When Square Enix launched the pilot phase of its crowdfunding initiative Collective in January 2014, Game of Glens was among the three games seeking funding. After temporarily putting the game on hold, the studio reworked it as Game of Glens, a game inspired by competitive Highland games that combined elements of Angry Birds, Minecraft, and World of Goo. The game was conceptualised as "a quirky, side-on, real-time projectile combat game" but an alpha test phase showed that the game and its controls were too complicated. In February 2013, Ruffian Games announced Tribal Towers. Independent and cancelled projects (2013–2019) A third Crackdown game remained implausible as of 2013. The prototype was created by a small team within six to eight weeks but the project went unsigned. Of several cancelled projects, Streets of Rage was a pitch to Sega for a remake of the 1991 game of the same name. Around 2012, the studio created an experimental multiplayer mode for Crytek's Ryse: Son of Rome, although this work was not released with the final game. To remain in business, Ruffian Games worked with Microsoft on several games for the Kinect peripheral, including Kinect Star Wars and Nike+ Kinect Training. The resulting game, released in mid-2010, was met by a mixed reception and did not sell well enough that the studio could immediately start working on a third Crackdown game. The production lasted just over one year and was described as "intense, exhausting". Ĭrackdown 2 's development was quick but difficult: The studio was beset by deadlines it deemed unmanageable and the expectations of fans of the original Crackdown. Peter Connelly (the game's executive producer) commented that Realtime Worlds was foregone as the game's developer due to its preoccupation with APB. In response, Thomson opined that Ruffian Games was capable of creating a proper sequel to Crackdown because it had hired talent from every department that worked on the original game. Learning this, David Jones, the chief executive officer for Realtime Worlds, stated that he was "a bit miffed" at Microsoft for handing Ruffian Games the development of the game, as he considered the studio's proximity to Realtime Worlds a threat. Ruffian Games was announced as developing Crackdown 2 in June 2009. He doubted that the publisher "would harm an otherwise fruitful existing development relationship" by partnering with a different developer also based in Dundee. Realtime Worlds' studio head, Colin MacDonald, stated that his studio was in talks with the game's intellectual property owner, Microsoft, to develop another Crackdown game. As Realtime Worlds was occupied with APB: All Points Bulletin and a second Crackdown game had been reported to be in development by a different developer, Ruffian Games was assumed to be the studio responsible for the new entry. With the original formation announcement, Ruffian Games stated that it had entered into a contract with a "major publisher". The headcount grew to 49 by November 2009, partially helped by closures and layoffs affecting other local studios, such as Midway Studios – Newcastle. It recruited fifteen further people in May. In February, the company hired Steve Iannetta and Ed Campbell, designers for Crackdown, as lead designer and senior designer, respectively. By this time, the fifteen-person team comprised former developers of Crackdown, Fable II, MotoGP, and the Grand Theft Auto series, among them "five or six" who joined from Realtime Worlds.
The company moved into Dundee-based offices in October 2008 and its formation was announced in January 2009. Liddon, Thomson, and Noyce assumed the roles of studio head, creative director, and development director, respectively. Thomson had relayed the story to Liddon, who suggested that they use the name "Ruffian Games" for their venture. The studio name was derived from an event in Thomson's childhood where he was referred to as "a ruffian" by a school classmate's father, who believed that Thomson had a bad influence on his son. Thomson had led the design for Crackdown at Realtime Worlds and later worked with Liddon and Noyce at Xen Group, which had provided core technology for the game. Gary Liddon, Billy Thomson, and Gareth Noyce founded Rockstar Dundee as Ruffian Games in April 2008.
0 kommentar(er)
