 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2008 (17 years ago) (2008) as Rail Simulator Developments Ltd |
| Founders | Paul Jackson, Tim Gatland, Charlie McMicking |
| Headquarters | Chatham,Kent,United Kingdom |
Key people | Paul Jackson, Charlie McMicking, Gemma Johnson-Brown, Jon Rissik, Rob O'Farrell, Gray Poyda |
| Products | Train Simulator (RailWorks) Train Sim World Euro Fishing Fishing Sim World |
Number of employees | 170 |
| Parent | Focus Entertainment |
| Website | www |
Dovetail Games (DTG), atrading name ofRailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), is a Britishsimulation video gamedeveloper andpublisher established in 2008 by formerElectronic Arts executivePaul Jackson, Fund4Games backers Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking, and a development team fromKuju Entertainment.
Originally focused on developing new content for Kuju Entertainment'sRail Simulator, they would go on to produce successorsRailWorks/Train Simulator andTrain Sim World, as well as fishing and flight simulation games.
In April 2023, Dovetail Games announced its acquisition byFocus Entertainment.[1]
RailWorks' predecessor,Rail Simulator, was developed byKuju Entertainment, the same company that developedMicrosoft Train Simulator withMicrosoft. With the release ofRail Simulator in October 2007, Kuju Entertainment finished development and disbanded the development team, turning its attention to the next project.
Knowing the potential of their proprietary game engine, and with backing from Fund4Games (Tim Gatland and Charlie McMicking), a new company was set up called Rail Simulator Developments Ltd (RSDL) from some of the core members of the initial development team with the specific aim of fulfilling continued development of the brand and supporting users and third-party developers with add-on projects. RSDL produced two patches to the core simulator, developed and released add-ons, helped the release of third-party products, and visited exhibitions to promote the simulation and provide support for users via several community websites.
In April 2009, the formation of a new company was announced.[2] Jackson, Gatland and McMicking went on to set up RailSimulator.com Ltd (RSC), employing many of the original creative team, along with Steve Bainbridge (previously of Electronic Arts and GAME stores) and Duncan Best (previouslyBritish Academy Video Games Awards,ELSPA and Director of theLondon Games Festival).[3]
Development switched to a new version of the software calledRailWorks, which would be released onSteam. This change heralded a break from Electronic Arts being the publisher in Europe and rights over the source code forRail Simulator being transferred to single ownership by RailSimulator.com Ltd.[4] After improving the software, they launchedRailWorks in June 2009. The company has released yearly updates since then, with the latest version,Train Simulator Classic, released in April 2022.
On 9 December 2013, it was announced that RailSimulator.com has changed its name to Dovetail Games.[5] The company said that it was in the early stages of developing a range of completely new simulation products to sit alongsideTrain Simulator, and this broader perspective required a new company name.[5]
Dovetail Games announced on 1 July 2014 its first new simulation product; afishingsimulation game titledEuro Fishing (initiallyDovetail Games Fishing), utilising Epic Games'Unreal Engine 4 architecture and released for PC on 4 November 2014, with more formats to follow. The company also announced that it is laying the foundation to using Unreal Engine 4 in future versions ofTrain Simulator.[6]
On 9 July 2014, Dovetail Games announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft to releaseMicrosoft Flight Simulator X: Gold Edition on Steam in late 2014, titledMicrosoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition. It includes content that was provided with the originalFSX: Gold Edition which includesFSX: Deluxe Edition, theAcceleration expansion pack and both official Service Packs and repackages them in one bundle and a single installation. It also replaces the now-defunctGameSpy multiplayer systems with Steamworks features, enabling multiplayer to work without 3rd party software. It also sorted out a number of software bugs.[7]
The company also announced that it will be developing and producing all-newflight simulation software based on Microsoft's genre-defining flight technology.[8] Following the announcement, the company announced on 25 July 2014 that it will be working in partnership with Flight One Software (Flight1), a developer and publisher of flight simulation content, to deliver a range of Flight1 add-ons forMicrosoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition.[9] On 9 December 2014, Dovetail Games announced the launch date ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition would be 18 December 2014.[10]
On 4 August 2015, Dovetail Games announced plans with Microsoft to bring a number of its future releases toWindows 10 andXbox One in 2016. The company said thatEuro Fishing, currently available on PC through Steam, will be released on Xbox One. The next generation of theTrain Simulator franchise, powered by Unreal Engine 4, will be released on both platforms andDovetail Games Flight Simulator, built on the foundations of Microsoft's Flight technology, will be released on PC.[11] On 15 March 2016 Xbox announced that Flight School will be released on Windows 10.[12]
In September 2016, Dovetail Games announcedTrain Sim World, a new train simulator using Epic's Unreal Engine 4 and featuring the ability to walk around in the world.Train Sim World was later released in March 2017.[13]
In May 2017, Dovetail Games announced their new flight simulator,Flight Sim World, which released later that month.[14] However, a year after release, Dovetail Games announced it would stop development ofFlight Sim World and remove it from sale in May 2018.[15]
In August 2020,Train Sim World 2 was released. While Dovetail Games was never able to deliver the promised multiplayer in the previous version, they say it is in their "future roadmap" and thatTrain Sim World 2 has "a design that we think will give a great social experience".[16]
Around the same time, the company launchedWe Are Railfans, an online rail community aiming to bring many aspects of railfanning to one place. By the end of 2021, hundreds of website articles on trainspotting, heritage rail, modelling and photography had been published to a growing community of over 35,000 Facebook users. TheWe Are Railfans Podcast supplemented this with detailed interviews from those within rail, including locomotive drivers, authors and TV personalities.[17]
On 28 October 2021, Dovetail Games releasedBassmaster Fishing 2022 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One. It is an officially licensed game from the real worldBassmaster series of amateur and elite events. The game features 10 pro anglers including Scott Martin and Hank Cherry as well as 8 real world locations. A multiplayer mode also features.[18]
9 August 2022 saw the announcement ofTrain Sim World 3, for release on 6 September 2022 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Steam and Epic Games Store. The announce was preceded by a lengthy tease video which hinted at the various features to be included in the latest release, such as volumetric skies, a new dynamic weather system and the three new routes: Cajon Pass, Southeastern Highspeed (Extended) and Kassel-Würzburg.[19]
On 20 April 2023, Dovetail Games announced that they had been acquired by French video game developerFocus Entertainment in a mostly cash transaction. Full financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.[1]
In September 2023,Train Sim World 4 was released with brand new features such as free roam, photo mode and formation designer.[20]
