Black Rock Studio

Black Rock Studio Limited
Formerly
  • Pixel Planet (1998–1999)
  • Climax Studios Limited (1999–2003)
  • Climax Studios (Brighton) Limited (2003–2004)
  • Climax Driving Limited (2004)
  • Climax Racing Limited (2004–2006)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
FounderTony Beckwith
Defunct2011; 13 years ago (2011)[1]
FateLiquidation
SuccessorLibrary:
Disney Interactive
Headquarters
Brighton
,
United Kingdom
Number of employees
300
Parent
Websitedisney.co.uk/disneyinteractivestudios/blackrockstudio

Black Rock Studio Limited was a British video game developer based in Brighton, England. It was a division of Disney Interactive Studios. The studio was founded by Tony Beckwith in 1998 as Pixel Planet. It was acquired by the Climax Group in 1999 and was renamed Climax Brighton. In 2004, it became Climax Racing, as the Climax Group rebranded its studios.[2] On 28 September 2006, it was acquired by DIS (formerly known as Buena Vista Games in that time) and was eventually renamed Black Rock Studio in 2007.[3] The last game the studio developed for the Climax Group was MotoGP '07, which was completed after its acquisition by Buena Vista Games. The name is derived from a district in Brighton.[4] In early 2011, the company faced lay-offs and was forced to abandon sequels for Pure and Split/Second: Velocity. Despite good reviews for both games, Disney turned down both sequels to focus on freemium content.[5]

On 30 June 2011, Disney Interactive Studios announced their intent to enter a consultation process on the proposal to close the studios. It was later confirmed that the studio has been shut down and that several 300 ex-employees have formed new studios, including Studio Gobo, West Pier Studio, Roundcube Entertainment, ShortRound Games, and Boss Alien.[6]

  1. ^ "Split/Second dev Black Rock to close". Eurogamer. July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Black Rock Studio". Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  3. ^ Michael French (6 July 2007). "Studio unveils new identity". MCV. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  4. ^ French, Michael (6 July 2007). "Climax Racing Studio unveils new identity". MCV. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  5. ^ "Lay-offs at Split/Second Studio - Eurogamer". Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  6. ^ Robert Purchese (1 July 2011). "Split/Second dev Black Rock to close". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2011.