Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Predecessor | VIS Entertainment |
Founded | 19 April 2005 |
Founders |
|
Headquarters | , Scotland |
Key people | |
Website | 4jstudios.com |
4J Studios Limited is a British independent video game developer based in Dundee. It has a second office located in East Linton. Founded in April 2005 by VIS Entertainment alumni Chris van der Kuyl, Paddy Burns and Frank Arnot, the company is best known for porting Minecraft to consoles and handheld platforms. [1]
4J Studios was founded by Chris van der Kuyl, Paddy Burns and Frank Arnot on 19 April 2005, twelve days after van der Kuyl's previous video game venture, VIS Entertainment, entered into administration. [2] [3] All three were previously employed by that company, of which van der Kuyl as president and chief executive officer. [3] [4]
In November 2012, co-founder and studio director Arnot announced that he had left 4J Studios to establish Stormcloud Games with co-workers Andy West and Pat McGovern. [5] [6] In March 2018, 4J Studios invested a "six-figure sum" in Puny Astronaut, a Dundee-based developer founded by Abertay University alumni. [7] 4J Studios' van der Kuyl and Burns subsequently joined that company's board of directors, of which van der Kuyl also became their chairman. [8] 4J Studios then opened an investment fund, Chroma Ventures, in March 2021, which absorbed the Puny Astronaut stake and invested in several other studios. In October 2022, 4J Studios announced its intent to start publishing games, starting with Puny Astronaut's Skye Tales in 2023. [9]
In May 2024, 4J Studios revealed a trailer of its next project, the Elements Engine, a proprietary 3D voxel sandbox game engine built from the ground up, with world size and performance in mind. [10] With the announcement of the Elements Engine, they teased the development of a new video game using the engine. [11]
In September 2024, 4J Studios announced their new video game, Reforj, a voxel-based sandbox video game built on the power of the Elements Engine. [12] Amongst the development team includes Joseph Garrett, a Minecraft YouTuber also known as Stampy. [13]
A voxel is a three-dimensional counterpart to a pixel. It represents a value on a regular grid in a three-dimensional space. Voxels are frequently used in the visualization and analysis of medical and scientific data. They are also commonly used in video games, both as a technological feature, as in Outcast, and a graphical style, which was popularised by Minecraft.
Rockstar North is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The studio is best known for creating the Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto V, the second-best-selling game and most profitable entertainment product of all time.
Xbox Game Studios is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, for the development and publishing of video games for Microsoft Windows. It has since expanded to include games and other interactive entertainment for the namesake Xbox platforms, other desktop operating systems, Windows Mobile and other mobile platforms, web-based portals, and other game consoles.
Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two entries in the Max Payne franchise, Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control. Sam Lake, Remedy's creative director, has represented the company on numerous occasions.
Telltale Incorporated was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following LucasArts' decision to leave the adventure game genre. Telltale established itself to focus on adventure games using a novel episodic release schedule over digital distribution, creating its own game engine, the Telltale Tool, to support this. It closed in October 2018 after filing for bankruptcy protection.
Guerrilla B.V. is a Dutch first-party video game developer based in Amsterdam and part of PlayStation Studios. The company was founded as Lost Boys Games in January 2000 through the merger of three smaller development studios as a subsidiary of multimedia conglomerate company Lost Boys. Lost Boys Games became independent the following year and was acquired by Media Republic in 2003, renaming the studio to Guerrilla Games before being purchased by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2005. As of June 2021, the company employs 360 people under the leadership of joint studio directors Jan-Bart van Beek, Joel Eschler and Hella Schmidt. It is best known for the Killzone and Horizon game series.
NetEase, Inc. is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded by Ding Lei in 1997. It develops and operates online PC and mobile games, advertising services, email services, and e-commerce platforms in China. It is one of the largest Internet and video game companies in the world. NetEase has an on-demand music-streaming service. The video games include, Fantasy Westward Journey, Tianxia III, Heroes of Tang Dynasty Zero and Ghost II. NetEase has partnered with Blizzard Entertainment to operate Chinese versions of their games, such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II and Overwatch from 2008 to 2023. In August 2023, NetEase launched an American studio led by Bethesda and BioWare veterans.
People Can Fly is a Polish video game developer based in Warsaw. The studio was founded in February 2002 by Adrian Chmielarz, previously the co-founder of Metropolis Software, together with acquaintances Michał Kosieradzki and Andrzej Poznański. The studio's first game was Painkiller (2004). Its success led to a deal with THQ for the game Come Midnight, which allowed the studio to expand. After the game was cancelled, People Can Fly found itself in financial trouble. Epic Games acquired a majority share in People Can Fly in August 2007 and collaborated with the studio on projects such as Bulletstorm (2011) and Gears of War: Judgment (2013).
Realtime Worlds Ltd. was a British video game developer based in Dundee. The studio was formed in February 2000 when Rage Software hired David Jones to lead its Scottish operations. In March 2002, a financially stricken Rage Software sold the studio to Jones, who renamed it Real Time Worlds. After developing Crackdown (2007) and APB: All Points Bulletin (2009), Realtime Worlds filed for administration in August 2010.
An indie video game or indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is analogous to independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.
VIS Entertainment Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Chris van der Kuyl and Peter Baillie established the company in 1996. In 2003, VIS Entertainment faced financial struggles and closed its studios in London and on the Isle of Wight, while downsizing its VIS iTV joint venture. After BAM! Entertainment acquired the studio in May 2004, VIS Entertainment was placed into administration April 2005, subsequently being liquidated and dissolved.
Rockstar Dundee Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Dundee. The studio is best known for developing Crackdown 2.
Minecraft is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java programming language, the first public beta build was released on 17 May 2009. The game would be continuously developed from then on, receiving a full release on 18 November 2011. Afterwards, Persson left Mojang and gave Jens "Jeb" Bergensten control over development. In the years since its release, it has been ported to several platforms, including smartphones, tablets, and various video game consoles. In 2014, Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property were purchased by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion. Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all-time, with over 300 million copies sold and nearly 170 million monthly active players as of 2024.
Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time.
Team17 Group plc is a British video game developer and publisher based in Wakefield, England. The venture was created in December 1990 through the merger of British publisher 17-Bit Software and Swedish developer Team 7. At the time, the two companies consisted of and were led by Michael Robinson, Martyn Brown and Debbie Bestwick, and Andreas Tadic, Rico Holmes and Peter Tuleby, respectively. Bestwick later became Team17's chief executive officer until 1 January 2024. After their first game, Full Contact (1991) for the Amiga, the studio followed up with multiple number-one releases on that platform and saw major success with Andy Davidson's Worms in 1995, the resulting franchise of which still remains as the company's primary development output, having developed over 20 entries in it.
Vox is an independent voxel-based adventure and role-playing video game developed by Canadian studio AlwaysGeeky Games.
Joseph Mark Garrett, better known as Stampylonghead, Stampylongnose, Stampy Cat, or simply Stampy, is an English YouTuber, actor and author best known for his Minecraft video game commentaries as the character of Stampy Cat. He is well-known for his child-friendly demeanour and incorporating storytelling and education into the Let's Play format. In 2014, he was one of the ten most-watched YouTube channels in the world.
Planet Nomads is a 2019 science fiction sandbox video game developed by Craneballs Studio.
Hytale is an upcoming sandbox game by Hypixel Studios. Production began in 2015 by developers from the Minecraft multiplayer server Hypixel with funding from Riot Games, who later bought the studio in 2020. It is scheduled to release for Windows and macOS as well as consoles and mobile devices.
Vintage Story is a sandbox survival game developed and published by Anego Studios. The founders of Anego Studios, Tyron and Irena Madlener, began development on a standalone version of an earlier mod for Minecraft called Vintagecraft in April 6, 2016 and became available for owners of a "game key" in September 4, 2016. It became publicly available for sale in September 28, 2016. An old version of the game is available for free download. The game is in early access and can be played in singleplayer or multiplayer modes.
{{cite AV media}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)