 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2003; 22 years ago (2003) |
| Founder | Zsolt Kigyossy |
| Headquarters | , Hungary |
Key people | Zsolt Kigyossy (CEO) |
| Products | |
Number of employees | 71[1] (2021) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | www |
Zen Studios is a Hungarianvideo game developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software with headquarters inBudapest,Hungary and offices in the United States. It is known for its game franchises,Pinball FX andZen Pinball, as well asCastleStorm, atower defense hybrid which received the Apple Store's Editor’s Choice award.[2][3] The company is considered "synonymous withlicensed pinball tables," having produced well over a hundred tables with characters and themes from theStar Wars andMarvel universes, films likeGuardians of the Galaxy, TV series likeArcher,South Park,Family Guy andBob's Burgers, and video game franchises such asPlants vs. Zombies,Portal,Street Fighter, andThe Walking Dead.[4][5][6]
Zen Studios was founded inBudapest in 2003 by a team of four people. It started as a technology and work for hire studio, doinggame engine development,middleware tools, andports for other games.[7] The company name is based on the team's belief inZen as a creed to follow in their work and lives, specifically with employees and fans.[8] By the timePlayStation Network andXbox Live Arcade arrived, the studio had gained knowledge and experience withconsole platforms andgaming handhelds. The companyCEO Zsolt Kigyossy, apinball fan, decided to try to make the best pinballsimulation video game on the market.[7]
Its first pinball game wasPinball FX, released forXbox 360 in 2007. It would sell more than 100,000 copies per year until 2010. BecausePinball FX was published byMicrosoft, it could not appear onSony’sPlayStation 3, leading to the development ofZen Pinball for the PS3 in 2008 (and later foriOS, theWii U, andAndroid).[5][9]Zen Pinball was the top-sellingPSN game in May and September 2009.[10][11]
The company made the first of its three departures from pinball when it releasedThe Punisher: No Mercy in 2009. Thisfirst-person shooter in the style of thePunisher MAX franchise was released for Playstation 3.[10] The company embarked on what would become its biggestmedia franchise cooperation yet when they teamed up withMarvel Comics and releasedMarvel Pinball in December 2010.[12] The cooperation has resulted in twenty-one different pinball tables based on theMarvel Universe, with more anticipated in the future.[6] Another big franchise used for Zen Studios tables isLucasfilm's andDisney'sStar Wars. In 2012, the company debutedStar Wars Pinball, the first pack to feature officially licensed digitalStar Wars pinball tables.[7]
In 2013, Zen Studios released two non-pinball games. The company tackled thetower defense genre withCastleStorm forXBLA, a hybrid of traditional tower defense with real-time physics-basedAngry Birds-esque catapult combat and resource management.[2]CastleStorm would go on to become a successful franchise, earning the Editor’s Choice award in the USApple App Store, as well as an Editor’s Choice distinction fromGoogle Play.[3] Rhythm-basedmartial arts gameKickBeat debuted on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3.[7] On the pinball side, Zen Studios releasedSuper League Football in 2014, where players competed by siding with their favoriteEuropean football clubs and famous players. The game was seen as a modern version of the famous pinball machineWorld Cup Soccer from 1994.[13] The same year saw the release of aGuardians of the Galaxy table.[14]
The company partnered withValve in mid-2015 to create digital pinball tables based onValve's games,[15] most notably thePortal table.[16] That year, Zen Studios' licensed tables included a table based onTelltale Game’sThe Walking Dead andanother one based on the TV showSouth Park. The newIron & Steel collection consisted of a table based onCastleStorm and the studio's first wholly original table in three years,Wild West Rampage.[17]
In early 2016, Zen Studios teamed up withOculus Rift to create pinball tables invirtual reality. Pinball FX2 VR, which features three original table designs from the Zen Studios development team, was released on the Oculus Rift’s launch day, March 28, 2016.[18]
In 2017, Zen Studios releasedPinball FX 3, a joint sequel toPinball FX 2 andZen Pinball 2 that bridged a prior divide between Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms that existed between the first twoPinball FX games and theZen Pinball sub-series, encouragingcross-platform play. This sequel features most tables from its two predecessors, as well as new original and licensed tables.[19] A year afterFX 3 was released, Zen Studios announced that it has recently acquired the rights to develop digital conversions of real-lifeBally andWilliams pinball tables, a first for the company.[20] Zen then went on to release digital Williams pinball tables as premium add-on content forFX 3 in waves, as well as a stand-alone free-to-play app on mobile devices that contained a compilation of such tables.
At the 2020Consumer Electronics Show, Zen Studios announced it was working with Tastemakers LLC, the parent company ofArcade1Up, to create 3/4th scale digital pinball tables, allowing the table to support various digital pinball games from Bally and Williams and others in the future.[21]
In November 2020,Embracer Group announced that they acquired the company throughSaber Interactive, which will be the parent company.[22][23] In March, 2024, Saber was sold to Beacon Interactive, a new company formed by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch. Some of the studios under Saber, including Zen Studios, were not included in the sale, though Saber did retain an option to purchase4A Games and Zen Studios at a later date.[24] In September, 2024, Embracer Group announced that it would be retaining ownership of both as direct subsidiaries, following Saber Interactive's early payment of their acquisition debt.[25]
Zen Studios' pinball style has been called "cinematic".[14][26] In order to capture the mood of a game or franchise, its tables include spoken lines, animations and deep references from movies, TV or animated shows they are based on,[15][27] weaving those references into the action in a fun and interesting way.[28] Each table is a separately designed game, with distinct layouts and graphical styles.[29] One of theStar Wars-themed tables, for example, "feels inextricable from the universe, its elements combining into something truly evocative,"[30] while theAnt-Man-based table "faithfully recreates the aesthetic of the film and makes good use of the notable elements in the table design."[6] InTelltale Games'The Walking Dead: Season One pinball adaptation, the playfield is shaped and surrounded by scale representations of the most memorable set pieces from each of the five episodes in that game.[31]
On the other hand, its tables have been praised for their "realism", which means that they try to create the illusion that "you're at anarcade or in your basement with your eyes peeled to the table in front", and that the ball physics make "predicting angles and opportuneflipper timing as natural as possible".[32]
As a company that seeks to deliver afamily-friendly pinball experience, Zen Studios designs its tables such that they include no material that would be deemed unsuitable for older children (such assexual content,graphic violence,profanity andsubstance abuse). To ensure that all of their pinball titles earn a mid-low rating across all majorvideo game content rating systems, such as theESRB's Everyone 10+ rating,[33] the developers will even go so far as to incorporate censorship into tables based on media franchises that are aimed at adults (such asBethesda video games and theArcher animated television series), as well as certain digital conversions of real-life Williams pinball tables.[citation needed] One exception isPinball M, which includes horror themed boards with graphic violence and profanity, and such is rated M by the ESRB.
The company's first game,Pinball FX, introducedmicrotransactions in the world of pinball gaming, since additional tables were available for purchase. At the launches ofPinball FX2 andZen Pinball 2, pinball tables could be exported for free from the previous games into the sequels. Upon release of theXbox One andPlayStation 4,Pinball FX2 andZen Pinball 2 respectively wereported over, and allowed owners of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions (viacross-buy) to import their purchased tables onto the new platform when available at no additional cost. Tables are available for purchase either individually or as part of themed packs.[5][9][34][35]
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