Climax was founded by Karl Jeffery on 3 February 1988.[1] It was originally known as Images Software Ltd., and its initial focus was on developing and porting games for the generation of home computers, consoles and handhelds.[2]
In October 1998, Climax announced the establishment of Climax PC Studio, a sub-studio focused on personal computer game development and located in an office next to Climax's headquarters.[3] Another such studio, Climax Game Boy World, was launched during E3 1999 and focused on the development for the Game Boy family of handheld game devices.[4] Pixel Planet, a Brighton-based studio founded in September 1999 by Tony Beckwith and Greg Michael, entered into a partnership with Climax in November 1999 that saw Pixel Planet become part of the Climax group, being renamed Climax Brighton.[5] This was followed up by Nottingham-based Anthill Studios, which was acquired in June 2000 and renamed "Climax Nottingham". The studio, under the continued leadership of founder Paul Carruthers, was put in charge of the game Warhammer Online, based on Games Workshop's Warhammer franchise.[6][7] By this point, the main studios in the Climax group's Fareham headquarters had been consolidated under "Climax Fareham".[7] The Climax Brighton studio moved to Hove in August 2000.[8] When the studio Charybdis saw large redundancies in staff in April 2001, Climax announced its intent to hire 20 of its former staff at the Nottingham studio.[9] Climax also acquired Syrox Developments of Kingston-upon-Thames in June 2001.[10] In July 2001, Geoff Heath was named Climax's chairman.[11]
The flagship Climax Fareham studio moved to Portsmouth, into offices in the Gunwharf Quays centre, in July 2002, being renamed "Climax Solent". The administrative portion of the Climax group remained in Fareham.[12] A fifth studio based in Venice, California was opened in October 2003.[13] In November 2004, Climax consolidated its London and Solent studios under the name "Climax Action" and rebranded the Brighton and Nottingham studios as "Climax Racing" and "Climax Online", respectively.[14]
In 2006 Konami announced that Climax Action was working on the next entry in the popular Silent Hill franchise of horror games after the original team behind the series, Konami's internal development team Team Silent, had been disbanded. It was titled Silent Hill: Origins and exclusively announced for the PlayStation Portable. In October 2007 the game was released to positive reviews.[15] In 2008 a PlayStation 2 version of the game followed.
Climax's Kingston studio was closed in February 2008, leaving the Portsmouth headquarters as the only remaining studio.[16]
In 2009 it was announced that Climax was working on another Silent Hill game for Nintendo's Wii console titled Shattered Memories.[17] The game was announced as a remake of the original Silent Hill game, although the term "re-imagining" was used to emphasise that it was going to provide a completely new experience. Later versions for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable were also announced.
In recent years Climax has developed and published a number of VR titles, including Lola and The Giant (which was featured at Google's I/O'17 event), Bandit Six, Gun Sight, DCL: The Game[18][19] and Dirt Rally 2.0 which was co-developed with Codemasters.[20]
In 2007, following a rumor that had been going around the industry about a possible sale of the company, Jeffrey confirmed that he had owned 100% of the studio's shares, denying any of the rumors about an acquisition.[21] The studio would then later be acquired by Keywords Studios in April 2021 for £47 million.[22]
Former development subsidiaries
Climax PC Studio - Established Oct 1998.
Climax Game Boy World - Established July 1999.
Climax Racing (Climax Brighton) - Formerly Pixel Planet; partnership entered into September 1999. Sold to Buena Vista Games in September 2006 and later renamed to Black Rock Studio.[23]
^. Climax. 3 February 2003. Archived from the original on 28 September 2004.
^"Images Software". New Computer Express. 8 October 1991.
^. Climax. Archived from the original on 8 May 1999.
^. Climax. Archived from the original on 8 May 1999.
^. Climax. 7 November 1999. Archived from the original on 18 August 2003.
^Hong, Quang (12 June 2000). "Climax Acquires Anthill". Gamasutra. from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^ ab. Climax. 12 June 2000. Archived from the original on 18 August 2003.
^. Climax. 22 August 2000. Archived from the original on 18 August 2003.
^. Climax. 24 April 2001. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003.
^Bramwell, Tom (12 June 2001). "Climax Group swallows Syrox whole". Eurogamer. from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^"Climax Appoints New Chairman". Gamasutra. 17 July 2001. from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^. Climax. 1 July 2002. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003.
^Jenkins, David (15 October 2003). "Climax Opens New Sound Department". Gamasutra. from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Fahey, Rob (29 November 2004). "Climax rebrands studios in "virtual merger"". GamesIndustry.biz. from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^"Silent Hill: Origins for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^MCV Staff (1 February 2008). "Climax Kingston closed". MCV/Develop. from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Fahey, Mike (6 April 2009). "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Re-Does Wii, PS2, And PSP". Kotaku. from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Santa Maria, Alex (28 August 2019). "Why THQ Nordic was the surprise star of Gamescom 2019". GameRevolution. from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
^Barker, Sammy (19 August 2019). "There's a Drone Champions League, And Now There's a Game". Push Square. from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
^Price, Dan. "DIRT RALLY 2.0". Climax Studios. from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^Martin, Matt (20 December 2007). "Climax shoots down acquisition rumours". GamesIndustry.biz. from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
^Partis, Danielle (22 April 2021). "Keywords acquires Climax for up to £43m". GamesIndustry.biz. from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
^Michael French (6 July 2007). . MCV. Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
External links
Official website
March 22, 2023
climax, studios, japanese, video, game, developer, climax, entertainment, british, video, game, developer, based, portsmouth, that, best, known, their, work, 2004, action, role, playing, game, sudeki, 2007, 2009, survival, horror, video, games, silent, hill, o. For the Japanese video game developer see Climax Entertainment Climax Studios is a British video game developer based in Portsmouth that is best known for their work on the 2004 action role playing game Sudeki and the 2007 and 2009 survival horror video games Silent Hill Origins and Silent Hill Shattered Memories from the Silent Hill franchise Climax StudiosFormerlyImages Software 1988 1995 The Climax Group 1995 2005 TypeSubsidiaryIndustryVideo gamesFounded3 February 1988 35 years ago 1988 02 03 FounderKarl JefferyHeadquartersGunwharf Quays Portsmouth EnglandKey peopleSimon Gardner CEO ParentKeywords Studios 2021 present Websiteclimaxstudios com Contents 1 History 2 Former development subsidiaries 3 Games developed 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditClimax was founded by Karl Jeffery on 3 February 1988 1 It was originally known as Images Software Ltd and its initial focus was on developing and porting games for the generation of home computers consoles and handhelds 2 In October 1998 Climax announced the establishment of Climax PC Studio a sub studio focused on personal computer game development and located in an office next to Climax s headquarters 3 Another such studio Climax Game Boy World was launched during E3 1999 and focused on the development for the Game Boy family of handheld game devices 4 Pixel Planet a Brighton based studio founded in September 1999 by Tony Beckwith and Greg Michael entered into a partnership with Climax in November 1999 that saw Pixel Planet become part of the Climax group being renamed Climax Brighton 5 This was followed up by Nottingham based Anthill Studios which was acquired in June 2000 and renamed Climax Nottingham The studio under the continued leadership of founder Paul Carruthers was put in charge of the game Warhammer Online based on Games Workshop s Warhammer franchise 6 7 By this point the main studios in the Climax group s Fareham headquarters had been consolidated under Climax Fareham 7 The Climax Brighton studio moved to Hove in August 2000 8 When the studio Charybdis saw large redundancies in staff in April 2001 Climax announced its intent to hire 20 of its former staff at the Nottingham studio 9 Climax also acquired Syrox Developments of Kingston upon Thames in June 2001 10 In July 2001 Geoff Heath was named Climax s chairman 11 The flagship Climax Fareham studio moved to Portsmouth into offices in the Gunwharf Quays centre in July 2002 being renamed Climax Solent The administrative portion of the Climax group remained in Fareham 12 A fifth studio based in Venice California was opened in October 2003 13 In November 2004 Climax consolidated its London and Solent studios under the name Climax Action and rebranded the Brighton and Nottingham studios as Climax Racing and Climax Online respectively 14 In 2006 Konami announced that Climax Action was working on the next entry in the popular Silent Hill franchise of horror games after the original team behind the series Konami s internal development team Team Silent had been disbanded It was titled Silent Hill Origins and exclusively announced for the PlayStation Portable In October 2007 the game was released to positive reviews 15 In 2008 a PlayStation 2 version of the game followed Climax s Kingston studio was closed in February 2008 leaving the Portsmouth headquarters as the only remaining studio 16 In 2009 it was announced that Climax was working on another Silent Hill game for Nintendo s Wii console titled Shattered Memories 17 The game was announced as a remake of the original Silent Hill game although the term re imagining was used to emphasise that it was going to provide a completely new experience Later versions for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable were also announced In recent years Climax has developed and published a number of VR titles including Lola and The Giant which was featured at Google s I O 17 event Bandit Six Gun Sight DCL The Game 18 19 and Dirt Rally 2 0 which was co developed with Codemasters 20 In 2007 following a rumor that had been going around the industry about a possible sale of the company Jeffrey confirmed that he had owned 100 of the studio s shares denying any of the rumors about an acquisition 21 The studio would then later be acquired by Keywords Studios in April 2021 for 47 million 22 Former development subsidiaries EditClimax PC Studio Established Oct 1998 Climax Game Boy World Established July 1999 Climax Racing Climax Brighton Formerly Pixel Planet partnership entered into September 1999 Sold to Buena Vista Games in September 2006 and later renamed to Black Rock Studio 23 Climax Online Climax Nottingham Formerly Anthill Studios acquired June 2000 Climax Kingston Formerly Syrox Developments acquired June 2001 Closed in February 2008 Climax Action Climax Fareham and Climax London Consolidated November 2004 Games developed EditMain article List of Climax gamesReferences Edit Climax Celebrates 15th Birthday With Plans To Expand Climax 3 February 2003 Archived from the original on 28 September 2004 Images Software New Computer Express 8 October 1991 Profile Climax Archived from the original on 8 May 1999 Services Climax Archived from the original on 8 May 1999 Tony Beckwith amp Greg Michael to join Climax Group Climax 7 November 1999 Archived from the original on 18 August 2003 Hong Quang 12 June 2000 Climax Acquires Anthill Gamasutra Archived from the original on 10 April 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 a b The Climax Group s acquisition of Anthill Studios Climax 12 June 2000 Archived from the original on 18 August 2003 Climax Brighton Moves to New High Tec Studio Climax 22 August 2000 Archived from the original on 18 August 2003 Climax Promises life after Charybdis Climax 24 April 2001 Archived from the original on 19 August 2003 Bramwell Tom 12 June 2001 Climax Group swallows Syrox whole Eurogamer Archived from the original on 10 April 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Climax Appoints New Chairman Gamasutra 17 July 2001 Archived from the original on 10 April 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Climax To Open New Production Facility Climax 1 July 2002 Archived from the original on 19 August 2003 Jenkins David 15 October 2003 Climax Opens New Sound Department Gamasutra Archived from the original on 10 April 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Fahey Rob 29 November 2004 Climax rebrands studios in virtual merger GamesIndustry biz Archived from the original on 16 February 2021 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Silent Hill Origins for PSP Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on 25 January 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 MCV Staff 1 February 2008 Climax Kingston closed MCV Develop Archived from the original on 23 September 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Fahey Mike 6 April 2009 Silent Hill Shattered Memories Re Does Wii PS2 And PSP Kotaku Archived from the original on 20 October 2020 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Santa Maria Alex 28 August 2019 Why THQ Nordic was the surprise star of Gamescom 2019 GameRevolution Archived from the original on 28 September 2020 Retrieved 5 September 2019 Barker Sammy 19 August 2019 There s a Drone Champions League And Now There s a Game Push Square Archived from the original on 5 September 2019 Retrieved 5 September 2019 Price Dan DIRT RALLY 2 0 Climax Studios Archived from the original on 29 July 2020 Retrieved 29 July 2020 Martin Matt 20 December 2007 Climax shoots down acquisition rumours GamesIndustry biz Archived from the original on 3 October 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2020 Partis Danielle 22 April 2021 Keywords acquires Climax for up to 43m GamesIndustry biz Archived from the original on 22 April 2021 Retrieved 22 April 2021 Michael French 6 July 2007 Studio unveils new identity MCV Archived from the original on 6 December 2007 Retrieved 1 July 2009 External links EditOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Climax Studios amp oldid 1135598974, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
