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WARNER BROS. BUYS MMO DEVS TURBINE Warner Bros has acquired indie MMO developer Turbine in what is reported to be a $160m deal. Turbine – the Massachusetts-based studio responsible for Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online – is now a fully owned Warner subsidiary. Turbine CEO Jim Crowley said the acquisition will allow the studio to expand its business globally. Warner Bros’ latest buyout completes the publisher’s full ownership of the Lord of the Rings game brand – a franchise often tipped to be the likeliest to compete with Blizzard’s genre kingpin World of Warcraft. Last year the group purchased J.R.R. Tolkien’s original literary Lord of the Rings works from EA. Numbers behind the deal have not been announced, though a purported source close to the matter said the deal will be reaching figures as high as $160 million. The deal sees Warner’s aggressive games industry expansion continue, having recently bought up a majority of properties sold by fallen firm Midway, as well as a majority share in Batman: Arkham Asylum studio Rocksteady Games. www.turbine.com
Phil Harrison and David Gardner have also resigned from their seat on the company’s board of directors. Bozek was hired in 2009 to head up the new online-focused outfit. It was uncertain how many were working at Atari London Studio when Bozek headed up the group. The studio had released only one project since Bozek stood in as development director. “We recently launched a Facebook application called Atari Photo Sauce in October,” she recently told Develop. “It’s a social creative app that lets you decorate photos with funny stickers, accessories and speech bubbles and ‘Photo Sauce’ your friends.” www.atari.com UK
TREASURY MINISTER VISITS BLITZ Treasury Minister Stephen Timms has visited UK stronghold Blitz Games Studios. Joined by Labour candidate James Plaskitt, Timms met with Blitz Games’ founding brothers Philip and Andrew Oliver to discuss the industry’s strengths and how it can be aided in the future. Timms said he enjoyed visiting a “fantastically creative and innovative company first hand.” He went on to say that: “Blitz played a key role in making the case for the tax break announced by the Chancellor in the Budget, DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET
and I look forward to seeing the growth of the British video games industry in the course of the years to come.” Both Andrew and Philip Oliver helped lead the charge in the UK’s campaign for game development tax breaks, but both stated their belief that there is still more to do. www.blitzgamesstudios.com
“We treat our developers extremely well.”
In the wake of the ongoing Infinity Ward debacle, Activision COO Thomas Tippl attempts to defend his company.
“There is a creative force in Scotland’s computer games industry that we must support.”
Alistair Darling had some more sugarcoated words for developers on his recent visit to Scottish studios
“Go screw yourself, Apple.”
CANADA
SILICON KNIGHTS GRANTED $4M BY GOVERNMENT Too Human studio Silicon Knights has been granted around $4m from the Canadian government for a new multi-platform title due within five years. The money is set to create 65 new jobs at the studio immediately. Canadian newspaper The Tribune reported that the grant was announced by Canadian MP Rick Dykstra at the Silcon Knights offices. “This is going to benefit Silicon Knights in ways that are profound and long-lasting,” said company president Denis Dyack. He added that the title planned from the investment will be built for next-gen consoles, and that he expected other jobs to be created during development. MP Dykstra said that the Canadian government are providing taxpayer money to a private company as there are no competing businesses to be impacted by the decision. “Their growth and their success is very important to our community,” he said. www.siliconknights.com
Little words, huge statement. Adobe’s ‘platform evangelist’ Lee Brimelow kicks back against Apple’s Flash embargo.
“There are some people in the games industry that think a tax break might be too narrow, or inappropriate.” But at the time of writing, Tory video games spokesperson Ed Vaizey and his party had yet to offer a decent alternative.
MAY 2010 | 11