Awards the company was nominated in a record-breaking seven categories, and took home the awards for Innovation and New UK/European Studio. Company chairman Ian Hetherington was also crowned Development Legend.[6] At the 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Video Game Awards ceremony, Crackdown was nominated in five categories and won two, for Action and Adventure and Use of Audio.[7]. In 2008, Crackdown was honoured as Best Debut by the GDC's Game Developers Choice awards.[8]
On 14 February 2008, it was announced that Realtime Worlds had secured US$50M in funding from a consortium led by venture capitalists Maverick Capital and New Enterprise Associates and joined by the WPP Group, a London-based advertising firm. The funds are expected to be used towards "continued expansion".[1]
On 27 April 2009, Gary Dale left his COO position at Take-Two Interactive to become CEO of the company. Dave Jones stepped down as CEO of the company and took the title of creative director.[9]
On 1 May 2010 Realtime Worlds annual accounts revealed a further US$21M investment was made in the company in January 2010.[10] This brings the total investment in Realtime Worlds since 2006 to US$101M.
On the 29th of June 2010, after 5 years of development, with lengthy delays, APB was released to the general public. As of the 15th of July, APB has a metacritic score of 58/100.
On the 7th of July 2010, Realtime Worlds announced that it was to restructure its work force to focus more on providing "total support" for APB. [11]
Administration
On 17th August, 2010, six weeks after the release of APB, Realtime Worlds entered administration, announcing major layoffs to their Dundee division, and mostly closing their Colorado office. References state that 50 employees will be held to maintain the game APB, though it is unclear to what extent[12][13][14][15]. Joint administration was conducted by Paul Dounis[16] of the Begbies Traynor Group[17][18], and one other currently unknown adminastrator and/or group.
Dounis stated: "Our intention is to continue trading the company while we attempt to find a going concern buyer which will safeguard the future of the business."[19]
The following day (August 18th), Begbies Traynor announced that Real Time Worlds had attracted intrest from potential buyers "from both sides of the Atlantic"[20].
References
- ^ a b c Andrews, Robert (2008-04-14). "WPP Amongst $50 Million Investors In Game Maker Realtime Worlds". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "Scottish Enterprise".
- ^ "Realtime Worlds Has Entered Administration".
- ^ "Realtime Worlds Receives Investment From NEA".
- ^ French, Michael (2008-04-15). "Dave Jones says APB could generate revenues in the hundred millions". Develop UK. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ "Games industry creatives honoured at 5th annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards". GamesIndustry.biz. 2007-07-27. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "Video Games Award Winners 2007". BAFTA. 2007-10-01. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "Portal BioShocks GDC Awards". GameSpot. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
- ^ "Realtime Worlds Names Leading Video Game Industry Executive Gary Dale as new CEO". Realtime Worlds. 2008-02-20. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ Companies House - Company No. SC225628
- ^ "Realtime Worlds restructuring to provide "total support" for APB". AOL. 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-08-17-realtime-worlds-enters-administration-article
- ^ http://play.tm/news/31491/realtime-worlds-goes-into-administration/
- ^ http://kotaku.com/5614216/how-apb-torpedoed-developer-realtime-worlds
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11003456
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11003456
- ^ http://www.begbies-traynorgroup.com
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11003456
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11003456
- ^ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-08-18-rtw-buyer-interest-from-both-sides-of-the-atlantic