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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | Simis |
| Founded | 1998; 27 years ago (1998) |
| Owner | Eidos Interactive (1995–1998) Catalis (2007–present) |
| Parent | Curve Games |
| Subsidiaries | Headstrong Games (2000–2017) Vatra Games (2009–2012) Zoë Mode (2004–2016) |
| Website | www |
Kuju Entertainment Ltd. is a Britishvideo game developer. The original company wasSimis, formed in 1989 and purchased byEidos Interactive in 1995. Kuju was formed in 1998 inShalford, Surrey, England, after a management buyout of Simis from Eidos.
Kuju has released titles across different devices, ranging fromArt Academy on theNintendo DS,The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest andBattalion Wars 2 for theWii, and anXbox One title,Powerstar Golf.
Ian Baverstock and Jonathan Newth opened Simis in 1989 and produced a number offlight simulator programs likeMiG-29 Fulcrum. In 1995, the company was purchased by Eidos and operated as an in-house development studio. In 1998, Baverstock and Newth led a management buyout of the studio from Eidos Interactive, forming Kuju Ltd.
The name "Kuju" originates from the initials of the founders’ first names: Ian Baverstock and Jonathan Newth. Jonathan was leafing through a Japanese dictionary when he found the numbers nine and ten – "ku" and "ju" – corresponding to the positions of "I" and "J" in the English alphabet. The combined result was Kuju. Their first game wasTank Racer,[1] a 3D action racer forPC,PlayStation andmobile.[citation needed]
By 2001, Kuju was employing a team of 80 developers, in three separate offices around the UK in London, Surrey and Brighton. Their most notable project at the time wasMicrosoft Train Simulator.[2] In 2002, Kuju floated on theAlternative Investments Market (AIM) of theLondon Stock Exchange. Shortly thereafter the company signed its first game withTHQ based on theGames Workshop franchise,Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior. In the following years between 2002 and 2007, Kuju developed titles includingSingStar games and theBattalion Wars franchise.[citation needed] Kuju was one of the companies considered to develop thegame engine forBBC's game showFightBox.[3]
In 2007, Kuju Ltd. was acquired by a German media investment firm, Catalis SE. Soon after, Kuju Brighton was rebranded toZoë Mode, and in 2008, Kuju London rebranded toHeadstrong Games. In 2010, Headstrong Games completed development ofArt Academy for theNintendo DS console.[4] In June 2012, Dominic Wheatley, co-founder ofDomark, was appointed as CEO; while Gary Bracey, former vice-president of development atOcean Software, was appointed as commercial director.[5]
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Kuju at one point had two UK studios:Headstrong Games[6] in London andZoë Mode in Brighton. Both have since been amalgamated back into Kuju.[7]
Headstrong Games has developed versions ofThe House of the Dead: Overkill,The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest andTop Gun: Hard Lock. Original intellectual property includeArt Academy, which was developed for and owned byNintendo. They also developed theBattalion Wars series, instalments in Nintendo'sWars series.
Zoë Mode have worked on theEyeToy series,Zumba dance franchise andPowerstar Golf. They also developed games for Xbox'sKinect.
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