Beenox

Beenox Inc. is a Canadian video game developer established in 2000 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The studio became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision on May 25, 2005.^[2]

Beenox Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	May 2000; 23 years ago (2000-05)
Founder	Dominique Brown
Headquarters	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Number of locations	2 (2024)
Key people	Nour Polloni (studio head)^[1]
Number of employees	~300
Parent	Activision (2005–present)
Subsidiaries	Beenox Montréal
Website	beenox.com/en/

History

Between 2003 and 2006, the developer was essentially a porting house. They completed approximately 30 projects for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems, based on popular franchises such as X-Men, Spider-Man and Shrek.

In 2006, they returned to original game development with the console versions of Bee Movie Game,^[3] inspired by the feature film from DreamWorks Animation. As part of Activision's E3 2007 media blitz, it was announced that Beenox was the developer behind the Windows version of Activision's Spider-Man game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, which was released in October 2007.^[4] They released the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Windows versions of Monsters vs. Aliens and the console versions of Guitar Hero Smash Hits. Beenox later developed the Spider-Man games Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions,^[5] Spider-Man: Edge of Time,^[6] The Amazing Spider-Man,^[7] and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.^[8]

After founder Dominique Brown's departure in December 2012,^[9] the studio's focus shifted from leading original game development to doing a number of support tasks on Activision's superbrands Skylanders and Call of Duty. In 2015, Beenox worked in conjunction with Mercenary Technology on bringing Call of Duty: Black Ops III to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.^[10]

In March 2022, Beenox announced that it would open a second office in Montréal, Quebec, led by Nour Polloni, increasing its staff count by 20%.^[11]

Games developed

Year	Game	Platform(s)	Notes
2001	Pillars of Garendall	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X	—
2007	Bee Movie Game	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
	Guitar Hero Smash Hits	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
2010	Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
2011	Spider-Man: Edge of Time	Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
2013	Skylanders: Swap Force	PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One	Co-developed with Vicarious Visions
2014	The Amazing Spider-Man 2	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One	—
	Skylanders: Trap Team	Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One	Co-developed with Toys for Bob
2015	Skylanders: SuperChargers	iOS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One	Co-developed with Vicarious Visions
	Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing	Nintendo 3DS, Wii	—
	Call of Duty: Black Ops III	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360	Co-developed with Mercenary Technology
2016	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	Additional work
2018	Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
2019	Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	—
	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	Additional work
2020	Call of Duty: Warzone
	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered		—
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S	Additional work^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]
	Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
	Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2021	Call of Duty: Vanguard
2022	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
	Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0
2023	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
2024	Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile	iOS, Android	Co-developed with Digital Legends Entertainment, Activision Shanghai Studio, Demonware, and Solid State Studios^[16]

Ports

Year	Game	Platform(s)
2003	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3^[17]	Mac OS X
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4^[18]	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
	Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer^[19]
	Wakeboarding Unleashed Featuring Shaun Murray^[20]
	Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness^[21]	Mac OS X
2004	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King^[22]
	Homeworld 2^[23]
	Railroad Tycoon 3^[24]
	Tony Hawk's Underground 2	Microsoft Windows
	Pitfall: The Lost Expedition
	The Incredibles^[25]	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
	Shrek 2: Team Action	Microsoft Windows
	MTX Mototrax^[26]	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
2005	Tony Hawk's Underground	Microsoft Windows
	Madagascar
	Fantastic Four
	Star Wars: Battlefront^[27]	Mac OS X
	X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse^[28]	Microsoft Windows
	Ultimate Spider-Man
	Myst V: End of Ages^[29]	Mac OS X
	Evil Dead: Regeneration	Microsoft Windows
	The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
	Gun	Microsoft Windows
	MX vs. ATV Unleashed
2006	Over the Hedge
	X-Men: The Official Game
	Cars	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
	Marvel: Ultimate Alliance	Microsoft Windows
2007	Spider-Man 3
	Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
2008	Kung Fu Panda	Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
	007: Quantum of Solace	Microsoft Windows, Wii
2009	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	Microsoft Windows

Cancelled

• The Vatz^[30][31][32]

References

1. Mattone, Mattone (October 27, 2020). "Beenox Celebrates 20th Anniversary". Activision Games Blog. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
2. "Activision Establishes Development Foothold in Quebec With Acquisition of Beenox". Activision Blizzard. May 25, 2005. from the original on October 7, 2018. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
3. Hayward, Andrew (November 6, 2007). "Bee Movie Game review". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
4. . TotalGaming.net. July 12, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 12, 2007.
5. "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions". IGN. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
6. Krupa, Daniel (October 6, 2011). "Spider-Man: Edge of Time Review". IGN. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
7. "The Amazing Spider-Man". IGN. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
8. Rudden, Dave (May 1, 2014). "The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Game Review". IGN. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
9. Tach, Dave (December 14, 2012). "Beenox founder leaves studio, two employees rise in the ranks". Polygon. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
10. Sarkar, Samit (September 25, 2015). "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 won't have a campaign on PS3 and Xbox 360". Polygon. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
11. Partis, Danielle (March 29, 2022). "Beenox to open new studio in Montreal". Gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
12. Beenox [@BeenoxTeam] (May 12, 2020). "#THPS is finally back! Congratulations to Vicarious Visions for announcing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2, happy to be a part of the supporting team on the game. Star-struckSparkles" (Tweet). Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Twitter.
13. Beenox [@BeenoxTeam] (June 22, 2020). "Congratulations to @ToysForBob for announcing Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, happy to be part of the supporting team!" (Tweet). Retrieved June 22, 2020 – via Twitter.
14. Bhat, Keshav (August 26, 2020). "Black Ops Cold War development team includes multiple Activision studios". Charlie INTEL. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
15. CharlieIntel [@charlieINTEL] (August 12, 2023). "MW3's Battle net page confirms that along with Sledgehammer Games, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Beenox, Raven, High Moon, and demonware are also working on the game" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
16. "Call of Duty: Next: Announcing Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, Redefining Battle Royale for Gamers on the Go". Call of Duty. September 15, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
17. Cohen, Peter (October 23, 2002). "Aspyr announces Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3". Macworld. Retrieved October 23, 2002.
18. Cohen, Peter (July 29, 2003). "Aspyr: Tony Hawk 4 now in duplication". Macworld. Retrieved July 29, 2003.
19. Cohen, Peter (May 15, 2003). "E3: Beenox talks Mac game ports, original development". Macworld. Retrieved May 15, 2003.
20. Cohen, Peter (December 22, 2003). "Aspyr ships Wakeboarding Unleashed for Mac, PC". Macworld. Retrieved December 22, 2003.
21. Cohen, Peter (December 18, 2003). "Aspyr releases new Tomb Raider game". Macworld. Retrieved December 18, 2003.
22. Cohen, Peter (December 17, 2003). "Aspyr: Return of the King is Mac-bound". Macworld. Retrieved December 17, 2003.
23. Cohen, Peter (April 25, 2004). "Aspyr to make Homeworld 2 for Mac". Macworld. Retrieved April 25, 2004.
24. Cohen, Peter (September 1, 2004). "MacSoft: Railroad Tycoon 3 ships Sept. 13". Macworld. Retrieved September 1, 2004.
25. Cohen, Peter (November 1, 2004). "'The Incredibles' games ship". Macworld. Retrieved November 1, 2004.
26. Cohen, Peter (July 27, 2004). "Aspyr to publish MTX: Mototrax for Mac and PC". Macworld. Retrieved July 27, 2004.
27. "Aspyr Media, Inc. Ships Star Wars Battlefront(TM) For Macintosh". Business Wire. July 19, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2005.
28. "Marvel and Activision's X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Ships for the Psp(TM) (Playstation(R) Portable) System". Activision Blizzard. October 19, 2005. Retrieved October 19, 2005.
29. Cohen, Peter (February 24, 2005). "Myst V Mac conversion heading from Beenox". Macworld. Retrieved February 24, 2005.
30. "Beenox Announces VATZ". GameZone. May 4, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
31. Williams, Leah J. (September 20, 2021). "Hidden Palace Just Dropped Over 500 Unreleased Game Prototypes". Kotaku. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
32. Teixeira, Miri (September 20, 2021). "Hundreds of prototype Xbox and Dreamcast games uploaded by Project Deluge". NME. Retrieved November 10, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Beenox Inc. at MobyGames
• Beenox Shift at MobyGames
• Beenox Score at MobyGames