Rebellion Developments Limited is a Britishvideo game developer based inOxford. Founded byJason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known forSniper Elite and multiple games in theAlien vs. Predator series. Sister company Rebellion Publishing has published comic books since 2000, when it purchased2000 AD, the publisher of characters such asJudge Dredd andRogue Trooper. In the 2010s the studio saw growth and success with theirSniper Elite series of games. The series has spanned 5 mainline installments and multiple spin-offs, including theSniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army entries. Their latest title,Atomfall, was released on March 27, 2025.^[2]

Rebellion Developments Limited

Company type	Private
Industry	Video games Comic books (from 2000) Feature films (from 2017)
Founded	4 December 1992; 32 years ago (1992-12-04)
Founder	Jason Kingsley Chris Kingsley
Headquarters	Oxford , England
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Jason Kingsley (CEO) Chris Kingsley (CTO)
Products	Alien vs. Predator series Sniper Elite series
Number of employees	475 (2022[1])
Subsidiaries	Rebellion Liverpool Rebellion North Rebellion Film Studios Rebellion Publishing Rebellion Warwick
Website	rebellion.com

Rebellion was founded on 4 December 1992 by brothersJason and Chris Kingsley in Oxford, England.^[3][4] The pair had just finished academic degrees at theUniversity of Oxford, and had ambitions of starting doctorates.^[4] In their spare time, they did freelance work in the games industry.^[4] When their freelance jobs roles began to expand and they were taking on more management responsibilities, they decided to establish Rebellion in Oxford.^[4] The foundation of the studio was laid when the brothers secured a deal with video game publisher Atari UK.^[4] They presented a 3D dragon flight game demo to directors at the publisher, who were seeking games for the upcomingAtari Jaguar system.^[4] They were commissioned by Atari to work on two titles for the Jaguar,Checkered Flag andAlien vs Predator, which both released in 1994.^[4] The development team was expanded to assist with work on these games. It included artists Stuart Wilson, Toby Banfield, and Justin Rae, along with programmers Mike Beaton, Rob Dibley, and Andrew Whittaker.^[5] FollowingAlien vs Predator, Rebellion saw no releases for some years, with their next project, the intentionally light-hearted PC gameMr. Tank,^[6] going unpublished.

Over the course of the decade, Rebellion underwent rapid expansion with numerous acquisitions of other studios and properties. This wave of expansions included the purchase of2000 AD fromFleetway Publications, which began Rebellion's first foray into comic books.^[7] In addition to further publications under the label, Rebellion began to develop associated characters for the games market. In 2003 Rebellion released the gameJudge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death.

In 2004, Rebellion entered a deal withDC Comics to reprint several2000 AD stories intrade paperback form, includingJudge Dredd,Strontium Dog,Nikolai Dante, andSinister Dexter. When DC left the venture, citing poor sales, Rebellion created its own line of American graphic novels that were distributed throughSimon & Schuster. In 2005 Rebellion also created the seriesJudge Dredd: The Complete Case Files, which has begun reprinting almost every appearance of Judge Dredd in chronological order.

Rebellion's 2005 gameSniper Elite was awarded "Best PC/Console Game" in theTIGA Awards of 2005.^[8] Following the release, Rebellion acquired numerous games studios and properties. This began in 2006 with the purchase ofTomb Raider developersCore Design fromEidos Interactive, as well as Strangelite fromEmpire Interactive, andElixir Studios' former IPs includingEvil Genius andRepublic: The Revolution.^[9] The acquisitions made Rebellion the largest independent game developer in Europe.^[10]

Acquisitions later in the decade were predominantly associated with the growing publishing wing of the company, includingBlackfish Publishing andMongoose Publishing in 2008,^[11][12] followed byCubicle 7 andSolaris Books in 2009.^[13][14] On 14 July 2009, the company purchased theGround Control,Empire Earth,Lords of Magic andLords of the Realm franchises fromActivision. These were ex-Sierra Entertainment properties that the company offloaded due to their new long-term strategy following theVivendi Games merger.^[15][16]

In 2009, Rebellion'sRogue Warrior game received poor reviews. This was followed byAliens vs. Predator in 2010, published bySega, which received a mixed critical reception, but debuted at number one on the UK all formats chart.^[17] Significant changes were made in 2010, including staff cuts at their main studio in Oxford as well as the closure of Rebellion Derby – the former Core Design studio which had only been purchased four years previously. Studio CEO Jason Kingsley discussed pivoting their focus to smaller titles in the wake of the changes.^[18][19] The move coincided with the end of a property lease. Kingsley commented that "growth is sometimes painful, never more so than in the current climate and we have had to take a long hard look at how we operate our studio network. Strategically we have decided to review the need for the Derby facilities."^[20]

Following the closure of the Derby studio, the company was accused by laid off employees and their spouses of withholding wages and severance pay. The studio was further accused of not paying legal fees for staff members who sought "legal help during the redundancy consultation period".^[21][22]

The mid 2010s saw major successes with theSniper Elite franchise. The company returned to expansion through the purchase of additional studios and properties, expanding both their computer game and publishing sectors, and further diversified into live action film late in the decade. Kingsley was awarded an OBE in 2012 for his work supporting the sector.^[23]

In July 2013, Rebellion bought theBattlezone and theMoonbase Commanderfranchises during theAtari bankruptcy proceedings.^[24] Cubicle 7 left Rebellion in December 2014 viamanagement buyout.^[25]Sniper Elite III was released that year, and by September 2015 the series had passed 10 million copies sold worldwide.^[26]

In August 2016, Rebellion acquired the post-1970IPC Youth and Fleetway comics libraries fromEgmont.^[27][28] It reprinted these under its Treasury of British Comics imprint, includingRoy of the Rovers,Wildcat andOne-Eyed Jack. This would be followed by an acquisition of the pre-1970 titles from the group in 2018.^[29]

In November 2018, Rebellion set up a studio for a film and TV series based on 2000 AD characters, the first projects beingJudge Dredd: Mega-City One andRogue Trooper, both directed byDuncan Jones.^[30] Rebellion Productions, the film production arm founded in 2017, would occupy a disused newspaper factory inDidcot, England.^[31] The studio would launch its first feature film in 2021.^[32]

Several games related acquisitions would be made through 2018 and 2019, including theRadiant Worlds, rebranded "Rebellion Warwick"^[33] and TickTock games, rebranded "Rebellion North".^[34] Rebellion acquiredThe Bitmap Brothers' library of classic games in 2019.^[35]

In 2020 Rebellion acquiredWhitaker's Almanack, publishing an edition in the following year, but it announced that there would be no 2022 edition.

In 2021 Rebellion announced a new bi-monthly humour comic,Monster Fun, would begin in 2022.^[36]

• Audiomotion Studios (acquired in 2003)^[37]
• Rebellion Film Studios^[38]
• Rebellion Liverpool (acquired in 2006)^[39][40]
• Rebellion North (acquired in 2019)^[34]
• Rebellion Publishing^[41]
  • 2000 AD^[42]
  • Abaddon Books^[42]
  • Ravenstone Press^[42]
  • Solaris Books^[42]
• Rebellion Unplugged^[43]
• Rebellion Warwick (acquired in 2018)^[33]

• Razorworks (acquired in 2008)^[44]
• Rebellion Banbury (acquired in 2007)^[45][40]
• Rebellion Derby (acquired in 2006)^[46][40][47]

• Evil Genius (2009, PC). Originally developed by Elixir Studios and published in 2004.
• Republic: The Revolution (2009, PC). Originally developed by Elixir Studios and published in 2003.
• Empire Earth (2009, PC). Originally developed byStainless Steel Studios and published in 2001. The expansion pack was released in 2002.
• Ground Control (2009, PC). Originally developed byMassive Entertainment and published in 2000.
• Ground Control II: Operation Exodus (2009, PC). Originally developed by Massive Entertainment and published in 2004.
• Lords of the Realm (2009, PC). Originally developed byImpressions Games and published in 1994. This includesLords of the Realm II published in 1996.
• Lords of the Realm III (2009, PC). Originally developed by Impressions Games and published in 2004.
• Lords of Magic (2009, PC). Originally developed by Impressions Games and published in 1998.
• Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries (2015, PC). Originally developed by GriN Gamestudio and published in 2015.
• Battlezone 98 Redux (2016, PC). Developed by Big Boat Interactive.
• Battlezone: Combat Commander (2018, PC). Developed by Big Boat Interactive.

• Official website
• Rebellion Developments' profile atMobyGames