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Realtime Worlds Ltd. (formerlyRage Games (Scotland) Limited andReal Time Worlds Ltd.) was a Britishvideo game developer based inDundee. The studio was formed in February 2000 whenRage Software hiredDavid Jones to lead its Scottish operations. In March 2002, a financially stricken Rage Software sold the studio to Jones, who renamed it Real Time Worlds. After developingCrackdown (2007) andAPB: All Points Bulletin (2009), Realtime Worlds filed foradministration in August 2010.[2]
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Formerly |
|
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Company type | Private |
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 7 February 2000; 25 years ago (2000-02-07) |
Founder | David Jones |
Defunct | 17 August 2010 (2010-08-17)[1] |
Fate | Administration |
Headquarters | , Scotland |
Products | |
Number of employees | 200[1] (2010) |
Foundation
editOn 7 February 2000,Rage Software announced that it had hiredDavid Jones, the founder ofDMA Design, to lead new operations in Scotland for the company.[3][4] His studio developed the shooter gameMobile Forces.[5] Due to financial issues that arose at Rage Software, the company announced in March 2002 that it would sell the studio to Jones.[6] Jones subsequently renamed the company Real Time Worlds.[5][7]
Development
editOn 11 December 2006,New Enterprise Associates announced an investment of US$30 million into Realtime Worlds.[8]
Their first release under the name Realtime Worlds was the critically acclaimed 2007 action-adventure third-person sandbox gameCrackdown, anXbox 360 exclusive title.[4] In 2010, they released amassively multiplayer online game for Microsoft Windows, titledAPB (All Points Bulletin), which had been in development for five years, and was hoped to generate upwards of "hundreds of millions of pounds".[9]
In 2007, atDevelop magazine's Industry Excellence Awards, the company was nominated in a record-breaking seven categories, and took home the awards forInnovation andNew UK/European Studio. Company chairman Ian Hetherington was also crownedDevelopment Legend.[10] At the 2007British Academy of Film and Television Arts Video Game Awards ceremony,Crackdown was nominated in five categories and won two, forAction and Adventure andUse of Audio.[11] In 2008,Crackdown was honored asBest Debut by theGDC's Game Developers Choice awards.[12]
On 14 February 2008, it was announced that Realtime Worlds had secured $50M in funding from a consortium led byventure capitalists Maverick Capital andNew Enterprise Associates and joined by theWPP Group, aLondon-basedadvertising firm. The funds are expected to be used for "continued expansion".[4]
On 27 April 2009, Gary Dale left his COO position atTake-Two Interactive to become CEO of the company. Dave Jones stepped down as CEO of the company and took on the title of creative director.[13]
On 1 May 2010, Realtime Worlds annual accounts revealed a further $21M investment was made in the company in January 2010.[14] This brings the total investment in Realtime Worlds since 2006 to $101M.
On 29 June 2010, after five years of development, with lengthy delays,APB was released to the general public. As of 15 July 2010,APB had a metacritic score of 58 out of 100. On 7 July 2010, Realtime Worlds announced that it was to restructure its work force to focus more on providing "total support" forAPB.[15]
On 16 September 2010, Realtime Worlds announced that it would be shutting downAPB's servers for good.[16]
Administration and closure
editOn 17 August 2010, six weeks after the release ofAPB, Realtime Worlds enteredadministration withBegbies Traynor, announcing major layoffs to their Dundee division, and mostly closing their Colorado office.[17] References state that 50 employees would be held to maintain the gameAPB All Points Bulletin, though it was unclear to what extent.[18][19][20][21] Joint administration was conducted by Paul Dounis and Ken Pattullo of the Begbies Traynor Group.[21]
Dounis stated: "Our intention is to continue trading the company while we attempt to find agoing concern buyer which will safeguard the future of the business."[21] The following day (18 August), Begbies Traynor announced that Realtime Worlds had attracted interest from potential buyers "from both sides of the Atlantic."[22] On 19 August, Begbies Traynor confirmed that a buyer needed to be found for the company as a going concern by the end of September.[23] If that deadline was not achieved,liquidation was the most likely option for Realtime Worlds.
On 16 September 2010, the remainder of the Realtime Worlds staff was laid off with a temporary skeleton crew left in place to close the offices in Dundee and Colorado.[24]
On 12 November 2010, bidding on thousands of Realtime Worlds lots ended, with industrial auctioneer Sweeney Kincaid managing the sales and collections. The lots included monitors, computers and games consoles.[25]
Games
editYear | Game | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
X360 | Win | ||||
2007 | Crackdown | Microsoft Game Studios | Third-person shooter | Yes | No |
2010 | APB: All Points Bulletin | Electronic Arts | Third-person shooter | No | Yes |
References
edit- ^ab"Realtime games company collapses".BBC News. 17 August 2010.
- ^Bradshaw, Tim (17 August 2010)."Game over as Realtime Worlds in administration".Financial Times.Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved12 May 2020.
- ^Berghammer, Billy (7 February 2000)."Ragin' online GBA".Nintendo World Report.Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved26 March 2024.
- ^abcAndrews, Robert (14 April 2008)."WPP Amongst $50 Million Investors In Game Maker Realtime Worlds".Washington Post.Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved15 April 2008.
- ^abWallis, Alistair (21 December 2006)."Playing Catch Up:GTA/Lemmings' Dave Jones".Game Developer.Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved26 March 2024.
- ^"Rage to Hand Back Scottish Operation" (Press release).Rage Software. 8 March 2002.Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved26 March 2024 – viaThe Free Library.
- ^"Scottish Enterprise". Archived fromthe original on 11 September 2009.
- ^"Realtime Worlds Receives Investment From NEA". Archived fromthe original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved5 May 2010.
- ^French, Michael (15 April 2008)."Dave Jones says APB could generate revenues in the hundred millions". Develop UK. Archived fromthe original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved16 April 2008.
- ^"Games industry creatives honoured at 5th annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards".GamesIndustry.biz. 27 July 2007.Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved15 April 2008.
- ^"Video Games Award Winners 2007".BAFTA. 1 October 2007. Archived fromthe original on 16 April 2008. Retrieved15 April 2008.
- ^"Portal BioShocks GDC Awards".GameSpot. 20 February 2008.Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved15 April 2008.
- ^"Realtime Worlds Names Leading Video Game Industry Executive Gary Dale as new CEO". Realtime Worlds. 20 February 2008. Archived fromthe original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved27 April 2009.
- ^Companies House - Company No. SC225628
- ^"Realtime Worlds restructuring to provide "total support" for APB". AOL. 7 July 2010.Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved9 August 2010.
- ^"Realtime Worlds shutting down APB". Realtime Worlds. 16 September 2010. Retrieved16 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^Alex Wiltshire (18 August 2010)."Realtime Worlds Has Entered Administration".Edge Magazine. Archived fromthe original on 19 September 2010.
- ^Phil Elliott (17 August 2010)."Realtime Worlds enters administration".GamesIndustry.biz.Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved17 August 2010.
- ^Ewan Aiton (17 August 2010)."Realtime Worlds goes into administration".Play.tm. Archived fromthe original on 20 August 2010.
- ^Michael McWhertor (16 August 2010)."How APB 'Torpedoed' Developer Realtime Worlds".Kotaku.Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved17 August 2010.
- ^abc"Realtime Worlds games company goes into administration".BBC News. 17 August 2010.Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved20 June 2018.
- ^Phil Elliott (18 August 2010)."RTW buyer interest "from both sides of the Atlantic"".GamesIndustry.biz.Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved20 August 2010.
- ^Kieran Andrews (19 August 2010)."Six weeks to rescue Realtime Worlds".The Courier. Archived fromthe original on 22 August 2010.
- ^Tom Curtis (17 September 2010)."Realtime Worlds Lays Off Final Staff In Dundee and U.S. Offices".Gamasutra.Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved17 September 2010.
- ^Connor Beaton (12 December 2010)."The Legacy of Realtime Worlds".zConnection. Archived fromthe original on 15 December 2010.